Father Stan Swamy had expected his arrest and written a letter from his home, Bagaicha, near Ranchi, on October 8, 2020, which was forwarded to right activists, lawyers and journalists just hours before he was taken away by a team of the National Investigation Agency.
Excerpts from the note follow.
Sentences in bold letters had been made so by Fr Stan.
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I was interrogated by the NIA for 15 hours during a span of 5 days (July 27, 28, 29, 30 Aug. 6). Apart from my bio-data and some factual information, several extracts allegedly taken from a computer implicating my connection to Maoist forces were placed before me. I told them all these are fabrications stealthily put into my computer and I disowned them.
Does Raising Questions on the Rights of Adivasis Make Me a âDeshdrohi ?
How questioning the validity, legality and justness of several steps taken by the government and the ruling class led to being charged with sedition.
A Pathalgadi meeting. Credit: Nandini Sundar
Rights05/Jul/2021
This short note was written by Fr Stan Swamy after the Jharkhand authorities filed a case of sedition against him for supporting the Adivasi Pathalgadi movement in July 2018. The charges, registered under the BJP regime, were eventually revoked after the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha led by Hemant Soren came to power. The note was originally published on July 31, 2018 and was republished on July 5, 2021 in light of Swamy’s death while in custody in connection with the Elgar Parishad case.
‘It should be first discussed in the local adivasi Gram Sabha’
Former secretary to GOI and former Commissioner for Tribal Welfare, A.P. Government, E.A.S. Sarma, has taken strong exception to the way in which the AP Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) has issued an E-Tender for ‘Working of Calcite Mining Lease’ of 8.725 hectares at Nimmalapadu village in Ananthagiri mandal in Visakhapatnam district, on ‘Raising-cum-sale contract basis’.
In a letter to the Chief Secretary, he stated that the APMDC has no right to unilaterally issue such a notification and it was in gross violation of the provisions embedded in the Panchayat (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) and the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act (FRA).