He fought the good fight until the very end. Now, all that the country can do now is mourn the death of Fr Stanislaus Lourduswami, or as he was popularly known Fr Stan Swamy, and pray for the eternal repose of his soul. Death brings an end to the suffering and misery that the Jesuit priest was undergoing since his arrest in October last year. Jailed under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) Swamy suffered in prison and was at first even denied even a straw to sip liquids despite pleas that his Parkinson disease didn’t allow him to easily drink from a glass. People from across the country sent him sippers and straws, but he remained in jail with bail denied until May this year when his failing health led to his admission in hospital.
In May, seeking bail he had told the court that he would prefer to suffer and die in jail rather than being admitted in hospital as his health would not improve. He had said that the jail had brought him to a situation where he could neither write nor go for a walk by himself and that somebody had to feed him with a spoon. He knew even then that he was going to die, but did not forget to turn his back on what he stood for. As his health deteriorated in prison, it was by an order of the Bombay High Court that he was shifted to hospital, and where he breathed his last, even as his bail application was being heard by the court.
Stan Swamy was a tribal rights activist whose life work would possibly never have made headline if not for his arrest last year. At the age of 84 and with failing health, for the authorities the priest who spent his time with the tribals became a terrorist. For the tribals he stood with and fought for, he was a source of inspiration and the medium for change they desired to see. He was among known activists, academics and lawyers, who were arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and denied bail in the Bhima Koregao case. Throughout the time he spent in jail – about eight months – Stan Swamy had denied the charges, countering instead that he was being targeted for his work with the tribal polulation in Jharkhand.
Since Stan Swamy was in custody when he died, there will be an autopsy of the body. It should not end with that, but there needs to be a post-mortem of how he was treated during the time he was imprisoned. An 84-year-old man, frail and ailing, was jailed and denied bail. There has to be accountability of the manner in which the priest was treated in the final months of his earthly life. This is the right case for a judicial inquiry into the entire episode, from the time Swamy was arrested till his death. The arrest and death raise several issues with regard to the criminal system in the country and these have to be addressed.
Stan Swamy’s death has led to the call for a repeal of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and other similar laws that have been used against activists by the government. Arrested in the same case and in jail are other academics and activists. Arrested under the same law are other activists too, one being Natasha Narwal who was granted bail last month. Their cases too should be reviewed simultaneously. Stan Swamy’s death should not be in vain, it should change the system. He died in custody because of a very stringent law, others should not suffer the way he has. The State has to reconsider the law and how it is applied.
