News Analysis India

Tag: Father Stan Swamy

  • If not for him, I’d be languishing in jail: Social activist Damodar Turi remembers Stan Swamy

    Express News Service
    As I was actively participating in anti-government movements to oppose anti-people policies and activities of the Jharkhand government, I was arrested twice by the state police, once in 2008 and the second time in 2018, on fake charges. Had Stan Swamy not come to my rescue, I would have still been languishing in jail.It is just because of his determination to battle against the system that I am not only moving freely, but was also acquitted in one of those cases in 2018. Stan Swamy was instrumental in my release from jail as he fought pro-actively both inside and outside the court.

    In the first case, when statewide protests were organised and the matter was highlighted by the media, then the investigating officers went on the backfoot. Because of intense public glare they could not twist the case the way they wanted to and I was acquitted by the court. In the second case, I was not being treated well in the jail but statewide protests led by Swamy were organised following which I was ensured basic facilities in jail. On both occasions, statewide protests were organised at Governor House in Ranchi and all the district headquarters. Rallies were organised and dharnas were also staged across the state.

    READ EDITORIAL | Stan Swamy and the murder of justice

    Firstly, I was charged with a fake case under UAPA in 2008. A fake charge of working for the Maoist organisation was leveled against me despite the fact that no document or evidence related to Maoist connection was recovered from me. In 2018, I was arrested on charges of handling the banned trade union called Mazdoor Sangathan Samiti even though I had never been a member of thatorganisation. I only used to go there to deliver speech, but I was termed a handler for the organisation and arrested at midnight. All of a sudden, the organisation was banned by the state government and some of us were arrested along with the workers of the organisation.

    In the first case, I was lodged in Ranchi jail while the second time I was imprisoned at Giridih jail. The way the British killed Birsa Munda in jail by poisoning him, 84-year old Father Stan Swamy, who had nothing to do with Elgar Parishad case, has been killed in the same way. This is nothing but a cold-blooded murder by this system. Considering his old age, he could have been put under house arrest as he was not going anywhere. Despite the fact that he cooperated well with the National Investigation Aency, he was arrested and was not granted bail even after becoming critically ill.

    Family Members observe the grief of #StanSwamy at his birth house at Virugallur village in Trichy district. @xpresstn @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/q4zqS4pgEK
    — Jayakumar Madala (@JayakumarMadala) July 5, 2021

    (The writer is a social activist and was jailed several times on charges of links with Maoists)

  • Father Stan Swamy was the ‘voice of oppressed’ for decades, activist decry ‘institutional murder’

    Express News Service
    RANCHI/MUMBAI: Activists and people close to Swamy, who worked tirelessly for the rights of tribals and other underprivileged people in Jharkhand for more than three decades, termed his death as “institutional murder”. 

    “This is an institutional murder. He was arrested on fake charges and murdered. Despite the fact that no charges were proved against him, he was kept in jail for several months,” said Aloka Kujoor, who was associated with Swamy for over 20 years.

    The Jesuit priest was the oldest among the 16 accused persons arrested in the Elgar-Parishad case and possibly the oldest in India to be charged under the UAPA.

    “For decades he was a voice of the oppressed in Jharkhand.We hold the NIA and the central government wholly responsible and strongly condemn their role in Stan’s death, which has once again exposed the fascist face of the BJP government at the Centre,” said a statement issued by Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JJM), a network of several people’s organisations and activists.

    Family Members observe the grief of #StanSwamy at his birth house at Virugallur village in Trichy district. @xpresstn @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/q4zqS4pgEK
    — Jayakumar Madala (@JayakumarMadala) July 5, 2021

    Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and a host of political leaders and activists expressed shock and anguish at Swamy’s death and lashed out at the central government. 

    “I had strongly opposed his arrest and incarceration. The Union Government should be answerable for absolute apathy and non-provision of timely medical services, leading to his death,” tweeted Soren.

    Swamy and other activists arrested in the Elgar Parshad case, including 82-year-old activist Varavara Rao, have repeatedly complained of inadequate health facilities in jail.

    Swamy, a native of Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, was born in 1937 and was best known for his work with tribal people and the fight for their rights in Jharkhand. He collaborated with people’s movements working against unjust displacements, human rights violations and illegal land acquisitions. 

