Statement: The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) expresses its deep anguish at the passing of Father Stan Swamy in a Mumbai hospital on Monday, July 5. Father Swamy, a well-known tribal rights activist was in judicial custody after his arrest in the Elgar Parishad/Bhima Koregaon case since October last year and was only admitted to a hospital after an intervention by the court in May this year.
Father Swamy was 84 years old and was suffering from several age related ailments. Still he was arrested from his home in Ranchi under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and sent to a jail in faraway Maharashtra despite concerns of rising Covid-19 cases. The NIA, working under the instructions of the Narendra Modi government had obstructed supply of essential medical support to Father Swamy on several occasions in the past as well, and it had opposed his shifting to a hospital until the last moment. In hospital Father Swamy got infected with COVID-19 and was put on ventilator.
AIKS believes that Father Swamy’s death is nothing less than a custodial killing committed by the union government and its agencies which, despite knowing his precarious health condition, arrested him, put him under harsh prison conditions and repeatedly opposed his bail and denied him crucial treatment. It demands that all persons responsible for Father Swamy’s death, should be held accountable and tried for their criminal acts.
CPI (M) Polit Bureau said punish those responsible for Stan Swamy's death. The party also called upon people to express their outrage in protest and to rise to protect the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution