Action sought against Hindutva groups for issuing threats to college over Stan Swamy park

An open letter by organisations said that Hindutva groups had threatened to stage a protest if the college names one of its parks after Fr Stan Swamy

Several organisations and activists have urged the Dakshina Kannada district administration and the police to take action against Hindutva groups, including ABVP, VHP and Bajrang Dal for opposing the decision of the Mangaluru's autonomous St Aloysius College to name one of its parks after Human Rights and Adivasi Rights Activist late Father Stan Swamy.

An open letter endorsed by individuals and organisations said that Hindutva groups had threatened to stage a protest if the college goes ahead with the plan. These organisations include Campaign to Defend Democracy, All India People’s Forum (AIPF), PUCL, P Sainath, Harsh Mander, and others.

“We called upon the district administration and the police to take immediate action against these organisations for engaging in criminal intimidation and issuing such threats. They have absolutely no right to interfere in the goings-on of the private institution. These organisations have a stated purpose and history for violence, communal divisiveness and subscribe to an
idea of our country, with scant regard to the Constitution and the Rule of Law. This blatantly illegal behavior is a consequence of the free-run that is being given to these fascist organisations in coastal Karnataka,” said the letter.

Further, it said, “these organisations are imposing social apartheid, interfering in the private affairs of citizens and acting against the Constitutional principle of fraternity by engaging in daily acts of violence and intimidation with impunity. Members of these organisations have engaged in lynching of minorities across the country, conducting riots and engaging in violence to push minorities into second-class citizenship,” the letter added.

The signatories of the open letter said that Fr Stan Swamy was a person who was falsely implicated in the cases pending against him and subject to the most inhuman treatment leading to his untimely death. He had dedicated his entire life to the upliftment of the oppressed sections of society and was targeted precisely for this reason, they said. The signtories sought protection for the college from the district administration and police to ensure no interference in its matters, added the letter.

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