Father Stan Swamy’s death and questions arising on autocratic power

Father Stan Swamy, who fought for the rights of tribals throughout his life, is no more. At the age of 84, he breathed his last in the hospital as a prisoner. He was battling Corona for the last one month and was in judicial custody when he died. Father Stan Swamy was one of about a dozen people who were arrested as suspects in the Bhima Koregaon case. He had sought bail citing his age and ill health but the court flatly refused to grant him bail. Stan Swamy was accused of being a terrorist by the government, which the government failed to prove. He was accused of inciting violence in the Bhima Koregaon violence case and was arrested from Ranchi last year, since then he was in custody.

By Ashok Dash

After the death of Stan Swamy, many people have questioned the system. This includes even big leaders of political parties including social and human rights activists.

Expressing condolences on Stan Swamy’s death, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi tweeted that he “deserved justice and humanity”.

The Chief Minister of Jharkhand state where Stan Swamy spent more than three decades of his life, Hemant Soren has questioned the central government, he has written-

Shocked to know about the passing away of Fr Stan Swamy. He dedicated his life working for tribal rights. I strongly opposed his arrest and imprisonment. The Central Government should be held accountable for the complete apathy and non-provision of timely medical services that led to his death.

Senior journalist Urmilesh has written – Stan Swamy is no more! But this is not his natural death, it is a kind of ‘murder’, murder at the hands of the system! What a big crime it is to keep an 84-year-old man in jail continuously without any proof in the time of pandemic! The country is now becoming a dangerous island of such systematic crimes! salam-tribute

So on the other hand senior journalist Dilip Mandal has expressed anger in his tweet. Dilip Mandal has written – Manohar Kulkarni Bhide, the terrorist who perpetrated violence in Bhima Koregaon, is roaming outside and in this case the government arrests Stan Swami, an old man who is agitating for the tribals in Jharkhand. Ailing Stan Swamy dies due to lack of proper treatment. The charges against him were never proved. Government and Judiciary rotted and killed 84 year old ailing, ailing, tribal rights advocate Stan Swamy in jail without being convicted. Shame.

So the Rashtriya Janata Dal has written from its official Twitter handle – Congratulations to the country’s dictator for the ‘murder’ of Father Stan Swamy!

Yogendra Yadav termed it a cold blooded murder by NIA, NHRC, BJP and Judiciary. He says that whatever facility Stan Swamy got later, it was too little, and it was too late. This is how a humanitarian who fought for the most homeless of this country has been murdered.

Certainly it is very unfortunate that Stan Swamy, who served the poor-tribals throughout his life and became the voice of human rights, was denied justice and human rights even in his last days.

Stan Swamy was a resident of Tamil Nadu. In the year 1991, he came to Jharkhand, where he continued to work for the rights of tribals till his last breath. He went to the High Court for the release of 3000 women and men who were languishing in jails with the allegation of being Naxalites. He went to remote areas to inform the tribals about their rights. But when he needed the support of the people, there was no big movement in his support. Whatever agitations took place, the media turned a deaf ear to those voices of protest. Due to which it became easy for the government to suppress those voices.

Call it the death of Father Stan Swamy or call it murder, then the question is being raised that the responsibility for the custodial death should be fixed.

Yes, people are demanding to fix the responsibility of the death, but on whom will the responsibility be fixed? On the police officers who arrested Swamy, on the government that allowed him to be slapped with serious sections without evidence on mere suspicion, or on the judiciary that refused to even grant him bail. Or the responsibility should be fixed on those who did not do any major movement in spite of forcing Stan Swamy and dozens of social and human rights activists like him inside the jail without any solid criminal evidence. Keep silence, or keep silent due to fear of power. As much as this system of India is responsible for the death of Stan Swamy, the people of India are no less responsible than those who are afraid to even raise their voice against such atrocities. Congratulations to the speechless countrymen on this slavery.

Ashok Das is the founder of ‘Dalit Dastak’. He is in journalism since last 15 years. Has been associated with reputed media organizations like Lokmat, Amar Ujala, Bhadas4Media and Deshonnati (Nagpur). As a political correspondent for five years (2010-2015), he covered various ministries and the Indian Parliament.

Courtesy : Dalit Dastak

Note: This news piece was originally published in dalitdastak.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights