Father Stan Swamy killed in prison, alleges Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut

MUMBAI: A week after the death of tribal rights activist and Jesuit priest Stan Swamy, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday alleged that Swamy was killed in jail. Raut also stated that the union government was afraid of Swamy and has compared the Modi government with Hitler and Mussolini.
The Sena leader, who is also the executive editor of the party mouthpiece Saamana, targeted the Modi government in his weekly column ‘RokhThok’ stating that the union government was afraid of Father Stan Swamy.
“Elgar Parishad was definitely a poisonous event. No one can support venomous speeches and slogans. But whatever happened after that should be called a conspiracy of ‘curbing on freedom of expression’, Raut said, questioning further, whether "making tribal communities aware of their rights and freedom, is attempting to turn the power upside down? Does it mean, it is a conspiracy to topple the government or is it treason or anti-national activities?” questioned Sena MP.
The 84-year-old Swamy died in a Mumbai hospital, last Monday.
According to the NIA, Swamy was actively involved with the CPI (Maoist). They also said literature, propaganda material of the CPI (Maoist) and documents related to communications for furthering the group's programmes were seized from his possession. Swamy on his part had alleged that material had been planted on his computer and he was being falsely accused.
Raut stated that Sena has differences with various streams of communism. “Maoism, Naxalism are terrible, but they have their political parties, organisations, and systems everywhere in the world. Although we accept that these people are worse than the extremists in Kashmir, however the murder or death of Swamy in prison cannot be justified,” stated Raut.
Sena’s chief spokesperson further clarified that to oppose the government and to oppose the country, are two different things. “If one would think that opposing the government is a conspiracy to overthrow the country, it means that the seeds of ‘dictatorship’ are rooted in their minds,” he added, “The government which is afraid of a crippled and weak 84-year-old person, is surely ‘dictatorial’ by attitude and ‘weak’ at heart, similarly like Hitler-Mussolini,” Raut stated.