Father Swamy’s confreres condemn ‘fabricated’ charges against him

By Abhish K Bose

Kottayam: The Jesuit congregation is hopeful that the case against 83-year-old Father Stan Swamy will be shattered in the court, as there is no evidence to establish that he was in some way connected with the violence against Dalits at Bhima Koregaon.

The imprisoned priest’s close associate, Father Joseph Xavier, alleges that Swamy hasn’t visited Pune for the last 15 years.
Father Swamy, a member of the Jesuit’s Jamshedpur province, was on October 8 arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), India’s counter-terror task force for his alleged links with Maoists.

“He actually came to know about the Bhima Koregaon violence from newspapers. Stan has absolutely no connection with the Maoists movement and is against the idea of armed struggle. He believes in constitutional mechanisms,” says Jesuit Father Joseph Xavier, director of the Indian Social Institute, Bengaluru. He alleged that the NIA’s case against Swamy was entirely fabricated.

“The NIA knows that he was voicing views against the government and corporate groups, and hence he was framed in the case,” Father Joseph alleges. “He is only the last among the 16 persons arrested under various charges.”

Father George Pattery, who was the head of the Jesuits in South Asia until October 10, told The Wire that the congregation has condemned Father Swamy’s arrest. He says Father Swamy’s arrest is not an isolated incident, but part of a larger plan. “However, the mission of the congregation will not be affected. It will continue,” he added.

Father Swamy was vocal on the discrimination against tribal and Dalit communities in Jharkhand, an eastern India state. He was involved in a movement with the tribals against the Chiria iron ore mine covering 3,276 hectares in the Dubil adivasi village in Saranda forest of Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district.

He was also at the forefront of the movements against the Koel Karo dam project and the ‘Nethrahat’ firing range project, which the army had chosen for the firing practice and was to displace thousands of villagers including many tribal hamlets. The army withdrew from the project later after massive opposition from the local population. He was also involved in the upliftment of the Ho, Munda, Santal, Oraon and Khadia tribals and Dalit groups.

“He had taken up the land alienation issues of the tribals. This has upset the government,” says Jesuit Father P A Chacko, who was an associate of Swamy’s in Jharkhand. Father Chacko says Swamy is a responsible priest who adheres to the rules and regulations of the Jesuits.

Father Chacko also adds that Swamy has helped poor tribals jailed on charges of being suspected Maoist informers or because they had resisted the takeover of their land. Several initiatives, such as the research study conducted by the Bagaicha research group ‘A study of undertrials in Jharkhand,’ were the byproduct of Swamy’s activities.

The study conceived by Father Swamy is about the alleged Naxalite (Maoist) undertrials in Jharkhand has antagonized the government. The study says that many young people have been framed in cases they have no connection with. The study presents the condition of the 102 alleged Naxalite undertrials from 18 districts of Jharkhand.

According to the study, about 46 percent of the undertrials studied belong to the age group of 29-40 years, and 22 percent m are between 18 and 28 years old. Tribals or Scheduled Caste constitutes 69 percent of the respondents.

About 42 percent respondents belong to the Sarna tribe, 31 percent were Hindu, 25 percent Christians and 2 percent Muslims. The study says that a large number of fake cases under the draconian 17 CLA Act, UAPA, and the anti-state sections of the IPC have been foisted upon the tribals, Dalits and other backward castes in various parts of Jharkhand particularly within last decades.

Father Swamy, who was the director of the Indian Social Institute, Bangalore for several years, established ‘Bagaicha,’ a Jesuit social research and training institute at Namkum near Ranchi. He was a proponent of the implementation of the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996, which gives decision-making powers on local issues to panchayats.

NIA interrogation

An officer of the NIA interrogated Swamy several time – on July 25, 27, 28, 29, 30 and August 6 – consistently asking him various queries related to the Elgar Parishad case, operation green hunt and other personal details. In the interrogation, Swamy told the NIA officer that he has never been to Bhima Koregaon in his life.

The NIA alleged that they have retrieved a file named ‘Earth summit’ from his computer, which details the communication between two Lok Manch workers.

The letter which the NIA allegedly retrieved says, “Since the Indian state is becoming more and more fascist, we need to join forces with banned groups to counter the state fascism; (2) in order to do this we will need funds, at least some $ 6-10 million; and (3) all these works would be done out under the direction of father Stan.”

However, Swamy dismisses this as rubbish. “I disown this letter and communication. It is a fabrication, stealthily inserted into my computer,” he alleged.

Swamy, who hails from Virahalur village near Thiruchirappally in Tamil Nadu, suffers from diseases including Parkinson’s. In the 1980s, he was deputed as the director of the Jharkhandi Organisation for Human Rights. He established Bagaicha in 2006 with support from the Jesuit provinces of Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dumka and Hazaribag for training, research, campaign and advocacy work concentrating on the upliftment of tribals.

(Abhish K. Bose is a Kottayam-based journalist. This first appeared in thewire.in)