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83-year-old Catholic priest’s arrest unlocks Church voice

83-year-old Catholic priest’s arrest unlocks Church voice

83-year-old Catholic priest’s arrest unlocks Church voice

11/10/2020

The Telegraph / by Pheroze L. Vincent

The Catholic Church has condemned the arrest of 83-year-old Catholic priest Stanislaus Lourduswamy (Stan Swamy) on sedition charges and demanded his immediate release.
Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, economist Jean Dreze and several Christian groups have added their voice to the chorus of condemnation.
The statement from the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), the apex body of the Catholic Church in the country, stood out for two reasons.
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‘Project to silence dissent’: All India Catholic Union demands activist Stan Swamy’s release

11/10/2020

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The North East Catholic Research Forum said the 83-year-old’s arrest by the National Investigation Agency is ‘selective targeting’.
The All India Catholic Union on Saturday called for immediate release of 83-year-old Jesuit priest and human rights activist Stan Swamy from judicial custody in the Bhima Koregaon case and expressed concern over his poor health amid the coronavirus crisis.
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Mangaluru: AICU demands immediate release of Fr Stan Swamy

10/10/2020

Daijiworld / by AICU

Media Release
Mangaluru, Oct 10: The All India Catholic Union (AICU) has called for the immediate release of 83 year old Jesuit Fr Stan Swamy who was arrested from his Ranchi room in a night operation by the National Investigating Agency and is now in prison in Judicial Custody till October 23, 2020.
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IIM Director on UAPA: Progressive Society will Not have Law that Inflicts Punishment Without Guilt

IIM Director on UAPA: Progressive Society will Not have Law that Inflicts Punishment Without Guilt

News 18 / by Eram Agha

Expressing displeasure at the amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act (UAPA) 2019, Errol D’Souza, the director of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad said that a progressive society will not have such a law…
Persecuted Prisoners Solidarity Committee as mentioned in the tweet of the director was founded with the motive of fighting for the adivasis and marginalized in the armed conflict zones of central and eastern India. Activists, academic Stan Swamy, Sudha Bharadwaj, Partho Sarothi Ray are associated with the platform.
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Navlakha had links with Pakistan’s ISI, says NIA in Bhima Koregaon chargesheet

Navlakha had links with Pakistan’s ISI, says NIA in Bhima Koregaon chargesheet


Ranchi, Oct 2020

The Print / by Ananya Bharadwaj

New Delhi: In a supplementary chargesheet filed in the Bhima Koregaon case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has accused activist Gautam Navlakha for his alleged links to Pakistan’s intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
According to the NIA sources, Navlakha’s involvement came up in the “secret communications with CPI (Maoist) cadres” that he had on several occasions.
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The Indomitable Spirit of Father Stan Swamy

The Indomitable Spirit of Father Stan Swamy

The Wire / by Mari Marcel Thekaekara

Stan Swamy and the adivasis he supports in an impossible battle for their own ancestral lands are pawns pitted against mammoth mining companies. Falsely branding activists as Maoists is the easiest way to condemn to enable vested interests to finish them off.
“No, it’s not possible,” were my first thoughts when I heard that Father Stan Swamy, an 83-year-old Jesuit priest and activist had been arrested – for the second time. His crime? He defended the rights of adivasis being exploited in their homeland Jharkhand.
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‘Why this insistence on crushing every voice of dissent?’: Jharkhand CM on Stan Swamy’s arrest

‘Why this insistence on crushing every voice of dissent?’: Jharkhand CM on Stan Swamy’s arrest

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday attacked the Centre over the arrest of Jesuit priest and human rights activist Stan Swamy, asking why was it insistent on crushing every voice of dissent. The National Investigstion Agency on Thursday night took Swamy into custody from the Jesuit-run Bagaicha social centre, where he lives, in Ranchi, in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case.
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Varavara Rao denied medical care: Family

Varavara Rao denied medical care: Family

Mumbai Mirror / by Shruti Ganapatye

Jailed activist and poet Varavara Rao is being looked after by co-prisoners Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira rather than competent medical authorities in Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai, his family have said.
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Stan Swamy, Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde among eight named in NIA chargesheet

Stan Swamy, Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde among eight named in NIA chargesheet

Stan Swamy, Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde among eight named in NIA chargesheet

09/10/2020

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The chargesheet, which runs over 10,000 pages, accuses all eight activists of conspiring to further the ideology of Communist Party of India (Maoist).
The National Investigation Agency on Friday filed a chargesheet against eight activists, including Gautam Navlakha, Anand Teltumbde, 83-year-old Stan Swamy and Delhi University professor Hany Babu, for their alleged involvement in inciting violence at Bhima Koregaon in 2018, PTI reported.
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NIA Files Chargesheet in Bhima Koregaon Elgar Parishad Case

09/10/2020

Press Release by NIA India

Click to enlarge

NIA chargesheets eight accused in Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case

09/10/2020

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Friday filed a supplementary chargesheet before a Mumbai court against eight persons in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case.
The first chargesheet filed by the central agency since it took over the probe from Pune police in January is against academic Anand Teltumbde, activist Gautam Navlakha, Delhi University associate professor Hany Babu, members of cultural group Kabir Kala Manch— Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor and Jyoti Jagtap—Jharkhand-based Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy and absconding accused Milind Teltumbde, who is alleged to be a top operative of banned CPI (Maoist).
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Various Solidarity Statements: We stand with Fr. Stan Swamy / Petition: Drop the false charges immediately!

