By Muslim Mirror Staff
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Wednesday cited the arrest of 83-year old tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy as an example of Hitlershahi (Hitler-like regime)” in the country and urged the opposition to unite against fascist” approach and “oppressive” policies of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in the Centre.
Swamy has been arrested by the National Investigation Agency in connection with the violence that took place in Bhima Koregaon village in Maharashtra on 2 January 2018.
Addressing an event of the Peoples Union For Civil Liberties (PUCL) via video conferencing, Soren denounced the arrest of Swamy.
“Today it was Stan Swamy, tomorrow it will be us,” he said.
“A person who worked as a guiding light for the oppressed and deprived people of Jharkhand is now being tortured by the Centre. At a time when there is absolute anarchy in the country and the Centre is targeting people with a vicious and vindictive approach, Opposition parties should not be afraid of uniting against this tyranny,” he added.
Soren stated that the central government is silencing the voices of those speaking for the Adivasis, Dalits and other marginalised groups, the non-BJP ruled states are being harassed, the various constitutional mechanisms of our country are being weakened today by different groups and organisations for its own political benefit under a hidden agenda.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury as well as the DMK’s Kanimozhi urged civil society groups and the public to break their silence over the “government’s attacks on the rights of the people”.
“Today we have to make a decision as political parties, as the whole society whether to accept what is happening in silence or say this is enough and fight them together. If we accept this, then in a few years we will not see a democratic India that we know. Every law that this government has passed has chipped away the rights of the people. It’s time to break the silence,” Kanimozhi said in the video conference.