India Govt Expels 86-year-old Spanish Nun for ‘Being Good to the Poor, of ALL FAITH’?

India Govt Expels 86-year-old Spanish Nun for ‘Being Good to the Poor, of ALL FAITH’?

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  India’s Ministry of External Affairs Expels ‘Good Samaritan’ 86-year-old Spanish Nun Sister Enedina, belonging to the Daughters of Charity Congregation who as a trained Medical Doctor had served the poor, of ALL FAITH, since the 1960s in Berhampur in Odisha.

Mangaluru: When there are thousands and thousands of illegal Bangladeshis and Pakistanis still living in India, and who have created fear among the people of India, the Government of India has taken it very easy by not taking any action in cracking down on them and deporting out of the Country. But when an old- age nun who is 86-year-old and in no way could harm anyone, and who has been a “Good Samaritan” taking care of thousands of Indian children, irrespective of caste or religion, has been denied by the govt of India in renewing her Visa which expired recently. Bah humbug!

I do agree that India’s Ministry of External Affairs had followed the visa rules and regulations- but what has the govt done so far with thousands and thousands of illegals from the neighbouring countries who have over-stayed without any visa or any documents. Seems like our government supports the illegals and the crooks, and not the people who have been an asset to the country in serving the poor and the less fortunate, by a SINGLE elderly religious person. Sister Enedina could have overstayed without even bothering to renew her visa, like many foreign immigrants do-but being a religious and God-fearing nun she was truthful and lawful in going ahead with her visa renewal formalities.

But alas, she was out of luck, the Indian government declined her visa renewal-even though she had been a good foreigner from Spain, serving non-Spaniards here in India- I mean to say “Poor Indian People”! How can the Indian government be so ungrateful to a person who has sacrificed her life for the care and love towards the poor people in Berhampur village in Odisha? We all know India has way too may laws-but how many do Indians follow? If you have money and influence, no Indian with money needs laws or rules. Allowing ONE good and hard-working nun would not have made a big difference to the total of India’s population, which comprises of legal and also illegal persons.

As per the ucanews.com it reveals that the Indian government has declined to renew the visa of an elderly Spanish nun who had ministered to the country’s poor people for five decades. Sister Enedina, 86, a member of the Daughters of Charity, had her visa renewal refused on Aug. 11 and was then told by the government she had 10 days to leave the country, said the report. However, the nun, trained as a medical doctor, who had helped poor people in the country since the mid-1960s, as a law-abiding person, and with no other option flew back to Spain from New Delhi on 20 August.

As per sources, Sister Martha Pradhan, provincial leader of the congregation’s North India province, said Enedina had renewed her visa periodically since she arrived in Behrampur-Odisha in 1965, but the government rejected her application this time around. “She applied online to renew her visa in the first week of August, paid the fees and completed all the formalities. … We then received the notice that she had to leave the country within 10 days,” Pradhan said. “We were not told why the visa was not renewed.”

In the meantime, India’s Ministry of External Affairs deals with visa issues but maintains a policy of not stating any reason when a visa is denied. “A visa, as a rule, is often denied if it is incompatible with the purpose of the visit as mentioned in the visa application of the applicant,” the official said. “The government, like any other government, believes that the right to grant visas remains the sole prerogative of the host country concerned.”

The report also states that the development comes amid criticism that the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was reelected in May 2019 in a landslide, has been supportive of hardline Hindu groups pushing to make India a Hindu-only nation. Hindu groups have been demanding the expulsion of all foreign missioners from India, accusing them of using social work as a facade for converting Dalit and tribal people to Christianity.

It is learnt that Enedina earned bachelor’s degrees in medicine and surgery in 1959. Arriving in Berhampur several years later, she opened a health clinic serving the needs of local people, primarily tribal and socially poor Dalit people. She later moved to another locale, serving the same communities. Enedina’s 54-year missionary career as a doctor, nurse and teacher caused “many in the area to consider her their mother,” said Sister Pradhan.

Bishop Sarat Chandra Nayak of Behrampur said he was saddened by Sister Enedina’s departure. “It is unfortunate that such a qualified and trained nun had to leave the country,” he said. “It indeed is a loss. We don’t have many sisters qualified as doctors who will work in remote areas among the tribal and Dalits.” The Daughters of Charity arrived in India in 1940. Today the congregation has 232 members living in 42 houses and working in 14 dioceses.

In conclusion, in my perspective, I think it is totally wrong on the part of India’s Ministry of External Affairs in declining visa extension to a Good Samaritan, who has been serving all kinds of people, including Hindus- and is this the GIFT She gets from a Hindu Nation. It is learnt that the number of foreign-funded organisations operating in India has reportedly shrunk by nearly half in the past two years amid a crackdown by the government of Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. But who will be suffering from this crackdown, the poor and the less fortunate? Did the government think about it, before it took senseless action? Oh well, let the Central Government take care of this poor people now, since they have blocked foreign aid to the missionaries. India will be looking at more poor people on the streets after this stern action on Christian missionaries.