by B. R. GOWANI
Father Stan Swamy was fully aware and recognized the fate of people
who were fighting for the powerless all over India:
“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 how prominent intellectuals, lawyers writers, poets, activists, students, leaders, they are all put into jail because they have expressed their dissent or raised questions about the ruling powers of India.
“We are part of the process. In a way I am happy to be part of this process.
“I am not a silent spectator, but part of the game, and ready to pay the price whatever be it.”
Jesuits Global
84 year old Jesuit priest Stan Swamy did pay the price — with his life
the human rights group Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha
accurately observed Stan’s cause of death:
“Stan lives in our struggles and memories. His death is the result of murder by the state. We hold the NIA and the central government wholly responsible and strongly condemn their role in Stan’s death…”
critics of Modi government are also rotting in jails all over India
Father Stan was denied bail on medical grounds,
with the result that he lost his life on July 5, 2021
did Modi feel any guilt for this Jesuit priest’s death?
no — this was just one more person added to the death statistics
Modi didn’t feel anything when several 100,000 people died
due to his COVID-19 policies — or should we say, lack of it
in October 2020, Swamy was charged with “terrorism”
what kind of terrorist acts did Stan Swamy commit?
he was fighting against the prolonged detention of the 72 people
of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes (SC, ST) and backward castes
many other issues also kept Swamy busy, such as, in his words:
7. I have strongly disagreed with the setting up of ‘Land Bank’ which I see as the most recent plot to annihilate the Adivasi [indigenous or “Original Inhabitants“] people because it claims that all ‘gair-majurwa’ land (‘Commons’) belong to the government and it is free to allot it to any body (read industrial houses) to set up their small and big industries.
8. I have challenged the indiscriminate arrest of thousands of young Adivasisand Moolvasis under the label of ‘naxals’ just because they question and resist unjust land-alienation and displacement. I’ve taken legal action against the Jharkhand State by filing a PIL in the HC praying that (i) all Under-Trial Prisoners (UTP) be released on bail on personal bond, (ii) speed up the trial process which surely will acquit most of them, (iii) appoint a judicial commission to probe the reasons why the trial process is indefinitely being delayed, (iv) the police submit all needed information about all UTPs to the petitioner. It is now more than two years since the case was admitted but the police is yet to provide all needed information about all UTPs.
This, I believe, is the main reason why the State is keen to put me out of the way. The most feasible way is to implicate me in serious cases and stall the judicial process to give justice to the poor innocent Adivasis.
Modi loves the warmth he has found in the lap of Ambanis and Adanis
he’ll go to any extent to facilitate the enhancement of their wealth
even if many Swamys have to be sacrificed on the altar of wealth
Swamy was a Roman Catholic like US President Biden
and so, what was Biden’s reaction to Swamy’s murder?
the US State Department issued the following tweet:
“We are saddened by the death of Father Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest & tribal rights activist, who died in Indian custody under charges of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. We call on all governments to respect the vital role of human rights activists in healthy democracies.”
the tweet totally avoids criticizing Modi government’s horrific crime
(World Press Freedom Index ranks India at 142 out of 180 countries)
Biden has also ignored the suffering/torture of Kashmiris under Modi rule
what Biden never forgets to denounce is China’s Xi Jinping for his actions
whether it’s his mistreatment of the people of Hong Kong
or his atrocious treatment of Xinjiang’s Uighurs, a Muslim minority
“China is trying very hard to become a world leader and to get that moniker and be able to do that they have to gain the confidence of other countries.”
“As long as they are engaged in activity that is contrary to basic human rights, it is going to be hard for them to do that.”
it’s a different matter altogether …
that the US itself violates human rights all the time …
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com