Who is Father Stan Swamy, whose death has created uproar in India and abroad
By Lokmat English Desk | Published: July 5, 2021 09:06 PM2021-07-05T21:06:28+5:302021-07-05T21:13:37+5:30
Next 
Father Stan Lourduswamy, popularly known as Stan Swamy, was an Roman Catholic priest, a member of the Jesuit order and a tribal rights activist for several decades.
Swamy was born on April 26, 1937 in Trichy, Tamil Nadu. He went to St Joseph’s School in Trichy where he was inspired by the work of the Jesuit priests and decided to join the order in undivided Bihar.
In May, 1957, Swamy, son of a farmer father and homemaker mother, started pursuing religious studies and committed himself to the cause of the poor and downtrodden.
In 1965, Swamy joined the St Xavier’s High School Lupungutu, Chaibasa, West Singhbhum in present-day Jharkhand for his regency, the stage at which trainee Jesuits spend two years taking up one or two works of the order.
On his return to Jesuit Jamshedpur Province in 1971, Swamy became director of the Catholic Relief Services charity for the area. He was the director of the Jesuit-run Indian Social Institute, Bangalore from 1975 to 1986.Swamy suffered from Parkinson's disease apart from other age related health concerns. He had reportedly collapsed many times while in prison. He also suffered from hearing loss in both ears and had undergone surgeries.
Swamy was arrested on October 8, 2020 and chargesheeted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for his alleged role in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence and links to the Communist Party of India (Maoist).Swamy, taken into custody from his Ranchi home, was the 16th arrest in the Elgar Parishad case. He was the oldest person to be accused of terrorism in India, according to a BBC report.
In a video circulated two days ahead of his arrest, Swamy had suggested his arrest was linked to his work, as it involved dissent against government policies.On January 1, 2018, tens of thousands of Dalits had gathered near Pune to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon, won by the British army against the Peshwas in 1818. The event witnessed violence.On January 2, an FIR was registered at Pimpri police station naming Milind Ekbote of Samast Hindu Aghadi and Sambhaji Bhide, founder of Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan, for alleged incitement.
However, on January 8, another FIR was filed by Pune police claiming that the violence took place due to an event held on December 31, 2017 called Elgar Parishad at Shaniwar Wada in Pune. The Pune police arrested activists claiming that the event was organised as part of alleged Maoist activity.The NIA charge-sheet named eight people, including Father Stan Swamy, social activist Gautam Navlakha and Delhi University associate professor Hany Babu, for their alleged involvement in inciting a mob to violence in Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018.The NIA alleged that Swamy was a member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and was involved in a conspiracy to instigate caste violence in the Bhima Koregaon.
Swamy died today in the middle of his fight for bail on health grounds. The Jesuit priest had been on a ventilator since yesterday when his health took a sharp turn for the worse. Stan Swamy was being treated at the private Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai following a court order on May 28. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had suggested a government hospital, to which, he had said: "I'd rather die here in prison."
