‘He was murdered by State’: Christian community, rights activists remember Father Stan Swamy on fourth death anniversary
16/07/2025
Maktoobmedia.com / by Aktarista Ansari
On the fourth death anniversary of Father Stan Swamy, members of the Jesuit community, human rights activists, and concerned citizens gathered in Delhi to honour his life and legacy—a legacy rooted in his tireless pursuit of truth and justice. Read more
‘Clear his name!’ – Jesuit Missions hold vigil outside Indian High Commission for Fr Stan Swamy
14/07/2025
ICN / by ICN
The campaign to clear the name of the late Jesuit priest Fr Stan Swamy continued with a vigil outside the Indian High Commission in London. Peaceful protestors gathered in front of India House, in Aldwych, on Friday, 11 July, where they stood silently with placards calling for Fr Stan to be exonerated. Read more
Progressive Students’ Association – JNU / @Psa_jnu
4 Years since the institutional murder of Fr. Stan Swamy!
By Progressive Students’ Association – JNU / @Psa_jnu (Jul 5, 2025):
“Why truth has become so bitter, dissent so intolerable, justice so out of reach? Because truth has become very bitter to those in power and position, dissent, so unpalatable to the ruling elite, justice, so out of
reach to the powerless, marginalised, deprived people. Yet, truth must be spoken, right to dissent must be upheld, and justice must reach the doorsteps of the poor. I am not a silent spectator.”
▪ Free BK 15!
▪ Free All Political Prisoners!
▪ Repeal UAPA.
Four years on, India commemorates the death of a priest of the people, Fr Stan Swamy
05/07/2025
cjp / by Cedric Prakash SJ
On his fourth death anniversary, Jesuit activist Stan Swamy is remembered in for his integrity, sacrifice, and the institutional injustice he endured
When Fr Stan Swamy died on July 5, 2021, the world of truth and justice was shocked and saddened. Those who belonged to this group were convinced, that his death was not a natural one, but a pre-mediated institutional murder. Yes, he was killed – because the powerful and other vested interests had no doubt that he was a real nuisance to their nefarious deeds. So he needed to be done away with. Theirs was a meticulously crafted plan: to interrogate and harass him, to incarcerate him in Taloja jail under an extremely draconian law, the ‘Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), to continuously intimidate him through the National Investigation Agency (NIA) even whilst he was imprisoned, to deny him (an ailing 84-year-old frail, sickly Jesuit) a much –needed straw-sipper, proper food and adequate Medicare; all this and more! Read more
Video: A Documentary Film on Stan Swamy – A Caged Bird Can Still Sing
hindi / en | 21:40 | 2025
By Karwan e Mohabbat
This short documentary revisits the life and work of Father Stan Swamy, the Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist who spent decades standing with Adivasi communities in Jharkhand. Arrested under draconian anti-terror laws and denied timely medical care, Stan died in custody on 5 July 2021.
