01-05-2021 The Asian Independent

20 01-05-2021 to 15-05-2021 NEWS
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Release Fr Swamy, English bishops
say on his 84TH BIRTHDAY
English bishops have called for the immediate release of Fr Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest who has
been unjustly imprisoned because of his work to support marginalised communities.
Four bishops from the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of England &
Wales’ International Affairs department
expressed their prayerful support for Fr
Swamy as they marked his 84th birthday.
Fr Swamy, who has spent his life
defending the human rights of marginalised
Dalit and Adivasi communities,
has been imprisoned for more than 200
days on unfounded terrorism charges,
which have been condemned by the UN,
the local church, and the Federation of
Asian Bishops’ Conferences.
There are serious concerns for his
wellbeing, particularly given the severity
of the Covid-19 pandemic in India.
Fr Swamy, who turned 84 on 26th
April, has Parkinson’s among several
other health conditions.
The Bishop of Clifton, Declan Lang,
chair of the Bishops’ Conference
International Affairs Department, said:
“I would like to assure you of my
prayers – you are remembered every
day. Your work with the marginalised
Dalit and Adivasi communities is an
inspiration to all of us and a courageous
stand for justice.
Poignantly, Bishop Lang also raised
the urgent need for Fr Swamy to have
access to his medicine for Parkinson’s.
Himself a sufferer, he said: “As someone
who also suffers from Parkinson’s, I
understand your need for medication –
the absence of which makes life very
difficult and can make one feel very vulnerable.”
The Bishop of Salford, John
Arnold, chair of CAFOD, urged
Catholics to pray for Fr Swamy’s
“courage and strength in enduring such
injustice”. He also asked for prayers for
his captors. “We ask that they may
begin to glimpse the wrong that they
inflict on Fr Stan – help them to recognise
the injustice in their actions and
guide them to the truth,” he said.
Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and
lead Bishop for Migrants and Refugees,
Paul McAleenan, recalled the “many,
many years” Fr Swamy has been campaigning
on behalf of those denied justice.
“It is now time for us to do what Fr
Swamy has been doing for years and
demand justice for him,” he said.
The Bishop of Lancaster, Paul
Swarbrick, added: “I cannot recall
Christ ever giving up on his care for the
poor. Fr Stan is committed and determined
to defend the rights of the indigenous
people. He will not rest, he will not
walk away or allow them to be robbed.
“Fr Stan I thank you for your faith
and your determination.”
Picture: Jesuit Fr Stan Swamy, pictured
in a screenshot from a video, has
been incarcerated in an Indian jail since
his 8th October 2020, arrest. The priest,
who has worked for tribal rights in
India, credits his Jesuit training and
work with India’s Indigenous people for
providing him with coping strategies.
(CNS screenshot/YouTube).
Courtesy : The Catholic Universe
1,000 + activists, academics, concerned citizens from 20+ states in
India and across the globe write to Chief Minister Chhattisgarh
Call for immediate release of Hidme Markam and end state excess on adivasis in Bastar
Deeply outraged by the arbitrary
incarceration of Hidme Markam, an adivasi
human rights defender and environmental
activist, for over 40 days, more
than a thousand activists, academics,
concerned citizens from across the
globe sent a petition to Mr. Bhupesh
Baghel, the Chief Minister,
Chhattisgarh calling upon him to immediate
ensure the release of Hidme
Markam and take pro-active steps to
end the cycle of repression against adivasis
in Chhattisgarh. They also
appealed that false charges against
Hidme and other adivasi activists be
dropped and an independent inquiry be
conducted into all instances of sexual
and state violence.
It has been widely reported that on
9th March, 2021, Hidme Markam, a
committed environmental activist from
the adivasi community, working in the
Nandraj Pahad anti-mining movement
was openly abducted by the Dantewada
Police (and later shown as ‘arrested’)
when she was attending a programme
commemorating the International
Women’s Day in Sameli, Bastar.
Several women had gathered peacefully
to remember and mourn the rapes and
murders of adivasi women at the hands
of the State. But ironically, that day
became witness to another incident of
state high-handedness She has been in
jail for over 40 days now.
The letter states that Hidme Markam
along with other adivasis, organized as
the Nandraj Pahad Bachao Andolan, has
been resisting the mining of a sacred
indigenous hill by corporations like
Adani Pvt Ltd. She has also been organizing
against the Bailadila Mine Deposit
project that would result in grave ecological
damage in the region especially
on the local forest, land and water bodies.
As a member of the Chhattisgarh
Mahila Adhikar Manch, Hidme has
been present in numerous public spaces
and meetings in Chhattisgarh, asserting
the rights of adivasi women, especially
against displacement and state repression.
Her arrest is just the latest in the
chain of the State hounding adivasi
women activists who are fighting for
constitutional and human rights.
The violence of ill-thought and arbitrary
‘development’ projects have
haunted the adivasi state of
Chhattisgarh and Central-Eastern India
for decades. The wide scale displacement
and environmental devastation
caused by these projects remain unaccounted,
and they multiply constantly,
to cater largely to corporate profits. The
local communities who have peacefully
existed there for decades, not only
depend on these forests and mountains
for their sustenance, but also sustain
them, have been violently crushed to
build mines and industries. But they
continue to resist, and democratically
fight for their rights.
Condemning Hidme’s arrest as
entirely wrongful, the Chief Minister
has been called upon to immediately:
- Free Hidme Markam and drop all
charges against her, including
UAPA matters.
- Stop the clamp down on environmental,
adivasi and other human
rights activists as well as adivasi villagers
in Chhattisgarh, in particular
women in the garb of ‘combating
Naxalism’.
- Halt all potentially destructive projects
that displace adivasis and jeopardizes
the environment and dialogue
with the adivasi communities.
- Disband questionable schemes like
Lon Varatu and unconstitutional
entities like the District Reserve
Guards Force (DRGF).
- Institute an independent and highlevel
inquiry into the sexual violence
and alleged “suicide” of
Kawasi Pande, the rape and death of
Nande, the rape and murder of
Bheeme Mandawi and other young
women who have been sexually
assaulted by the police. Put an
immediate end to the sexual violence
being rampantly inflicted by
the police and security forces on the
women of Bastar.
CAMPAIGN TO FREE
HIDME MARKAM