In a first perhaps in the whole of North India, Rajasthan Government has nominated a Catholic nun as a member of the State's Minority Commission. Sister Mariola Sequeira, of the order of the Mission Sisters of Ajmer (MSA), teaches English in Ajmer's prestigious Sophia College, but she is known in the human rights circles as an “activist nun”.

An active member of the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Rajasthan, the Mangalore-born Sister Mariola has been the State coordinator of the Prison Ministry India (PMI) since 2004 and an NGO member of the Grievance Committee on Sexual Harassment at the Workplace at Central Jail, Ajmer. Trained in journalism as well, she regularly writes for church publications and the Hong Kong-based news service, UCAN. In March 2010, television news channel CNN-IBN chose Sister Mariola for the “Real Heroes Award” for her work in rehabilitating women prisoners. Her advocacy and campaign for six years had resulted in the release of a mentally-ill prisoner from Central Jail on January 25 last year, after 18 years of imprisonment.

“The activist friends are very happy about the appointment so are my superiors in the Church and the convent. The first to ring me up and congratulate were social activists Aruna Roy and Kavita Srivastava,” said Sister Mariola talking toThe Hindufrom Ajmer. Former MLA Mohammed Mahir Azad is the chairman of the Rajasthan Minorities Commission. Along with Sister Mariola, the State Government has also nominated Zuban Khan, Sardar Maninder Singh Bagga and a Buddhist representative, Gurvant Rahul Chawda, to the Commission.