Stan Swamy – Page 35 – free them all

Protests intensify against Swamy arrest/ Indians rally behind Jesuit arrested for „Maoist“ links

14/10/2020 Maya

Protests intensify against Swamy arrest

14/10/2020

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

The show of solidarity with octogenarian Jesuit priest, Father Stan Swamy, who was arrested by the NIA near Ranchi on October 8 and jailed for alleged Maoist links, continued on Tuesday in Jharkhand.
Nearly 60 representatives of people’s organisations and tribal activists resumed their hunger strike near tribal icon Birsa Munda’s memorial at Kokar in Ranchi from 11am on Tuesday, while around 50 youths under the banner of Jharkhand Christian Youth Association (JCYA) burnt the effigy of the central government at Albert Ekka Chowk as a mark of protest against the arrest.
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Indians rally behind Jesuit arrested for „Maoist“ links

13/10/2020

Matters India / by Matters India

Cities across India on October 12 witnessed an unprecedented show of solidarity with an octogenarian Jesuit priest who has been arrested and jailed for alleged Maoist links.
From New Delhi to the North East, from Bengaluru to Patna, and from Kochi to Mumbai, hundreds of people from all walks of life, who are saddened, shocked and indignant, stood up against the arbitrary arrest of the 83 year old Jesuit priest.
Read reports from Delhi, Guwahati, Bengaluru, Kochi, Patna and Trichy

CDRO: Release of all those arrested in the fabricated Bhima Koregaon case

13/10/2020 Rani

Countercurrents / by Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO)

CDRO is shocked to hear the news of the arrest of Father Stan Swamy in connection with the infamous Bhima-Koregaon (BK) case. We note with disgust that Father Stan Swamy is the latest victim of the witch hunt operation carried out by the BJP-government in the name of BK case. It is a well-known fact today that the NIA, in the BK case, could not find any convincing material implicating the incarcerated activists and proving several alleged trumped-up charges including “criminal conspiracy to assassinate the Prime Minister”.
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How the Right Is Starting a Psychological War by Targeting the Old and Ageing

13/10/2020 Rani

How the Right Is Starting a Psychological War by Targeting the Old and Ageing

13/10/2020

The Wire / by Ajay Gudavarthy

The right seems to believe that given the cultural codes of Hindu way of life, dispensing with the old will meet less protest and resistance from the society – creating a scope for more fear and less resistance.
… It began with the murders of Govind Pansare, Narendra Dabholkar and Kalburgi – all of them into their 70s, and more recently the arrest of Varavara Rao, and now Stan Swamy, both into their 80s.
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There is an environment of fear in India. The State must renew the commitment to rights

12/10/2020

Hindustan Times / by Hindustan Times

The action against a range of intellectuals and activists and journalists – Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand Teltumbde, Stan Swamy, Apoorvanand, Harsh Mander are among the better-known examples – indicates that the space for free expression and dissent is jeopardised.
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NCRB 2019 data shows 165% jump in sedition cases, 33% jump in UAPA cases under Modi govt

12/10/2020

The Print / by Leah Verghese

In recent years, sedition and UAPA have been weaponised against critics of the govt. National Crime Records Bureau’s recently-released data confirms this.
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The battle to protect Adivasis’ right to the land: A profile of Father Stan Swamy

12/10/2020 Rani

Pic: Ranchi Oct, 9

The Polis Project & maraa

Fr. Stan Swamy is an indigenous people’s rights defender. He is the founder of Vistapan Virodhi Janvikash Andolan (VVJA), an all India platform for different movements that are campaigning against human rights violations caused by the displacement of Adivasis, Dalits, and farmers from their lands.
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Stand With Stan – National Day of Solidarity (video + pictures)

12/10/2020 Rani

Video: Stand With Stan – National Day of Solidarity

By Jesuit Conference of South Asia

en | 1h | 2020
In response to the arrest of HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS across the country including Fr. Stan Swamy, we are unitedly organized a National Solidarity Day Today (12 October).
Watch video

Panaji, Goa: Over 200 Goans converged at the Azad Maidan on Monday evening despite the inclement weather in solidarity and to demand the release of 83-year-old Jesuit priest Fr Stan Swamy, incarcerated in the infamous Bhima Koregao case. Read more

Bangalore, Karnataka: 3 km Human Chain In Bengaluru:A lot of protestors fashioned a human chain in Bengaluru at present towards what they described as “the unlawful therapy and arrest of Father Stan Swamy from his residence in Jharkhand by the Nationwide Investigation Company (NIA), falsely implicating him within the Bhima Koregaon case.” Read more

Chennai

Ranchi: Over 60 representatives of public organisations and tribal activists staged a hunger strike near tribal icon Birsa Munda’s memorial in Ranchi on Monday to protest against the arrest of 83-year-old Jesuit priest and rights activist Father Stan Swamy while national Opposition leaders condemned the NIA’s October 8 action. Read more

Delhi

Kerala

Father Stan Swamy’s Arrest Is ‘Unfortunate’: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

The Wire / by pti

“It’s against the principles of Indian Constitution to arrest those who raise their voice against the butchering of democratic rights of the tribals,” he said.
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday termed as “unfortunate” the arrest of tribal rights activist and Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy for his alleged involvement in inciting a mob to violence in Bhima Koregaon near Pune on January 1, 2018.
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Rome, Italy

Video: We Stand With Stan Swami / Protests in Jamshedpur, Patna & Bangalore (pictures)

11/10/2020 Rani

en | 3:28min | 2020

By Karwan e Mohabbat

The NIA arrested the 83-year-old, human rights activist and Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy on 8th October, 2020. They have accused him of having active links with Maoists and linked his name with the Bhima Koregaon case. Stan Swamy has spent more than 3 decades fighting for the rights of tribals in Jharkhand. The charges against him are vicious and inhuman.
#WeStandWithStanSwamy
Watch video

Protests in Jamshedpur, Patna and Bangalore

11/10/2020

By Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha

Protest in Jamshedpur today by several organisations against Stan Swamy’s arrest and attack on democracy. The main demands were to release Stan and all political prisoners and repeal UAPA, NSA & 124A.

Click to enlarge pics

Protests happening across the country against Stan Swamy’s arrest.
This is Patna, Bihar and Bangalore, Karnataka.

Held by NIA 83-yr-old priest worked for tribals, took on govt policies, and `even the Church´

11/10/2020 Maya

Ranchi, Oct 2020

The Indian Express / by Abhishek Angad

Swamy’s arrest has led to widespread protests in Jharkhand, where he has been based for over two decades. Various civil society groups and activists have criticised this arrest.
Two days before his arrest, Father Stan Swamy, 83, a Jharkhand-based Jesuit priest, human rights activist and writer who was arrested by NIA on Thursday in the Bhima Koregaon case, had in a video statement spoken about his work on displacement, land alienation, rights of gram sabhas and of Adivasis in jail, among other issues.
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83-year-old Catholic priest’s arrest unlocks Church voice

11/10/2020 Rani

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

10/10/2020 Maya

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

10/10/2020 Maya

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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