By Rani Punnaserril
New Delhi, April 26, 2022: People from other religions April 26 joined Catholics in the national capital to pay tribute to late Father Stanislaus Swamy, a tribal rights activist, on his 85th birth anniversary.
Father Stan, as he was popularly known, died July 5, 2021, as an undertrial prisoner in a Mumbai hospital. The National Investigation Agency arrested him October 8, 2020, from his home in Bagaicha near Ranchi, eastern India, after accusing him of having terrorist links.
A petition seeking to clear Father Stan’s name in the case is pending before the Bombay High Court.
The Federation of Associations of Catholic Archdiocese of Delhi organized the memorial meeting at the Diocesan Community Centre where a panel of speakers called for rekindling the spirit of the late Jesuit activist.
Farah Naqvi, an author and activist for justice and development, noted that Father Stan had stood for the truth always. She compared the Jesuit’s life with the parable of the sower in the Bible. Father Swamy had prepared the ground to sow the seed so that it could flower and bear fruit, she added.
Father Stan did not beg for bail from the court as he wanted justice to prevail. He was innocent and a simple man who became a victim of hatred, Naqvi added.
It is sad that Father Stan died a prisoner without getting justice. He had dedicated his life to preventing injustice being done to anyone. This is what we need to do, she added.
Apoorvanand, a civil society leader and human rights commentator, urged the gathering to continue to protest the conspiracy that caused Father Stan’s imprisonment and death.
Father Savarimuthu Sankar, the spokesperson of the Delhi Archdiocese, hailed Father Stan as an apostle of truth and justice who wanted to do away with the injustice meted out to the Adivasis in eastern India. He himself became a victim of the implicated Maoism.
Father Jerome Stanislaus D’Souza, president of the Jesuit Conference of South Asia, recalled that Father Stan’s simplicity and Christ like life was special and inspiring. After his death Father Stand has become more powerful and the Jesuits have decided to fight for the justice of the imprisoned innocents, he added.
John Dayal, a human right activist and veteran journalist, recalled that after Father Swamy’s death international communities like US and Japan have passed memorandum on the threat faced by prisoners, Dalit and Tribal communities and women from institutions.
According to Dayal, the attacks against Christians, a minority group, began in 1987 at Gujarat’s Dangs district. The burning of 36 small churches inside forests was an experiment and called for a mechanism to prevent the white washing of atrocities and brain washing of innocent people by the communal elements. Stan had chosen to do something for the Adivasis.
Monsignor Susai Sebastian, former vicar general of the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese, said Father Stan reminds everyone that they belong to each other.
Jesuit Father P R John, principal of Delhi’s Vidyajyoti College of Theology, said Father Swamy waited for justice but the authorities did their best to keep him away from justice. Father Swamy had believed that truth would prevail. The instigators wanted him to die in the prison and their whims were fulfilled, he added.
Shashidharan, a member of the Federation of Associations of Catholic Archdiocese of Delhi, said Father Swamy’s legacy remains a precious legacy for the Church in India. The federation aims to complete what Father Swamy could not accomplish, he added.
He said the vivid memories of Father Swamy’s intense suffering and custodial death continue to raise many questions for people who had waited for justice.
His birth anniversary has revived the hope that many more Stans would stand up for the rights of Adivasis, the exploited and the discriminated in society, he layman asserted.