New Delhi: Leaders of 10 opposition parties including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi wrote Tuesday to President Ram Nath Kovind. The opposition leaders expressed ‘outrage’ at the death of Father Stan Swamy ‘under custody’. They sought the president’s intervention in holding accountable those responsible for ‘foisting false cases’ on the activist, his continued detention and ‘inhuman treatment’. The signatories also include NCP chief Sharad Pawar, former prime minister and JDS leader HD Deve Gowda and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin (DMK) and his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren (JMM) have also signed the letter, besides D Raja (CPI), Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) and Tejashwi Yadav (RJD).
The 84-year-old priest-activist Stan Swamy died at a Mumbai hospital Monday in the middle of his fight for bail on health grounds. Swamy was arrested under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the Elgar Parishad case.
“We the undersigned leaders of major opposition parties are writing to you in deep anguish. We are expressing our intense grief and outrage at the death of Father Stan Swamy under custody,” the opposition leaders said in their joint letter.
Also read: Activists hold government responsible for ‘custodial murder’ of Stan Swamy, demand justice
“We are urging your immediate intervention as the President of India. We want you to direct your government to act against those responsible for foisting false cases on him, his continued detention in jail and inhuman treatment,” the leaders said.
“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,” they added.
The leaders said the activist championed the rights and causes of the adivasis in far flung areas of Jharkhand. Stan Swamy was jailed last October on ‘trumped-up’ charges under the draconian UAPA and was sought to be linked with the Bhima Koregaon case. They have also alleged that Swamy was denied treatment for his various ailments including the debilitating Parkinson’s disease.
“A nationwide campaign revealed that even a sipper to drink liquids was not 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-19 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-19. But it was too late to prevent his death in custody,” the opposition leaders also claimed in their letter.
In a tweet, Yechury had said Tuesday, “Leaders of major opposition parties urge intervention of President of India to hold accountable those responsible for the detention, inhuman treatment and death of Fr Stan Swamy. Release all detenues detained by misusing UAPA/Sedition etc., on politically motivated charges.”
