By Isaac Gomes
Kolkata: A webinar in Kolkata to pay tribute to tribal activist Father Stan Swamy heard speakers calling for the immediate repeal of an anti-terror law that apparently was used against those working for the rights of the poor and marginalized.
The July 11 program jointly organized by the Rotary Club of Nabadiganta and the Commission for Dialogue of the Archdiocese of Calcutta also called for the review of jail rules to check ill-treatment of prisoners.
Father Swamy, a member of the Jamshedpur Jesuit province, died July 5 in the Holy Family Hospital of Bandra, Mumbai. He was brought there from Taloja Jail near Mumbai where he was lodged since October 9, 2020.
His death has shocked people across the globe and international bodies such as the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom have condemned what they said was deliberate neglect and targeting by the government that led to the 84-year-old Jesuit priest’s death.
The Kolkata webinar has resolved to press for the release of around 7,000 prisoners arrested under the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and languishing indefinitely in various jails in the country.
The participants stressed building a network of likeminded people, lawyers and social workers to oppose human rights violation and avoid future “Fr Stan-like situation.”
The webinar was addressed among others by Jesuit social activist Father Irudhaya Jothi and lawyer Sister Sujata Jena.
Father Jothi, who joined the program from his new mission in Tripura, shared how he was inspired by Father Swamy to work for the poor and marginalized. The young Jesuit was among hundreds trained by Father Swami when he headed the Indian Social Institute in Bangalore.
Father Jothi, who had served as a food rights activist and promoter of women’s empowerment at grassroots in West Bengal, recalled Father Swami visiting his village in Tamil Nadu in the 1970s, to start a Multipurpose Peoples’ Development Society for the empowerment of people, especially bonded laborers.
According to him, Father Swami opted to work for the liberation of tribals in Jharkhand, although he was trained to join the faculty of reputed Jesuit business school, XLRI (Xavier Labour Relations Institute), in Jamshedpur.
Father Swamy was “hugely influenced by liberation thinking in the Church and the resolutions of Vatican Council II. He learnt if you want to identify with the poor, you have to share their joys, aspirations and anxieties as your own,” Father Jothi said.
O P Shah, a noted chartered accountant, stressed the need for bringing reforms in the jail system. Those jailed should be treated in a humane way, he asserted and lamented that Father Swamy died because he was not even shown the compassion and dignity befitting his advanced age.
He questioned the efficiency and honesty of the National Investigation Agency that seems to toe the line of government diktats. Shah expressed the hope that some of the participants would follow Father Swamy to carry forward his mission of liberation of the downtrodden through networking.
Sister Jena, a social activist in Odisha, too demanded the repeal of UAPA and demanded the immediate release of 15 languishing in jail for the same crime leveled against Father Swamy.
“We can’t wait for some more prisoners to die,” asserted the member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Mary and Jesus. A UAPA accused is considered guilty until proven innocent, which is against the natural criminal jurisprudence that says one is innocent until proven guilty, said the nun, who practices law in the Odisha High Court.
“We have to start something now and not to remain silent spectators,” Sister Jena asserted. She wondered how many people spoke for Father Swamy when he was in jail and how would many know the details of the Bhima Koregaon case.
At the above Webinar, while speaking on non-violence, Prof Namrata Kothari (Chhajlani) said Fr Stan was an epitome of non-violence who even offered his sufferings from physical ailments to God.
Fr I.P. Sarto declared that the Government had killed Fr Stan. He said we must take up the cause for the downtrodden and migrants whose lands have been taken away.
Mr Irfan Sher, President of Rotary Nabodiganta said that the current union government is dividing people on the basis of religion, caste and creed. He urged people to come out of their comfort zone and speak against injustices being done, in particular against the Minority Communities. He said our Constitution supports right to live with dignity but the union government is trampling on this right. He too demanded repeal of UAPA.
In the open house session, it was mentioned that 70 (90%) ministers of the current Union Government are Crorepatis (Source: Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) Report). Therefore, this government is unlikely to give the poor much consideration and will only promote more Crorepatis at the cost of the poor. The Church too does not support Activism for Justice (for which Fr Stan took the lead).
When the priest was arrested and jailed, the official Church Hierarchy, particularly the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) maintained a studied silence. The Church has consciously sidestepped any public engagement for social change that might displease the powers-that-be. The church’s approach has at best been palliative, not prophetic. It seeks to heal the wounds and offer remedial relief. It does not ask who causes the hurt or why people are wounded.