<p class="bodytext">Activists have called the arrest of Father Stan Swamy by the NIA a "condemnable act" against a "kind" man fighting for the rights of tribals.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 82-year-old was arrested by the central probe agency on Thursday from his Ranchi (Jharkhand) home for his alleged involvement in inciting a mob to violence in Bhima Koregaon near Pune on January 1, 2018.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Shocking and condemnable act on the 83-year-old priest who has spent all his life serving the poor," Swaraj India party president Yogendra Yadav said in a tweet.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Activist and lawyer Prashant Bhushan described Father Swamy as a nice person.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Just got the news that the NIA has forcibly taken octogenarian Father Stan Swamy from his ashram at Ranchi. It would be difficult to imagine a gentler and kinder person."</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It is the sign of the venality of the NIA that they are trying to implicate him under UAPA! (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act)," Bhushan tweeted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Like Sudha Bharadwaj, Stan Swamy has spent a lifetime fighting for the rights of Adivasis."</p>.<p class="bodytext">"That is why the Modi regime seeks to suppress and silence them; because for this regime, the profits of mining companies take precedence over the lives and livelihoods of Adivasis," historian Ramchandra Guha said in a tweet.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Activist Harsh Mander too expressed his support for Swamy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Father Stan Swamy in his 80s has served India's tribal people selflessly, struggled with them peacefully against injustice. One by one, the state is hounding India's finest sons & daughters. Why is it so frightened of those who speak for the most oppressed? #IStandWithStanSwamy," Mander tweeted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Journalist and filmmaker Pritish Nandy said it was "very tragic to see an 83-year-old priest fighting for Adivasi rights being arrested in the midst of a raging pandemic."</p>.<p class="bodytext">However, BJP's national secretary and Tripura in-charge Sunil Deodhar endorsed the NIA action.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's good that NIA arrested Stan Swamy, a Jharkhand based Jesuit priest and member of banned outfit CPI(Maoist), in Bhima Koregaon case.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This may further reveal links between the Christian missionaries and Urban Naxals," he said on Twitter.</p>
<p class="bodytext">Activists have called the arrest of Father Stan Swamy by the NIA a "condemnable act" against a "kind" man fighting for the rights of tribals.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 82-year-old was arrested by the central probe agency on Thursday from his Ranchi (Jharkhand) home for his alleged involvement in inciting a mob to violence in Bhima Koregaon near Pune on January 1, 2018.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Shocking and condemnable act on the 83-year-old priest who has spent all his life serving the poor," Swaraj India party president Yogendra Yadav said in a tweet.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Activist and lawyer Prashant Bhushan described Father Swamy as a nice person.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Just got the news that the NIA has forcibly taken octogenarian Father Stan Swamy from his ashram at Ranchi. It would be difficult to imagine a gentler and kinder person."</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It is the sign of the venality of the NIA that they are trying to implicate him under UAPA! (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act)," Bhushan tweeted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Like Sudha Bharadwaj, Stan Swamy has spent a lifetime fighting for the rights of Adivasis."</p>.<p class="bodytext">"That is why the Modi regime seeks to suppress and silence them; because for this regime, the profits of mining companies take precedence over the lives and livelihoods of Adivasis," historian Ramchandra Guha said in a tweet.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Activist Harsh Mander too expressed his support for Swamy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Father Stan Swamy in his 80s has served India's tribal people selflessly, struggled with them peacefully against injustice. One by one, the state is hounding India's finest sons & daughters. Why is it so frightened of those who speak for the most oppressed? #IStandWithStanSwamy," Mander tweeted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Journalist and filmmaker Pritish Nandy said it was "very tragic to see an 83-year-old priest fighting for Adivasi rights being arrested in the midst of a raging pandemic."</p>.<p class="bodytext">However, BJP's national secretary and Tripura in-charge Sunil Deodhar endorsed the NIA action.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's good that NIA arrested Stan Swamy, a Jharkhand based Jesuit priest and member of banned outfit CPI(Maoist), in Bhima Koregaon case.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This may further reveal links between the Christian missionaries and Urban Naxals," he said on Twitter.</p>