Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday signed a petition to President Ram Nath Kovind, seeking his intervention in initiating action against those responsible for “foisting” false cases against tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, his continuous detention in jail and “inhuman” treatment meted out to the 84-year-old Jesuit priest, who died at a Mumbai hospital on Monday after contracting Covid-19.
The petition, also signed by at least nine other prominent leaders across India, including Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and CPI-M’s Sitaram Yechury, states that Swamy was denied treatment for his various ailments including debilitating Parkinson’s while he was incarcerated.
“They (the people responsible for Swamy’s arrest and rapid deterioration of health) must be held accountable,” the petition stated. “It is now incumbent that all those jailed in the Bhima Koregaon case and other detenus under politically-motivated cases, misusing draconian laws like UAPA, Sedition etc, be released forthwith,” the petition further stated.
Father Stan Swamy, an activist who championed the rights and causes of tribals in the far-flung villages of Jharkhand, was picked up by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the Bhima Koregaon incident and jailed under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) back in October last year.
Two days before the NIA arrested him from his Ranchi residence on October 8, the Jesuit priest in a video claimed that stringent laws such as UAPA were being misused to arrest tribals indiscriminately.
On October 9 last year, the NIA had filed a charge-sheet against eight persons, including Father Stan Swamy, for their alleged involvement in inciting a mob to violence in Bhima Koregaon near Pune on January 1, 2018. Swamy was taken to Mumbai after his arrest.
Swamy died on Monday at the Holy Family Hospital, where he was admitted on May 29 upon orders of the Bombay High Court, in Mumbai, a day after he suffered a cardiac arrest and was put on ventilator support.
His death triggered widespread ire against the alleged misconduct towards the Jesuit priest with some protestors calling it no less than a coldblooded murder.
The petition dated July 6, 2021, was also signed by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, DMK’s MK Stalin, HD Deve Gowda from Janata Dal Secular, JKPA’s Farooq Abdullah, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejaswi Yadav and CPI party’s D Raja.
While Soren has been vocal about the Centre’s alleged neglect towards the deteriorating health of Swamy, the Jharkhand BJP on Tuesday said that the chief minister was not provided complete information on the case.