Stan Swamy's death in custody can’t be justified: Sanjay Raut

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said the death of Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case accused Jesuit priest Stan Swamy in custody cannot be justified even if Maoists are “more dangerous than Kashmiri separatists”.
In his weekly column ‘Rokhthok’ in the party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, Raut wondered whether India’s foundation was so weak that an 84-year-old man could wage a war against it, and said being critical of an incumbent government doesn’t mean being against the country.
Swamy, 84, possibly the oldest person to be accused of terrorism in India, died in a Mumbai hospital recently in the middle of his fight for bail on health grounds.
“A government that is scared of an 84-year-old physically challenged man is dictatorial in character, but weak in the mind,” said Raut.
The activities of the Elgar Parishad can’t be supported, but what happened later should be called a “conspiracy of cracking down on freedom”, Raut said, referring to the arrest of activists like Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Gaurav Navlakha and others.