How Does an 83-Year-Old Jesuit End Up in Prison? – By Nikhil Kumar

…. Father (Stan) Swamy’s lawyers argue that the case against their client is shakier than the octogenarian’s grip. His was the 16th arrest linked to violent clashes that broke out on Jan. 1, 2018 in the western Indian state of Maharashtra…. Apart from Father Swamy, among those arrested in connection with the violence are an eminent scholar of the caste system, a professor of linguistics and an 81-year-old poet….

The other thing they have in common: They have spent their lives raising their voices for lower-caste Hindus, minority Muslims, poor tribespeople and other vulnerable Indians. It is work that has taken them down what on Mr. Modi’s watch has become an increasingly perilous road: challenging the Indian state.

“We are all aware how prominent intellectuals, lawyers, writers, poets, activists, student leaders — they are all put in jail just because they have expressed their dissent or raised questions about the ruling powers of India,” Father Swamy explained in a video statement recorded before his arrest, his voice soft and breathy, as if he has just run 10 miles….

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/24/opinion/india-modi-jesuit-priest-prison.html