Shillong, July 5: The Thma U Rangli Juki (TUR) has come down heavily on the BJP-led NDA government following the custodial death of Fr Stan Swamy on Monday, an activist Jesuit priest who worked for the cause of tribal rights and the rights of the marginalised in Jharkhand.

In a statement, TUR leader Angela Rangad said the NDA government arrested him on false charges as part of nationwide arrests of activists and intellectuals for a so called Bhima-Koregaon conspiracy. Fr Swamy, who was living with Parkinson’s and age related maladies, was physically broken down by Covid infection in jail.

“His death while waiting for bail shows us citizens that for this government any democratic dissent is unacceptable and has to be brutally put down. Fr. Swamy knew this well,” Rangad said adding that his false imprisonment is a testimony to the authoritarian nature of this government.

She also highlighted that one of Fr Stan Swamy’s last messages was “What is happening to me is not something unique, happening to me alone. It is a broader process that is taking place all over the country. We are all aware how prominent intellectuals, lawyers, writers, poets, activists, student leaders – they are all put in jail just because they have expressed their dissent… I am ready to pay the price whatever may it be”

Meanwhile, Rangad said TUR in this moment of anguish and pain resolves to oppose all instances of fascist authoritarianism and to carry forward the struggles of the oppressed and marginalized.