RANCHI: Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Jharkhand Congress on Saturday came in support of tribal rights activist and Jesuit priest Stan Swamy who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Bhima Koregaon case.
"What kind of message the BJP Government at the Centre wants to give by arresting 83-year old Stan Swamy," said Soren. He further said that the Central government is trying to suppress all the voices being raised against it.
“What message does the central BJP government want to give by arresting 83-year-old ‘Stan Swamy’ who raised the voice for the poor, the deprived and the tribals?” asked Soren. What kind of tenacity is this to suppress every voice raised against it, he questioned on his twitter handle.
Meanwhile, state Congress Chief Rameshwar Oroan called Swamy's arrest unfortunate.
“The Central Government is trying to torture the intellectuals living in different parts of the Country by terming them as ‘Urban Naxals’. Swamy, who has been trying to uplift tribal communities living in Jharkhand for the last 25 years, is also being framed by the Central Government in the name of ‘Urban Naxal’,” said Oraon.
Father Stan Swamy, originally from Kerala, is a veteran tribal rights activist, who has spent close to five decades in the tribal region of Jharkhand working on the forest rights of the tribal community. He has been quite vocal against police atrocities on tribal communities and government’s failure to properly
implement the fifth schedule of the Constitution in the State.