Mumbai: Detained activist and Jesuit priest Stan Swamy has been provided with the straw sipper that he had requested and unfair allegations are being made against the jail authorities in Mumbai’s Taloja central jail, said Satej Patil, Maharashtra’s Minister of State for Home.
Speaking to ThePrint, Patil said a lot of misinformation is being spread on this issue even though the jail authorities are taking good care of Swamy. If required the state government is willing to shift the 83-year-old activist to a private hospital, he added.
“There are unnecessary allegations being levelled against the Taloja jail authorities. There is a lot of misinformation about this. The straw sipper in question is already being provided to Stan Swamy and he is being well taken care of,” Patil, a Congress MLC, told ThePrint.
Patil added: “Those who have concerns about Stan Swamy can come and see for themselves. If there are any shortcomings in what we are providing him, we are ready to meet those and we are even willing to shift him to a private hospital if required.”
Swamy was arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case on 8 October from Ranchi under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He suffers from Parkinson’s disease and is currently in the hospital ward of the Taloja jail.
On 10 October, the agency had filed a chargesheet naming Swamy along with other detained activists and scholars — Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha, Hany Babu, Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, Jyoti Jagtap and Milind Teltumbde — for inciting the violence at Bhima Koregaon in January 2018.
Also read: Priest, activist, ‘Naxal backer’ — who’s Stan Swamy, latest NIA arrest in Bhima Koregaon case
‘Provided with sipper cup, sipper bottle, straws’
The Taloja jail authorities also wrote to the State Human Rights Commission on 25 November and stated that Swamy is being provided with all the medical facilities he requires, a source from Maharashtra’s home department said.
The letter noted that jail authorities are giving him regular medicines, a high-protein diet, a bedsheet, mattress, pillow, hot water for bathing, a commode chair, a walker, a walking stick, a wheelchair, a sipper cup, sipper bottle and straws, among other amenities.
“The jail authorities have also informed the human rights commission that his vitals are being monitored regularly and he is also being examined regularly by a psychiatrist,” the source added.
Swamy had filed an application in early November demanding that the straw and sipper cup seized from him during his arrest be returned.
The prosecution had then sought 20 days to file a reply to this application and the matter was posted for 26 November, when the NIA told a special court in Mumbai that it did not confiscate Swamy’s straw and sipper at the time of his arrest.
The special court then rejected Swamy’s application, following which, his lawyer filed a fresh application seeking permission to supply him a straw sipper cup and winter clothes. The court has sought a response from the Taloja jail superintendent and the matter will be heard on 4 December.
Meanwhile, Swamy’s supporters launched a campaign on social media that went viral asking social media users to send straw sippers to the Taloja jail and the NIA office.
Also read: MPs Tharoor, Sule, Kanizmozhi join 8 others to seek UAPA repeal, release of Stan Swamy
The sipper issue is a charade created by Stan’s supporters. The issue has been created out of nothing.
CBI enquiry required for human right violation by denying staw to Stan Swamy
There was lot of insurgency in north east.
By the reality was church was busy converting tribals and ensured insurgency to mask their proselytizing activities.
Similarly so called NGO’S who support naxalites are nothing but a front of proselytizers who want to convert tribals.
AND THEIR misinformation campaign is financed by handing VISAS N JOBS N SCHOLARSHIP in western countries to the MEDIA persons . Who then keep quiet of their activities