Remembering Father Stan Swamy on International Human Rights Day
The Hindu
He fought for human rights but the case against him was a violation of his human rights: Fr. Frazer Mascarenhas
Remembering the late tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, Father Frazer Mascarenhas said Fr. Stan was fully committed to human rights and it was unfortunate that the entire Bhima Koregaon case against him was a violation of his human rights and those of others. The Bombay High Court declared Fr. Frazer Mascarenhas as Fr. Stan’s next of kin.
Talking about Fr. Stan on International Human Rights Day, Fr. Frazer said, “Fr. Stan had been through such a difficult time of ill-treatment [in jail], so he knew what others were going through. He was really worried about those [co-accused] in the Taloja jail and the ladies in Byculla jail. He would have been very happy to know that Sudha [Bharadwaj] is out on bail.”
The fear of being caught for traffic rule violation has indeed compelled many two-wheeler riders to wear helmets. But one cursory look at riders at any traffic junction in Bengaluru shows that more than half the riders have on their heads non-standard helmets, designed solely to evade the eye of law, with little concern for the safety of their own heads.
When Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, Beijing promised to retain the city’s Western-style civil liberties for 50 years. However, since the introduction of the 2020 law, Hong Kong authorities have severely limited free speech and assembly under the rubric of maintaining national security.