    ​He was also instrumental in filing PILs against tribal, SC and other marginalised youths being implicated in UAPA and criminal cases.

  • Grim Reaper, not state, sets activist Stan Swamy free at 84

    Express News Service
    RANCHI/MUMBAI: Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad case, passed away at a Mumbai hospital on Monday shortly before the Bombay High Court took up his plea for bail. He was 84. Swamy had been languishing in Mumbai’s Taloja Jail ever since the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on October 8 last year. The High Court had on May 28 told state prison authorities to shift him to the private Holy Family Hospital in Bandra.

    On July 3, the HC slated his bail plea for hearing on July 6. However, his lawyers moved the court on Monday seeking urgent hearing after his health deteriorated and he was put on ventilator.Earlier on March 23, special judge D E Kothalikar had refused bail even on health grounds saying the “collective interest of the community would outweigh Swamy’s right to personal liberty” given the seriousness of the allegations made against Swamy. “As such the old age and or alleged sickness of the applicant would not go in his favour,” he said.Prima facie Swamy had hatched a “serious conspiracy” with members of a banned Maoist outfit to create unrest and to overthrow the government, the court had ruled, while refusing bail. 

    On Monday, when a bench comprising justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar took up the bail plea around 2.30 pm, counsel Mihir Desai urged the court to hear Dr Ian D’souza, director of the Holy Family Hospital. He broke the news of Swamy’s demise at 1.24 pm. Swamy had suffered cardiac arrest on Saturday and count not be revived, the doctor said, adding, “Cause of death is definitely pulmonary infection and Parkinson’s disease among others.” A shocked bench said, “With all humility at our command, we are sorry to know that Stan Swamy passed away. We have no words to express.”

    Health check:

    Sudha Bharadwaj

    She is 58, has multiple ailments. Her family members say her health deteriorated during her stay in jail, and that she has developed arthritis and a heart condition

    Anand Teltumbde

    At 72, he has pre-existing ailments, his family has pointed out, adding inadequate facilities in prison further aggravated his condition and left him exposed to Covid

    Hany Babu

    At 54, Babu developed acute eye infection in Taloja jail. He now has little vision in the eye due to swelling. He is currently at Breach Candy at his own expense after testing Covid+

    Gautam Navlakha

    He is 70. Taloja prison officials had last year refused to accept a parcel containing new spectacles for him after the old one was stolen in jail

    Surendra Gadling

    53-year-old, he has co-morbidities like hypertension, diabetes and asthma

    Varavara Rao

    The octogenarian got interim bail in March after two years in jail. He was denied even basic healthcare facilities during incarceration

  • Journalists, rights activists remember Stan Swamy as ‘stoic and courageous man’

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Eminent lawyers, journalists and human rights defenders on Monday evening paid tributes to Jesuit priest and activist Stan Swamy, who had once told his colleagues that if “working for the tribals, the marginalised was a crime,” he was ready to face the consequences.

    “I am ready to go to prison. My bag is packed,” the 84-year-old priest, an undertrial in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, had said at the time of his arrest last year from Ranchi, his colleagues and associates said.

    Stanislaus Lourdusamy, or ‘Stan Swamy’ as he was known, died on Monday afternoon at a private hospital in Mumbai, where he was undergoing treatment for multiple ailments, and had applied for medical bail in the Bombay High Court.

    His colleagues and associates, along with several eminent lawyers, journalists, former judges, authors and human rights activists from across the world, took part in an online condolence meet organised for Swamy.

    ALSO READ: Stan Swamy death – Activists express anguish, call for fixing accountability for ‘custodial murder’

    Lawyer Henri Tiphagne, Executive Director, People’s Watch, a numan rights organisation, remembered Swamy as a “stoic” man, who had dedicated his life to working for the marginalised and was targeted by the government for the same.

    Justice Madan Lokur, a former Supreme Court judge, said though he did not know Swamy personally, he had been following the Elgar Parishad case and all court orders since the time of the late priest’s arrest in October 2020.

    “I have been hugely disappointed by most of the court orders in the case, starting from the time he (Swamy) wanted a sipper. What did the special NIA court do? It gave four weeks to the NIA to respond (to Swamy’s request for the sipper),” Justice Lokur said.

    ALSO READ: Stan Swamy breathes his last fighting for bail, people close to him cry institutional murder

    He said that for the last two years, citizens across the country had been witnessing attacks on human rights.

