Asian bishops’ solidarity with jailed Indian Jesuit – Vatican News

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26 October 2020

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Asian bishops’ solidarity with jailed Indian Jesuit - Vatican News

By Vatican News staff writer

The Catholic Church in Asia has expressed its closeness and solidarity with arrested Indian Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy and all who support the rights of indigenous and marginalized people, UCANEWS reported.

“It is with great shock and agony the FABC heard of the arrest of the 83-year-old Father Swamy and his incarceration and we are surprised at the charges brought against him,” said UCANEWS citing a statement by Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, the president of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC).

“The arrest and cold-hearted incarceration of Father Swamy reminds us of the treatment meted out to Mahatma Gandhi when he stood up for the rights of the Indian people,” the cardinal said in his appeal on Monday.

He said Father Swamy was following Gandhi’s non-violent path to realize his dream: “The arrest is symptomatic of the treatment meted out to indigenous people in various parts of Asia.”

Table of Contents

Sedition charges

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), the federal unit that is charged with anti-terrorism activities, arrested Father Swamy on 8 Ocober at Bagaicha, a Jesuit social action centre for indigenous rights in the outskirts of Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state.

The agency charged the elderly priest with sedition and for his links with an outlawed Maoist group, which was behind the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case in Maharashtra state. Father Swamy refutes the allegations saying he has never been to Bhima Koregaon.

The day after his arrest, a special NIA court in Mumbai, Maharashtra state, remanded him in judicial custody until 23 October. A bail plea on health grounds for the ailing priest was rejected by the court on 23 October, extending his remand by another two weeks until 5 November. The frail and ailing priest suffers from Parkinson’s disease and hearing loss.

Indigenous rights

As part of his social activism, Father Swamy has been working to secure the release of young tribal activists fighting for their ancestral land rights and against forced displacement. They have been arrested and jailed as undertrials, accused of being members of Maoist groups engaged in violence in Jharkhand.

According to the Asian bishops’ president, the Asian market economy and its promoters have treated indigenous communities with a colonial mentality, making them environmental refugees. Yet, it is the indigenous communities who protect nature and restore it to the world.

Cardinal Bo urged the relevant authorities to acknowledge the role indigenous people play in the welfare of the world and release their people and those who support them, such as Father Swamy.

The cardinal hoped the country’s “leaders will show sagacity and magnanimity in appreciating the services of Father Swamy and other indigenous people’s leaders, releasing them as free citizens of India.” (Source: UCANEWS)

Regions request support from the EU and demand to have a voice in Brussels, with “Sign it Europe”

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26 October 2020

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“The initiative was started by the Seklers of Transylvania, though it concerns not only them but many other national regions of the EU”, says their website.

The minority regions of the European Union feel forgotten by the executive authorities. Aid from European funds overlooks these territories, whose linguistic, cultural, ethnic, and religious differences contribute to the diversity of the community. The Sign It Europe initiative aims to get the support needed for Brussels to support these regions financially.

The success and strength of the European Union is based on the union of its territories, including their different national, ethnic, cultural, religious or linguistic characteristics. While in the case of the major countries these differences are taken into account, the surrounding regions, which do not have administrative powers, are forgotten by the institutions on a daily basis.

The EU must ensure the proper economic development of these regions, preventing their economic backwardness, maintaining their development, and preserving the conditions for economic, social, and territorial cohesion. To this end, it must provide all territories with the same opportunities to access its funds, as well as caring for and preserving the specific characteristics of each people, maintaining the development of the EU and its cultural diversity.

PROTECT THE THOUSAND-YEAR-OLD MINORITY NATIONS OF THE EU!
www.signiteurope.com

The Sign It Europe initiative was created with the aim of helping European minority regions to access EU funds, preserving Europe’s ethnic diversity, and to establish a specific funding system for territorial development policy that is direct, exclusive and accessible to regional territories. A campaign of signatures with which to demonstrate in Brussels, the EU’s headquarters, the importance of this issue.

“The initiative is not about protecting minorities. We Europeans are a group of communities of people and nations living in different countries. We represent the majorities that make up each country, which has been able to maintain themselves over time. Now is the time to join the regional territories to have influence in Europe, it is the time to act. Our voices have to be heard in Brussels,” said the organization’s sources.

This campaign, which has a deadline of 7 November 2020, will enable the EU to actively contribute to supporting cultural and linguistic diversity, providing the necessary financial support to the different territories, for the full development of their own language, culture, folklore, and identity within their own country.

“By signing our Citizens’ Initiative you will help European nations to build and preserve the different cultures that make them up. If we succeed in reaching the required signature from EU countries, the European Commission will take the appropriate steps to implement this support. Together, with everyone’s support, we will achieve the conservation and preservation of the essence of Europe and all its territories,” they have said.

Visit www.signiteurope.com to sign the petition.