On 12 June, an eight-member team of the Pune police raided the Ranchi residence of Jesuit Father Stan Swamy. It was the second such raid on the 83-year-old’s house since August 2018. Fr Swamy, a great upholder of the rights of Adivasis, is an ‘accused’ in the Bhima Koregaon/Elgaar Parishad case in which police have so far booked 23 people, including prominent rights activists and intellectuals. The ‘Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha’ condemned the raids on Stan Swamy and arrests of other human rights activists saying, “the central government and media houses close to the BJP claim that the human rights activists were part of a Maoist conspiracy related to the Bhima-Koregaon incident. This concocted story seems to be part of a larger propaganda, based on terms like “urban Naxals,” aimed at stifling any criticism of the government. The raids and arrests are part of the government’s growing attempts to stifle dissent and intimidate those who are fighting for justice. Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha demands an immediate end to the raids, dropping of all false charges against human rights activists across the country and release of those who are arrested. These harassments are politically motivated and wholly unjustified.”

Bertolt Brecht, the German poet and fierce critic of the Nazi regime, provides a cue
In the dark times
Will there also be singing?
Yes, there will also be singing
About the dark times.

– Fr Cedric Prakash SJ