U.S. Secretary of State Blinken to Look into Case of 83-Year-old Priest Held in India

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) has said that he would look into the case of Catholic priest Stan Swamy (right), held in India on allegations he was linked to Maoists. (IANS photo)

NEW YORK – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that he would look into the case of an 83-year-old Catholic priest, Stan Swamy, held in India on allegations he was linked to Maoists.

Responding March 10 to a request from a member of the House of Representatives while he was testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Blinken asked for more information and said, “We’ll look into it.”

Juan Vargas, who is the vice chair of the House International Economic Policy and Migration Subcommittee, told Blinken while questioning him that it was an “incredible injustice” that Swamy, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency, has been in jail for over 130 days.

Swamy belongs to the Jesuit order of priests and Vargas said that he had himself been a member of that society.

He was arrested in Ranchi and taken to Maharashtra and detained in a Pune jail under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act on allegations that he participated in the activities of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist.

The case relates to a celebration by Dalits on Jan. 1, 2018, in Koregaon-Bhima near Pune, which was followed by violence that left one person dead.

Swamy has been an activist for tribal and Dalit rights.

Earlier in his testimony to the Committee on President Joe Biden’s Priorities for U.S. Foreign Policy, Blinken said that in furtherance of its aims, “we held the first ministerial meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue between us, Japan, Australia, and India, and we will hold a leader-level summit this week on (March 12).”