Injustice to Father Stanislaus Lourduswamy will remain as an indelible blot on the Indian justice system and the gross political injustice to dissidents by the Indian state machinery. Swamy died on a ventilator while in judicial custody at a hospital in Mumbai, after spending 9 months in Taloja prison under the draconian UAPA. WSN editor Jagmohan Singh, reacting sharply after his arrest, had written an open letter to the octogenarian activist extolling his humanitarian work.
Today, he feels sad at his demise and exhorts one and all to raise their voice against injustice and state oppression, otherwise as philosopher Niemoller said, “then they came for me -and there was no one left to speak for me.”

TAMIL BORN, JHARKHAND-BASED INDIGENOUS peoples rights activist, 84-year old Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy, in illegal detention under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) in what has now come to be known as the Elgar Parishad case, passed away at a local hospital in Mumbai, while on the ventilator.

Suffering from Parkinson’s disease and other age-related ailments, his lawyers had been pleading for bail and a better medical facility. The Bombay High Court, and the Special NIA court, in a rather inhuman and frustrating stand, did not grant him bail. 

He was sent to Hospital Custody at Holy Family Hospital, only after appearing in the High Court through video conference and humbly telling the High Court that his organs were normal when he was brought to prison, but that he was having difficulties even in lifting and drinking a glass of water or eating a morsel of food on his own. He also told the court that “he would rather die than be maltreated.”

Speaking on the phone line with WSN, Mihir Desai, Senior Advocate appearing for Father Stan Swamy said, “It is very sad that though we were able to get permission from the Bombay High Court for Medical attention for him, he passed away this afternoon.”

“My real concern is the arbitrary function of the Special NIA court. The demise of Father Swamy should lead the courts to release other ailing accused in the Elgar Parishad case.”

Mihir Desai, Senior Counsel, Father Stan Swamy

“My real concern is the arbitrary function of the Special NIA Court. The demise of Father Swamy should lead to the courts to release other ailing accused in the Elgar Parishad case,” he added.

The National Human Rights Commission, headed by Narendra Modi-favourite Justice Mishra only yesterday sought “good treatment for Father Stan Swamy.”

83-year-old Tamil Adivasi activist Jesuit Father Stan Swamy is a ‘terrorist’

Labelled as a Maoist for his stellar work amongst the Adivasis of Jharkhand, standing for their rights to the natural resources in the mineral-rich region of the state, Father Swamy spent more than five decades working at the grassroots level, fighting for the rights of the tribals. He was also one of the protagonists of the struggle for the independent Jharkhand state from the erstwhile state of Bihar.

“What is happening to me is not unique to me. It is a broader process taking place across the country. Ready to pay the price for it”: Father #StanSwamy had said in a video message before his arrest pic.twitter.com/Ow7LGeXBnr

— NDTV (@ndtv) July 5, 2021

Prior to his arrest, in a video message shared by NDTV, Father Stan Swamy said, ““What is happening to me is not something unique, happening to me alone. It is a broader process that is taking place all over the country. We are all aware of how prominent intellectuals, lawyers, writers, poets, activists, student leaders – are all put in jail just because they have expressed their dissent… I am ready to pay the price whatever may it be.”

Unquestionably, the UAPA must be scrapped. All those languishing under sedition laws and UAPA must be released.

It is high time to stand up against such injustices, with many still languishing in the Elgar Parishad case and many in other cases throughout India.

“This is plain judicial murder.”

Seeman, Naam Tamilar Katchi Chief Coordinator

In his reaction to the demise of Father Stan Swamy, speaking to The World Sikh News, in a hard-hitting remark, Naam Tamilar Katchi chief Seeman, said, “This is plain judicial murder.”

Unquestionably, the UAPA must be scrapped. All those languishing under sedition laws and UAPA must be released forthwith.

Political activist and spokesperson of Dal Khalsa Kanwarpal Singh, speaking to WSN said, “India’s National Investigation Agency is acting extrajudicially to harass everyone who is a dissenter to the present government. The misuse of UAPA must stop.”

South African poet and political activist Benjamin Moloise, when being sent to the gallows by the apartheid regime said,

I am proud to be what I am,
of what I did with my life.

Let my blood fall as rain over my land.

From my cell, I go to freedom.
My solitary life I give to freedom.

Father Stan Swamy seems to be smilingly repeating this to the Indian apartheid regime.

The news from #India today is devastating. Human Rights Defender & Jesuit priest Fr Stan Swamy has died in custody, nine months after his arrest on false charges of terrorism. Jailing HRDs is inexcusable. He explains his work here: https://t.co/kKPhM6IaHu pic.twitter.com/YoEpst0ol2

— Mary Lawlor UN Special Rapporteur HRDs (@MaryLawlorhrds) July 5, 2021

In separate tweets, Eamon Gilmore, the European Union’s Special Representative for Human Rights, and Mary Lawlor, a United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders have shared their feeling of sadness and devastation at the death of Father Stan Swamy.

Raise your voice against injustice against anyone, anywhere. If we do not raise our voices now, tomorrow it could be our turn.

We have no choice!