According to a social media post by the JMM leader, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren is experiencing the same kind of harassment that resulted in the death of Jesuit priest Stan Swamy while he was in custody. Swamy dedicated his life to battling for tribal rights.
According to a Facebook post from Soren’s account, which is run by his wife Kalpana Soren, the most recent Lok Sabha elections signal the start of Jharkhand’s retaliation for the detention death of Swamy, who had been advocating for tribal rights.
Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.
“Just as Father Stan, who raised his voice for the most vulnerable section, was silenced by institutional neglect and injustice, today the same kind of oppression is being done to Hemant Soren. Today there is a need for every Jharkhandi to stand strongly in support of Hemant Soren. Otherwise, no one can stop turning Jharkhand into Manipur,” the social media post said.
Soren’s social media post also said, “This election marked the beginning of Jharkhand’s revenge for the wrongful custodial death of Father Stan Swamy, an 84-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist a black mark on India’s democracy and human rights situation”.
In Jharkhand’s five tribal constituencies—Khunti, Singhbhum, Lohardaga, Rajmahal, and Dumka—the BJP, which had won all three of the previous Lok Sabha elections, suffered a severe defeat.
The Congress won two of these seats and the ruling JMM won three. In the Khunti constituency, Union Minister Arjun Munda lost to Kalicharan Munda of the Congress by a margin of 1.49 lakh votes.
Soren’s Facebook post read: “Despite his old age and Parkinson’s disease, Father Stan, who had been fighting for the rights of tribal communities for decades, was denied bail and proper medical treatment on false terrorism charges framed by the BJP government. He was not given a straw worth 25 paise to drink water…Due to deteriorating health conditions caused by prison conditions, Father Stan, unfortunately, died in custody on July 5, 2021.”
Swamy, who spent long years working among tribals in Jharkhand, died in Mumbai, hours before his appeal for bail in a case in which he was accused of being an ‘Urban Naxal’ was to be heard.
“His death is an example of the BJP’s policy of suppressing the opposition and tribals under the pretext of terrorism and criminalizing human rights work,” it said.
Author: Rohit Singh
Rohit Singh is passionate individual currently pursuing a degree in Journalism and Mass communication , driven by a desire to do something in the media industry . Driven by a desire to revolutionize media, I aspire to lead by example and instigate a shift towards more responsible and impactful journalism. I love to learn new things and try to adapt them
