The words “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race.” The Biblical words seem to sum up the life of Stanislaus Lourduswamy, as he was recognized. Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest from Jharkhand, died on Monday in Mumbai hours before his appeal for bail was to be heard in a case where he is accused of being an ‘Urban Naxal’.
Swamy or ‘Stan’, as called by his friends, resided in Trichy in Tamil Nadu, spent most of his years serving his beloved Adivasis in the eastern Indian tribal State of Jharkhand. He had studied theology and did a Masters’s in Sociology at the University of Manila in the 1970s. Further, he studied at Brussels where he befriended Archbishop Holder Camara, whose work among Brazil’s poor influenced him. He has also worked as Director of the Jesuit-run Indian Social Institute at Bangalore from 1975 to 1986. Thirty years ago, he played a major role as an activist for tribals in Jharkhand. He worked to free the tribal youths from imprisonment, who often were falsely accused. He took up the causes of tribals marginalized after their lands had been captured for dams, mines, and townships without their consent.
In 2016, Swami did research on the predicament of Adivasi prisoners in the tribal state, many of whom were falsely charged as ‘Naxalites’. His research published as a report titled “Deprived of rights over natural resources, impoverished Adivasis get prison: A study of Undertrials in Jharkhand.” His study came after three decades of work among the tribals which focused on community, land, and forest rights. His study was considered authentic but also discomfited the powers that be. As per his studies, 31 percent of undertrials and a little over a third of the captives were tribals. The percentage of tribals in jail was far higher than their proportion of the population. Other key results also included that the 97 percent of undertrials interviewed said that allegations that they were linked to Maoists were false and 96 percent of them earned less than Rs 5,000 a month, underlining the fact that the impoverished and most vulnerable in the state were the ones arrested under stringent anti-terror laws. Two days before NIA took him into custody linking him with Bhima Koregaon case, the Jesuit priest alleged, through a video message, that stringent laws such as UAPA were being misused to arrest tribals indiscriminately. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on 9th October 2020 filed a charge sheet against eight people, including Father Stan Swamy, for instigating a mob to violence in Bhima Koregaon near Pune on January 1, 2018. Swamy is possibly the oldest person to be charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) the officials said at the time.
On 8th October 2020, Swamy was apprehended from his home in Ranchi. During his interrogation, he said he has never been to Bhima Koregaon. However, he was taken to Mumbai and presented before a Court, and remanded to judicial custody.
The NIA officials said after investigations that he was actively part of the CPI (Maoist). NIA allegations also included that he is in connection with “conspirators”- Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Hany Babu, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, and Anand Teltumbde—to further the group’s activities.
Furthermore, NIA agency also alleged that Swamy was financed through an associate for furthering the agenda. Besides, he was convenor of the Persecuted Prisoners Solidarity Committee (PPSC), a frontal organization of the CPI (Maoist), the officials added. They also alleged that literature, propaganda material of the CPI (Maoist) and documents related to communications for forwarding the group’s programs were captured from his belongings.
Two days before his arrest, Swamy had posted a video on YouTube which included that NIA had been interrogating him and also questioned him for 15 hours which extended to five consecutive days.
In the video, he said, “I have never been to Bhima Koregaon for which I am being made an accused.” He further added that he had asked for questioning through video conference and hoped that better “human sense” would prevail. Citing the pandemic he said, “Now they want me to go to Mumbai, to which I have said that I won’t go.”
He also said, “…. what is happening to me is not something unique happening to me alone, it is a broader process taking place all over the country. We all are aware how prominent intellectuals, lawyers, writers, poets, activists, student leaders are all put in jail because they have expressed their dissent or raised questions about the ruling powers of India.”
He said that he also belonged to “the process” and in a way happy to be so because he was not a silent spectator and is part of the game. “I am ready to pay the price, whatever be it,” Swamy added.NIA took over the Bhima Koregaon Case on 24th January last year. Pune Police avowed that the violence was caused after the speeches given by members of the group Elgar Parishad on December 31, 2017. Violence flared up the next day.