Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday voiced his support for Bhima-Koregaon case accused Stan Swamy, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency on October 8 from Ranchi, Jharkhand.
He termed the arrest as ‘unfortunate’ and said that the move was to stifle the dissenting voices.
“It’s unfortunate that tribal rights activist and Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy was arrested and jailed. He has been working among the Tribals for decades. It’s against the principles of Indian Constitution to arrest those who raise their voice against the butchering of democratic rights of the Tribals,” CM Vijayan said in a Facebook post.
“Fr. Stan Swamy is a recognised person who supports the struggles of the tribals for land and forest rights and learns deeply about such issues. There are allegations that the arrest was a move to muzzle the voices of dissent,” he added.
The NIA arrested the 83-year-old and claimed that Stan Swamy is a member of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) and was “actively involved in its activities”.
“Stan Swamy received funds through an associate for the furtherance of CPI (Maoist) activities. Documents related to communications for furthering the activities of CPI and propaganda material of the CPI (Maoist) as well as literature, seized from his possession,” NIA sources said.
