Father Stan Swamy’s painful wait for a staw and a sipper cannot be tolerated anymore, a prominent disability rights outfit that is planning to send the drinking aid to the jailed Parkinson’s patient, said.
The National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled's (NPRD) statement came after a special court in Mumbai on Thursday rejected the Elgar Parishad case undertrial’s request for the same.
"The painful wait that Swamy will have to endure for a sipper cannot be tolerated any longer. December 4, when the very same court decides again, is seven days away. Stan cannot be refused fluids for such a long period. The NPRD and its affiliating units have therefore decided to send sippers to the jailor of Taloja Jail, Maharashtra, to be given to Stan Swamy," the NPRD said in a statement.
The 83-year-old was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on October 8 from his Ranchi residence and is currently lodged in the Taloja prison. Being a Parkinson’s patient, he pleaded with the NIA to hand him a straw and a sipper, following which the court denied his request and sought the central agency’s response on his request.
The court will further hear the matter on December 4.
The NPRD also appealed to all disability rights organisations, activists and all those who seek justice for the activist and stand in defence of his rights to join this campaign and send sippers to Swamy.
"It took 20 long days for the NIA to come up with a claim that they did not seize these items from Stan's possession. Even if we accept the NIA's contention, the special court should have taken a humanitarian view and ordered that he be provided with an utensil that would assist him in intake of fluids including water. The refusal to do so is atrocious to say the least," the NPRD said.
Father Swamy is an individual living with Parkinson’s disease, which is a condition recognised as disabling as per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, and expressed resentment at the persistent denial of the drinking aids to the tribal rights activist.
The NPRD further said in its statement, “As per various laws and international conventions to which India is a signatory, it is obligatory that Stan Swamy be provided with requisite age and disability appropriate requirements, assistive aids including straws and sippers as also human care assistance".
"Denial of the same constitutes a violation of his basic rights," it added.
Swamy was arrested for his alleged role in inciting violence in the Bhima Koregaon case near Pune on January 1, 2018.
