Fr. Stan Swamy

Fr. Stephen Kanippillil, Vicar of St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Church, Boston, reflects on the life and death of Fr. Stan Swamy.

FR. STAN SWAMY: A LIBERATED BIRD SINGS FROM HEAVEN

Fr. Stan Swamy [Image source SJES Rome/Twitter]

Father Stan Swamy was a 84 year old Jesuit priest, belonging to Jamshedpur Jesuit Province, in Ranchi, Jharkhand - India. He was a human rights defender, who had been in Bagaicha, a Jesuit-run Social Action Centre, for 15 years. He primarily worked with the adivasis (an Indian indigenous community), for the defense, propagation and protection of their rights as enshrined in the Constitution of India, through legal means, not violence.

Catholic priests and nuns protest in October 2020 against the arrest of Stan Swamy under draconian terrorism laws. Photograph: Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty Images.

He was arrested one evening on 8th October 2020, by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), on charges of alleged links with Maoist insurgents who were said to have been behind the violence in Bhima Koregaon village in Maharashtra state in January 2018. He was taken to Mumbai to be questioned. The following day, he was placed in Taloja Central Jail.

Father Stan Swamy was questioned multiple times by the NIA, who had also claimed that it had recovered incriminating documents, literature and propaganda regarding the Father's activities. But Fr. Stan had denied all charges in the Bhima Koregaon case saying it is "a place that I have never been to in all my life." During the nearly nine months of detention, his repeated pleas for bail were rejected. Yet, charges against him have never been proven till date. Father Stan Swamy suffered from Parkinson's disease, unable to feed himself with other age-related conditions, including hearing impairment. Following a deterioration of his health condition, the Bombay High Court ordered he be moved to Holy Family Hospital on May 28. He tested positive for Covid-19 and died on July 5, 2021 at the Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai. His bail application prior to his passing was denied. His last month in custody on a hospital bed till the last moments was the most heart-wrenching tragedy of an innocent man persecuted for doing good.

The Asian Catholic bishops' President pointed out that Fr. Stan followed the non-violent path of Mahatma Gandhi, who was also "arrested and incarcerated under sedition laws by British officials. Fr. Stan "is the latest saint of modern India's poor". He said the Jesuit priest "redefined his priesthood, extending his altar to the streets and hills of those obnoxious corners of injustice, breaking the bread of good news of human dignity and justice especially among the indigenous (tribals, Adivasi) people."

Stan was truly a prophet who lived his life fully for others particularly the adivasis, dalits and other marginalized communities “just as Jesus would have done, if He were living physically in our world today.” While in prison he said, “A caged bird can still sing” and sowed ‘hope in the hearts of everyone.

Today, he is a liberated bird who sings from heaven inspiring and calling thousands in every part of India and around the world to keep alive the hope for true liberation from injustice, oppression and denial of rights.

Fr. Stan Swamy

FR. STAN SWAMY: A LIBERATED BIRD SINGS FROM HEAVEN

Today, he is a liberated bird who sings from heaven inspiring and calling thousands in every part of India and around the world to keep alive the hope for true liberation from injustice, oppression and denial of rights.

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