By P M Antony
Bagaicha, April 26, 2023: Friends and associates of late Jesuit social scientist Father Stan Swamy on April 26 observed his 86th birth anniversary at a center he founded near Ranchi, capital of Jharkhand state in eastern India.
Father Stan, as he was popularly known, died on July 5, 2021, as an undertrial prisoner at Mumbai, western India.
For his 86th birth anniversary, about 70 friends of Stan gathered at Bagaicha to cherish his memories, works and get energized and inspired by his life and works towards creating a more just and democratic society.
Bagaicha is a social research and action center that Stan founded at Namkum near Ranchi.
On his birth anniversary last year Stan’s friends installed his bust at Bagaicha.
This year, they organized a fellowship named after Stan to keep alive the memory of the revolutionary Jesuit priest and to continue his work.
The program began at 3 pm with Nazareth Sister Leena, one of the team-members of Bagaicha, welcoming the guests. Father Tom Kavalakatt, another member, invited Stan’s friends to share their memories of being and working with Stan.
Bharat Bhushan Chaudhary, a member of Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (grand assembly of Jharkhand people’s right), cofounded by Stan, said, “Father Stan, with his extraordinary ability to think clearly and consistent efforts to speak truth to power has inspired thousands of people during his life.”
Jesuit Father Alex Ekka, a social scientist, shared how he was inspired by attending a course on sociocultural analysis during the 1980s at the Indian Social Institute Bangalore.
The course helped Father Ekka understand various social issues and their causes. Later he took up many action-oriented research works that highlighted several injustices being done to tribal people of India. One of his researches was titled “Development-induced displacement and Rehabilitation in Jharkhand, 1951 to 1995: A database on its extent and nature”.
Shambhu Mahto, a social activist in Ranchi, described how Father Stan remained always mindful of the oppression of the ruling dispensations to the poorest of the poor and fought for their rights relentlessly, democratically and in a totally non-violent manner.
He said the term “urban Naxal” was coined by the congress government to silence people who spoke against the unjust and unregulated extraction of mineral resources from predominantly Adivasi regions. Later the BJP government employed the term to silence fearless intellectuals who defended the rights of the marginalized communities.
Aloka Kujur, a writer, said Stan and his friends spoke against violations of human rights by mining companies and the state machinery. She said she heard these words from Stan, not from any books. Once, the chief justice of Jharkhand High Court asked Stan to prove with evidence that human rights violations existed in Jharkhand. Stan and his friends gave a grounded presentation which left the chief justice dumbfounded, she recalled.
Manthan, one of the coordinators of Jan-tantric Navnirman Abhiyan, said that people celebrate the death and birth of few great men. While the death anniversary is celebrated in a big way, birthday does not get the same importance as birth is considered a coincidence. Great persons’ death is celebrated in a greater manner since they have chosen that path that has led to their death of a martyr after they give life to others.
Stan, by the type of work, chose to give his life for others.
“That is why we are here to remind ourselves that we need to speak out; we cannot be silent when injustice is being done to our people and our society is falling apart. We must understand that even a bird does not remain silent inside a cage. Our responsibility as humans is much more to speak truth to power. If we remain silent, we would not even qualify to be a bird. Hence, let us speak out for justice, humanity and truth,” Manthan said.
Prabha Lakra, who worked with Stan from 2001 to 2012, said the late Jesuit never celebrated his birthday. He observed it as a day of deep reflection to ask himself the meaning and mission of being born into this world which is being torn apart with so much cruelty and violence inflicted on our fellow beings. On his birthday he renewed his commitment to fight for a more just and democratic society.
The participants offered him homage and pledged to continue to fight for justice, equality and fraternity drawing inspiration from Father Stan.
Father Stan was born on April 26, 1937, in Trichy, Tamil Nadu. In the 1970s, he studied theology and received a master’s degree in sociology in the Philippines, where he encountered a series of protests and demonstrations against the administration. During his further studies, he made friends with Brazilian Catholic Archbishop Hélder Câmara, whose work with poor people influenced him.
Father Stan was the director of the Jesuit-managed Indian Social Institute, Bangalore, from 1975 to 1986. He worked among the tribals of eastern India for over three decades and questioned the non-implementation of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, which stipulates setting up of a Tribes Advisory Council with members solely of the Adivasi community for their protection, well-being and development in the state.
He was implicated in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence, while he claimed that he was not in Pune during the said period. He was accused of being a Maoist “sympathizer.”
It was alleged that the Persecuted Prisoners Solidarity Committee founded by him and Sudha Bharadwaj, “to fight for the release of around 3,000 men and women who have been labeled as Maoists and imprisoned, “was a front for Maoist fundraising.
The Jesuits denied the Father Stan was a Maoist. He was arrested by the National Investigation Agency October 8, 2020, from Bagaicha, and charged under the non-bailable Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
Father suffered from Parkinson’s disease and other age-related illnesses. He fell multiple times while in prison. He suffered from hearing loss in both ears and had undergone surgeries.
In November 2021, the Jamshedpur Jesuit Province petitioned the Bombay High Court, as his next-of-kin, to clear Stan’s name from the case.