It is not a secret that the Catholic Church is a powerful institution in the state of Kerala. It is also well known that the Church heads – like their counterparts in other religions – are questioned by none, as their authority is supposed to be beyond criticism. Bishop Franco Mulakkal, it seems, is no exception. Though a section of Kerala society has joined the fight launched by the nuns against Mulakkal, the political parties in the state are yet to show their strength to seek justice in one of the most sensational cases the state has witnessed in connection with the Church. Leave aside the legal side of things; the complainant nun and the other five sisters who are supporting her are hardly getting any moral support from the political parties in the state.
On Monday, a protest was organised by the youth organisations under the United Democratic Front – that is in the opposition – in front of the Secretariat. It was expected to be a strong demand for justice for the nun; however, the protesters chose to focus on sexual harassment cases since the CPI (M) led Left Democratic Front came to power. The political target was obviously the ruling party – but what of Mulakkal? Why weren’t any words directed at him?
Opposition leader and Congress man Ramesh Chennithala launched the protest. On Franco, all he had to say were the same, almost tame words, he has been repeating for the past few days. “It has been 78 days, and the probe in the case is slow,” he said, and quickly switched over to other cases. In a press meet that followed, Chennithala was questioned about the case and he still had nothing different, or more aggressive, to say about Franco Mulakkal.
The lukewarm opposition, and reaction for the sake of reacting, is not just from Chennithala. The otherwise aggressive political parties in the state have resorted to harmless posturing, and have been cautious in their attack on the Bishop, while the nuns are getting support from the rest of society.
The BJP, which rushes to criticise the Left government in Kerala at every opportunity, has shied away from putting up a strong front and there have only been scattered responses. The CPI (M)’s core ally, the CPI, and its state president Kanam Rajendran, have been more or less guarded.
Although the CPI’s youth wing AIYF, and its women’s wing Kerala Mahila Sangham, staged a protest, the CPI was lenient towards their ally, CPI (M). “I would react if the police action is not on the right path,” said Kanam Rajendran. “But since the case happened in the past, we can’t insist that the collection of evidence should be completed in a time bound manner,” he added.