The Story. The Nirmal Hriday at Ranchi, the Jharkhand State branch of Calcutta’s Sisters of Charity missionary order that looks after destitute adults, children and the dying, find themselves in the middle of a case of alleged baby-selling by a nun and a lay employee. Also involved are 256 missing babies that the state government says are not accounted for.
The Ranchi police have come up with evidence of a ‘confession’ by the nun who has not been allowed access to her Mother House, the Church Authorities or their lawyers. Dramatis Personae: (beside those mentioned above) 1. The Chief Minister of Jharkhand State is a BJP member. Jharkhand is part of northern India’s cow belt, notorious for Hindu extremism, mob killings, tribal uprising supported by the Communist Party and suppression of ‘low caste’ communities and religious minorities. Despite this, Christian missionaries find this State, fertile ground for their work. 2. The Police. This is basically part of a chaotic and lawless forested region of India and was carved out of the Chotanagpur plateau of Bihar, one of India’s tribal dominated and poorest states. Police in this and neighbouring states (except West Bengal) have to operate hand-in-glove with politicians, local gangsters and organized crime like the Coal Mafia, the Mining Mafia, the Liquor Barons, roving dacoits, you get the picture, or their own lives will be in danger. 3. The CBI. Usually a process that requires Home Ministry sanction is required for a probe, but in this case, a senior police official is asking for investigation into the Charity’s foreign donations, although unrelated to the baby-selling allegation. 4. The Catholic Church. Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, Archbishop Felix Toppo and Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas with the latter as spokesman are, the area’s top officials. They are standing squarely beside the Sisters. So are other Indian Church related NGOs. 5. The opposition parties consisting of the Congress Party, the Trinamool Congress’ Mamta Banerjee and the Communist Party’s (Marxist) Brinda Karat are firmly supporting The Sisters of Charity who are headquartered in Banerjee’s State West Bengal which borders Jharkhand. The CPM controls the tribals of Jharkhand who form a substantive segment of that state. It is in such circumstances that justice must find a way to prevail. Roland Francis Scarborough.
