Rupesh Samant

Panaji, Oct 13: Goa Church on Tuesday appealed the Union government to “immediately rerelease the human rights crusader Fr Stan Swamy” and ensure that rights, duties and privileges of citizens across religions are safeguarded.

The 83-year-old priest has been arrested in connection with Bhima-Koregao case by National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The Council for Social Justice and Peace (CSJP), a wing of Goa Church, in a statement released, has appealed to the Government of India to immediately release the human rights crusader Fr Stan Swamy and allow him to return home. “The government must ensure that the rights, duties and privileges of citizens across religions are safeguarded, and an atmosphere of peace and harmony in society is ensured,” the council has said.

Fr Savio Fernandes of CSJP has said that they are 'aghast and distraught on learning about the arrest of 83-year-old Jesuit priest Fr Stan Swamy by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) with total disregard for the dignity and rights of an acclaimed human rights crusader.'

“It is well known that the Catholic priest has devoted almost five decades of his life in lobbying and advocating for the rights of the Adivasis, especially their land rights in the state of Jharkhand. Standing with the oppressed and voiceless sections of society has been Fr Stan's spiritual duty of bearing witness to the central mission of his Christian faith and his calling to the priesthood, which is about serving the poor and marginalized to promote social justice and peace, and cannot be equated with any political ideology and militant organisation,” Fr Fernandes said.

“To question the validity, legality and justness of several steps taken by the government in defence of the human rights of the voiceless and victimised sections of society is the essence of any religion and also of our Indian Constitution, and should not be construed as sedition,” he added.

He said that the humiliation and harassment meted out to Fr Stan gives the impression of a vicious design of the Union Government to target the progressive work of the Christian community, which has always been recognised as a body of loyal, law-abiding and service-minded citizens committed to nation-building and actively supporting several of the government’s social welfare programs.

“There is now an apprehension in the community that by falsely implicating and dragging Fr Stan into an alleged criminal conspiracy of a political organisation, there is an attempt to brand Christians as anti-nationals and manufacture grounds to deny them their political space and curtail democratic rights and privileges,” he added.