‘Pilgrim of hope’ Fr Stan Swamy remembered on anniversary

Kanimozhi Karunanidhi said Fr Stan had been targeted for defending the rights of tribal peoples to forests, water and mineral-rich lands that the government wanted to exploit.

Memorial meetings across India commemorated the tribal rights activist Fr Stan Swamy SJ on the fourth anniversary of his death on Saturday.

The largest meeting, attended by 5,000 people including bishops and politicians, was held at his native village of Virugalur in southern Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirappalli district, according to Fr Paul Mike, a member of organising committee of the Stan Swamy People’s Federation.

Political leaders eulogised Fr Stan – as he was popularly known – for his advocacy for oppressed tribal groups. They said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of Prime Minister Narinder Modi was responsible for his “institutional murder” on 5 July 2021 after imprisoning the 84-year-old on terrorism charges.

Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, a Member of Parliament and deputy general secretary of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, and Thol Thirumavalavan, the leader of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi party which campaigns against caste-based discrimination, unveiled a bust of Fr Stan.

Bishop Jeevanandam of Kumbakonam presided over the event, which was also attended by Archbishop Francis Kalist of Pondicherry Cuddalore, Bishop Neethinathan of Chengulpattu, Bishop Amalarai of Ooty, Bishop Nazarene Susai of Kottar and Bishop Albert George Anastas, who co-chaired the conference.

Kanimozhi said Fr Stan was targeted for defending the rights of tribals to forests, water and mineral-rich lands that the government was exploiting at the behest of corporations. Under the smokescreen of development, thousands of hectares of dense, biodiverse forests were being destroyed.

The elderly priest had filed a public interest litigation for the release of hundreds of tribal youths in eastern Jharkhand state who were unjustly incarcerated for asserting their rights, she said, but faced imprisonment himself based on alleged links to Maoist insurgents.

Speaking of the inhuman treatment meted out to him in prison, Kanimozhi said Fr Stan – who suffered from Parkinson’s disease – was denied even a sipper to drink water though he could not hold a glass. He was called an “anti-national” and “urban Naxal” (a communist insurgent).

She pledged to introduce a private member’s bill in Parliament to protect human rights defenders.

Thirumavalavan, maintaining that the BJP falsely accused Fr Stan of plotting to kill Modi, said that they “hacked his laptop to fabricate evidence”.

A digital analyst from the US found that a hacker had used software to plant 22 forged “incriminating” files on the computer of one of the accused, which the police then used as evidence to arrest Fr Stan and 15 others under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) – anti-terror legislation that has routinely been used to detain government critics.

Fr A Santhanam SJ told The Tablet that Saturday’s meeting adopted seven resolutions including a declaration of Fr Stan’s innocence and demands for laws to safeguard human rights activists and for the release of six others accused in the Bhima Koregaon case on bail.

The arrest of Fr Stan and others under the UAPA, including writers, lawyers, academics and other human rights defenders, was connected to an outbreak of deadly caste-based violence in 2018 in Bhima Koregaon in western Maharashtra state. All the accused vehemently denied the charges against them.

Fr Santhanam said that two cases were filed in 2022 to clear the name of Fr Stan from wrongful accusations and to seek compensation for his death in custody, but neither have yet come up for hearing. At least five judges have been recused from hearing the cases.

The Jesuit rights activist Fr Cedric Prakash recalled that before his arrest in October 2020, Fr Stan had said in a video message that “over the last two decades, I have identified myself with the Adivasi people and their struggle for a life of dignity and self-respect … I have clearly expressed my dissent over several policies and laws enacted by the government in the light of the Indian Constitution…   If this makes me a deshdrohi [traitor] then so be it … I am happy to be part of this process. I am not a silent spectator, but part of the game and ready to pay the price whatever it be …”

Remembering Fr Stan as a “pilgrim of hope”, Fr Prakash said he had paid the price.

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