Condemning the death of Rev. Fr. Stan Swami in judicial custody, members of various political parties, citizens’ forum, Christian organisations and human rights activists staged a demonstration in Palayamkottai on Saturday evening.
More than a hundred protesters, who gathered at Vannarpet, raised slogans against the “killing” of Fr. Stan Swami in judicial custody and demanded international inquiry into the “murder”.
The speakers at the protest said the 84-year-old Fr. Stan Swami, who was denied bail by the court even though he had been arrested for fighting for the cause of the tribals, was not even given a plastic bottle with sipper, as he was suffering from Parkinson’s.
“In a merciless manner, the old man fighting for the voiceless was framed in a foisted case and put behind the bars without justice even as few fortunate people can get justice at lightning pace in the country. Even the National Human Rights Commission refused to intervene to ensure justice for him. Hence, we seek an international inquiry into the ‘killing’ of Fr. Stan Swami and the chairman of NHRC,” said the speakers at the demonstration.
General secretary of Manithaneya Makkal Katchi and party MLA Abdul Samad, state president of Social Democratic Party of India Nellai Mubarak, Bishop of Palayamkottai Roman Catholic Diocese Most Rev. Fr. Antonysamy and others participated in the demonstration.