    “All of us are Indian citizens, we love our country. Just because someone disagrees doesn’t mean he is a terrorist,” Justice Lokur said.

    Veteran journalist N Ram said Swamy’s death was a loss for the country.

    He said he had known the tribal rights activist for years and remembered him as a “stoic and courageous man.”

    Ram said he agreed with Justice Lokur’s view on all forms of dissent being targeted in the country.

    OPINION: There is freedom, but no mercy

    “Anyone dissenting in this country is targeted. I have seen this in the last several years. The special court and higher judiciary, too, have disappointed us on several occasions,” Ram said.

    The eminent editor said one must remember that 15 others, including lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, had been arrested in the Elgar Parishad case and were currently languishing in prison.

    Senior advocate Mihir Desai, who was Swamy’s counsel in the High Court, said t the priest had been “implicated in a totally false case.”

    “We have lost him (Swamy) and we have failed him. But we must continue this fight. We must work for all that father Swamy believed in,” Desai said.

    Author Nayantara Sehgal, singer-activist TM Krishna, human rights activist Alice Mogwe and several others who were part of the condolence meet said Swamy’s death was a loss for the entire nation.

    ALSO READ: We want to see him one last time – Stan Swamy’s family members mourn his death

    They said today was a “dark day” for India.

    Swamy was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with the Elgar Parishad case.

    He had remained in Navi Mumbai’s Taloja prison hospital since his arrest due to multiple illnesses.

    The octogenarian was shifted to the state-run JJ hospital in Mumbai on two occasions and sent to the private Holy Family Hospital in suburban Bandra in May following HC’s orders.

    Swamy died following a cardiac arrest he suffered on Sunday (July 4).

    As per the hospital, Swamy had been put on ventilator support after the cardiac arrest but he never regained consciousness.

    He was declared dead around 1.25 pm on Monday, the hospital authorities said.

  • Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha demands immediate bail for ailing Stan Swamy arrested in Elgar case

    Express News Service
    RANCHI: Looking at the critical health conditions of Father Stan Swamy, the Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JJM), a network of several people’s organisations and activists, on Sunday demanded immediate bail and all other necessary medical and facilities for him.

    The network also demanded that Swamy should be released and sent back to Jharkhand as soon as possible as denying bail to an elderly and ailing person, with limited mobility and no history of violence against others, is beyond comprehension.

    The NIA arrested Swamy in Bhima Koregaon case on October 8, last year, in a case related to the violence which erupted at an event to mark 100 years of the Bhima-Koregaon battle on January 1 in 2018, leaving one dead and several others injured.

    The JJM in a statement, said that 84-year old Father Stan Swamy’s health has deteriorated and he has been put on a ventilator at the Holy Family hospital.

    “Swamy’s situation is said to be critical. The NIA and central government are solely responsible for the sufferings of this elderly person and the current state of affair. The NIA court also played its role by denying him a bail on both medical grounds and merit and assurances of the Maharashtra government regarding support for Stan Swamy are yet to be seen,” stated the release issued by JJM.

    Since early May, Stan was keeping unwell at Taloja jail as he had fever, cough, extreme weakness and a running stomach, it added. The statement further added that without an iota of evidence against Swamy in the case, he has been languishing in the jail and is now battling for his life.

    Also, denying bail to an elderly and ailing person, with limited mobility and no history of violence against others, is beyond comprehension, it said.

    “Moreover, the arsenal report, prepared on the basis of electronic evidences collected by the NIA, has exposed how fake documents were planted into the computers of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. Stan himself clearly told the NIA that some so-called extracts allegedly taken from his computer were fabricated and that he disowned them,” stated the statement released by JJM.

    Adivasis, Gram Sabhas, civil society, several political leaders and parties, and Chief Minister Hemant Soren himself have condemned Stan’s arrest and expressed support and solidarity with him, it said.

    The statement further stated, “Had the investigating agencies and the court taken a humanitarian approach, Stan would not have to go through this suffering as he is fighting for his life, while the central government continues to look away.”

    “Therefore, JJM demands all necessary medical and specialised treatment for Stan Swamy. It further demands that the High Court immediately grants him bail to him and ensure that he is sent back to Jharkhand as soon as possible,” stated the statement.