Various Solidarity Statements: We stand with Fr. Stan Swamy / Petition: Drop the false charges immediately!

Pictures: Ranchi, 9 Oct 2020

Petition: Drop the false charges against Fr Stan Swamy immediately!

09/10/2020

Petition initiated by George Pattery

We stand together strongly to condemn the false allegations and defamatory charges  against Fr Stan Swamy by the Pune police, under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA). These charges frame him in the Bhima Koregaon case, call him an “urban naxalite”, and accuse him of plotting the assassination of the Prime Minister. They are patently false and defamatory.
Read more/sign petition

‘Distressed, troubled’: Ranchi Catholic Church demands Stan Swamy’s release

09/10/2020

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

On Thursday, Father Stan Swamy was taken into custody from his Ranchi home in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case. He was brought to Mumbai from Ranchi and produced before a court at 1.30 pm today which then directed him to be sent in judicial custody till October 23.
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Statements by Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat (SJES), Society of Jesus & Jesuit Conference of South Asia

09/10/2020

Click to enlarge statements

We Stand With Stan Swamy

09/10/2020

By Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha

The recent arrest of Stan Swamy is a gross violation of human rights and democratic norms
Two thousand people condemn the arrest of tribal rights activist Stan Swamy by the NIA on 8 Oct 2020 and urge @HemantSoren JMM to oppose the arrest.

Click to enlarge full statement

‘Preposterous’, ‘Witch-Hunt’: Twitter Outraged Over Stan Swamy’s Arrest In Bhima-Koregaon Case

09/10/2020

HuffPost / by Rohini Chatterji

An 83-year-old activist, Stan Swamy, was arrested by the National Investigative Agency on Thursday, the lates in the series of arrests of activists in the Bhima-Koregaon case.
He was taken into custody from his home in Ranchi.
Swamy’s arrested created outrage with many taking to social media to protest it.
Here’s what people said
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PUCL Condemns the Detention and Arrest of Fr. Stan Swamy in Bhima Koregaon Case

08/10/2020

Countercurrents / by PUCL

PUCL is shocked by and condemns the detention and arrest by NIA police team of 83 year old Fr. Stan Swamy from his residence in Bagaicha, Ranchi to take him to Mumbai to be remanded in the Bhima Koregaon (BK) case for allegedly being part of the larger conspiracy to cause unrest.
The inhuman and insincere act of the NIA authorities in arresting Fr. Stan stands out for its sheer vindictiveness for Fr. Stan fully cooperated with the Investigating officers of the NIA when they questioned him in the Jesuit Residence in Bagaicha for over 15 hours, on July 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th and 6th August. Despite his advanced age and other age related ailments, Fr. Stan patiently answered all queries put to him.
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NIA Arrests Adivasi Rights Activist Stan Swamy in Elgar Parishad Case / Statements by Stan Swamy

NIA Arrests Adivasi Rights Activist Stan Swamy in Elgar Parishad Case / Statements by Stan Swamy

NIA Arrests 83-Year-Old Tribal Rights Activist Stan Swamy in Elgar Parishad Case

08/10/2020

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Swamy has been questioned in the case on multiple occasions.
Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken 83-year-old Jharkhand-based tribal rights activist and Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy into custody. Swamy, who has been questioned at multiple occasions, is the 16th person taken into custody since June 2018 in connection with the ongoing investigation in the Elgar Parishad case. Swamy, who is suffering from multiple ailments, is the oldest person to be arrested in the case so far.
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Video: Testimony of Stan Swamy, 6 October 2020


en | 7:48 min | Oct 6, 2020
Watch video

Statement by Stan Swamy, Morning 8th of Oct

Democracy in Higher Education, Social Justice and the Importance of Hany Babu

Democracy in Higher Education, Social Justice and the Importance of Hany Babu


Delhi, Aug 2020

Countercurrents / by Dr Ajay S Sekher

We are going through one of the most dismal times in the history of post-independence India. Anyone who resists, anyone who speaks for the greater common good, for truth and justice, is getting hounded. Hate campaigns are unleashed against them or they are implicated under fabricated charges and thrown into prison.
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