The Mathethara Samajam (secularist forum) will hold a 24-hour sit-in by its members as well as several socio-cultural activists in the city to offer support to the ongoing agitation by a group of nuns in Kochi and to protest against the ‘exploitation of nuns’ by the Catholic church.
Writer-activist M.N. Karassery, president of the Samajam, said that the sit-in would not be a fast, but the activists would go without sleep for 24 hours. “We would forgo sleep, and not food, for 24 hours,” Mr. Karassery told The Hindu .
Atrocities
“Through this sleepless sit-in, we signify the need for society to be vigilant against atrocities against women and to be awake to their rights.” Sister Maria Thomas, a former nun, and J.J. Pallath will speak at the opening of the sit-in near the Public Library at 10 a.m. on Monday. “Our protest is not against the Church, but against the exploitation and harassment of nuns in some congregations and the general denial of women clergy’s rights within the church establishment,” Mr. Karassery said.
