marxistindia

news from the cpi(m)

July 6, 2021

Press Release

 Undersigned leaders of the opposition parties wrote to the Honourable President of India urging his immediate intervention to direct the Government to act against those responsible for foisting false cases on Father Stan Swamy.

 We are releasing the text of the letter for publication.

 (Hari Singh Kang)

For CPI(M) Central Committee office

 July 6, 2021

To

The Hon'ble President

Rashtrapati Bhavan

New Delhi

 Dear Shri Rashtrapati ji,

We the undersigned leaders of major opposition parties are writing to you in deep anguish expressing our intense grief and outrage at the death of Father Stan Swamy under custody.

 The 84 year-old Jesuit priest and activist who championed the rights and causes of the adivasis in far flung areas of Jharkhand was jailed last October on trumped up charges under the draconian UAPA and was sought to be linked with the Bhima Koregaon case.

 He was denied treatment for his various ailments including debilitating Parkinson's. Only after a nationwide campaign was conducted that even a sipper to drink liquids was made available to him in jail.

The numerous appeals made to shift him out of the over crowded Taloja jail that had seen a huge rise in Covid cases went unheeded. His appeals for bail and being sent home too were rejected. Thanks to the Bombay High Court's intervention he was admitted to a private hospital when his condition started deteriorating after he was infected with Covid. But it was too late to prevent his death in custody.

 We are urging your immediate intervention as the President of India to direct "your government" to act against those responsible for foisting false cases on him, his continued detention in jail and inhuman treatment. They must be held accountable. It is now incumbent that all those jailed in the Bhima Koregaon case and other detenues under politically motivated cases, misusing draconian laws like UAPA, Sedition etc, be released forthwith.

Sd/-

Sonia Gandhi (INC)                                             HD Deve Gowda

(JD-S)

Sharad Pawar (NCP)                                            Farooq

Abdullah (JKPA)

Mamata Banerjee (TMC)                                     Tejaswi Yadav

(RJD)

MK Stalin (DMK)                                                D Raja (CPI)

Hemant Soren (JMM)                                          Sitaram Yechury

(CPI-M)