Father Stan Swamy’s ashes arrived at Jamshedpur Jesuit Province, from Jharkhand where he started working. It took place at the Loyola Chapel for the people to offer their last tribute on Friday. Jesuits and Catholics organized funeral masses at Jamshedpur and Ranchi. The Provincial of the Jamshedpur Jesuit Province, Fr Jerome Cutinha, said the ashes of Fr Stan would be held at the Loyola Chapel in Jamshedpur on Friday and Saturday. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Sunday is a weekend lockdown, therefore it is planned that the funeral mass at XLRI Jamshedpur will be held in the evening digitally. Fr Jerome included, “There will be a Requiem Mass at the Ranchi Cathedral by the Ranchi Archdiocese on Saturday morning and thereafter in the evening an online mass will be held by Jesuits. If there are requests, we will send the ashes to other parts of Jharkhand for people to pay their respects. On August 3, the ashes will be laid to rest at the Jesuits graveyard in Jamshedpur.”
Being in judicial custody, Fr Stan died in a Mumbai hospital on Monday. While expecting his bail for nine months, he also challenged the UAPA in Bombay High court. He had been apprehended in the Bhima-Koregaon Maoists link case under the UAPA, which allowed him for detention without trial for six months. On Friday, the politicians and tribal rights activists arrived at Bagaicha, the social research centre at Namkum near Ranchi. The centre was built by Fr Stan, the place where he resided and also vowed to coordinate the movement to repeal the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Meanwhile, on arriving CPI-ML general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya to pay his respects at Bagaicha, said “I had come here during the first NIA raid (in 2019) and spent some time with Fr Stan, who has been martyred for raising his voice for the tribals and the oppressed. We will continue the agitation and the mission of Fr Stan.” Bhattacharya added, “Our leader (Bagodar MLA Vinod Kumar Singh) will take part in a joint rally of right activists, academics and political leaders of different parties to the Raj Bhavan on July 15 to submit a memorandum demanding the repeal of the UAPA and the release of right activists lodged under the sedition law in Jharkhand and other parts of the country.”
Mahendra Patha, a leader of the Jharkhand Kisan Mahasabha also involved in farmer’s movement against Central farm laws, came over to Bagaicha to pay his respects, said the BJP-led central government’s “efforts to suppress voices of dissent with arrests would not be successful” and the involvement of farmers and social activists would only boost the anxiety.
RJD state Vice-president, Rajesh Yadav said, ‘’law should be framed to provide a common platform of all opposition parties not only in Jharkhand but across the country against the BJP-led Centre’s strategy of arresting right activists under draconian laws like UAPA”.In consideration to the National Crime Records Bureau, 105 UAPA cases had been filed in Jharkhand in 2019, following only Manipur (306), Tamil Nadu (270) and Jammu and Kashmir (255).
