This is an open letter endorsed by several organisations such as the Campaign to Defend Democracy, All India People’s Forum (AIPF), People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and humans activists such as Amar Jesani, P. Sainath, Anil Sadagopal, Dunu Roy,, Harsh Mander, Kavita Srivatsava, Meera Sanghamitra, Nandini Sundar, Pieter Friedrich, Ram Puniyani among many others.
The signatories condemn the open threats to violence by the Hindutva fascist groups such as ABVP, VHM and Bajrang Dal against a private autonomous Catholic college in Mangalore for its decision to name one of its parks after the late Fr. Stan Swamy whose death has become symbolic of the systemic oppression of a human rights activist standing with the most
marginalized communities.
We call for swift and urgent action by the district authorities against this form of criminal intimidation of members and institutions of minority communities. Please do share this letter widely, including with your media contacts.
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Open letter endorsed by individuals and organisations
Demand for Action by Mangalore district administration against ABVP, VHP and Bajrang Dal 8th October 2021
Dear friends,
News reports have reported that Hindutva fascist groups including ABVP, VHP and Bajrang Dal have opposed the decision of the St Aloysius College, Mangalore a private autonomous college to name one of its parks after Human Rights and Adivasi Rights Activist Late Father Stan Swamy. They have threatened to stage a protest if the college goes ahead with the plan.
Threats have been made by them stating that “The college will be responsible if any untoward incident takes place”.
We call upon the District Administration and the Police to take immediate action against these organizations for engaging in criminal intimidation and issuing such threats. They have absolutely no right to interfere in the goings on of the private institution. These organization have a stated purpose and history for violence, communal divisiveness and subscribe to an
idea of our country, with scant regard to the Constitution and the Rule of Law.
This blatantly illegal behavior is a consequence of the free run that is being given to these fascist organizations in coastal Karnataka. These organizations are imposing social apartheid, interfering in the private affairs of citizens and acting against the Constitutional principle of fraternity by engaging in daily acts of violence and intimidation with impunity. Members of these organizations have engaged in lynching of minorities across the country, conducting
riots and engaging in violence to push minorities into second-class citizenship
Fr. Stan Swamy was a person who was falsely implicated in the cases pending against him and subject to the most inhuman treatment leading to his untimely death. Imprisoned at the age of 84 years while suffering from Parkinson’s disease, he was denied the most basic of rights, being deprived of even a sipper. He dedicated his entire life for the upliftment of the oppressed sections of society and was targeted precisely for this reason. We stand with Fr.
Stan Swamy.
We demand that immediate action be taken against these fascist organization for their actions of criminal intimidation and the district administration and police provide adequate protection to the college to ensure that there is no interference in its private affairs.
Email from:
*Dr. Sylvia Karpagam* https://independent.academia.edu/SylviaKarpagam