Through conversations with his friends and colleagues, and using Stan’s own archival footage and recordings, we reflect on his unwavering commitment to justice and begin to understand why he was targeted by the state. This is both a tribute and a reminder of the forces that criminalise dissent and silence those who speak for the most marginalised. Watch video
Video: The courage and death of Stan Swamy
hindi | 55:44 | 2025
Scroll.in / by Karwan e Mohabbat
In this episode of our discussion series, author and peace worker Harsh Mander is in conversation with filmmaker Meghnath, activist Aloka Kujur, and Father Tony, director of Bagaicha, the institute founded by Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi. The conversation reflects on the life, work, and legacy of Stan Swamy – a Jesuit priest, Adivasi rights activist, and a central figure in the fight for justice for India’s marginalized communities. The panel discusses his decades-long work with Adivasis and undertrials, his commitment to human rights, and the events that led to his arrest under the UAPA. They talk about his time in jail, the denial of basic medical care, and his death in custody. Watch video
Repeal UAPA, withdraw cases: DMK, allies remember Stan Swamy on death anniversary
05/07/2025
Times Of India / by TNN
Senior DMK leaders and their allies on Saturday squarely blamed the Modi govt for the death of 84-year-old tribal rights activist Stan Swamy in a Jharkhand prison in 2021, calling it an injustice that cannot be undone. Read more
Father Stan’s legacy: The dream of justice for the Adivasis continues in Ranchi
07/07/2025
Herald Malaysia / by Alessandra De Poli
Four years after the death of the Jesuit who dedicated his life to defending the land rights of India’s indigenous peoples, the Bagaicha centre, which he founded in the State of Jharkhand, continues to fight for the poor. Despite threats and continuous mining, Jesuits and activists continue their mission to accompany tribal communities in claiming their rights, in the name of Father Stan Swamy, a symbol of justice for new generations too. Read more
Leaders of INDIA bloc parties remember tribal rights activist Stan Swamy, slams UAPA
07/07/2025
The Telegraph / by M.R. Venkatesh
Unveiling a bust of Fr Stan at St Peter’s Higher Secondary School in Viragalur village near Tiruchirappalli, DMK MP K. Kanimozhi remembered how the octogenarian who had fought for the rights of tribals all his life was denied a straw and a sipper in jail
Leaders of INDIA bloc parties have called upon the Centre to repeal the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), which they alleged was being used as a tool to crush dissent, as they paid homage to tribal rights activist Stan Swamy at his native village in Tamil Nadu on his fourth death anniversary on Saturday. Read more
‘Pilgrim of hope’ Fr Stan Swamy remembered on anniversary
07/07/2025
The Tablet / by Rita Joseph
Kanimozhi Karunanidhi said Fr Stan had been targeted for defending the rights of tribal peoples to forests, water and mineral-rich lands that the government wanted to exploit.
Memorial meetings across India commemorated the tribal rights activist Fr Stan Swamy SJ on the fourth anniversary of his death on Saturday. Read more
Activists call for legal protection, remembering Indian priest’s death
08/07/2025
UCA News / by UCA News reporter
84-year-old Jesuit Stan Swamy died in custody after being denied bail on medical grounds
A call to protect Indian activists from state repression was made on the death anniversary of Father Stan Swamy, an 84-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist who died as an undertrial five years ago.Political leaders from the ruling alliance in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Swamy’s home state, endorsed the call by Jesuits and rights activists for legal measures to protect activists working for the socially and financially disadvantaged. Read more
Father Stan Swamy was killed for standing up for the rights of Adivasis
10/07/2025
Countercurrents.org / by Dr Suresh Khairnar
Father Stan Swamy had never visited Bhima Koregaon in his life, in which he was arrested by the NIA in October 2020. And there is no reason for him to have any connection with Elgar Parishad. Because that Parishad was formed by more than two hundred social organizations of Maharashtra to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Diwas (on 1 January 2018). In which I myself was a member in the capacity of President from Rashtra Seva Dal. And after celebrating Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Diwas on 1 January 2018, that Parishad has no existence after that. It was formed purely for the program to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Diwas in 2018. Read more
The deterioration of the 84-year-old in Taloja Jail was evident. Jail medical staff watched it happen, recalls a fellow prisoner.
Ferreira was incarcerated along with Swamy in the prison hospital. He has been now released on bail on conditions, one of which disallows him from commenting about the case in the media.
“This is not a natural death, but the institutional murder of a gentle soul,” reads the statement by the family members of the people accused in the Elgar Parishad case that was released immediately after Father Stan Swamy’s death on July 5, 2021.
Some may consider these words a bit too harsh given Stan’s age (he was 84) and health (he had Parkison’s disease). However observing and experiencing the callous treatment meted out to Stan at Taloja Prison, I am inclined to endorse their view. Read more
Daring, Fearless and Kind, Father Stan Swamy Remains a Beacon of Resistance
The Wire / by Hany Babu, Jyoti Jagtap, Mahesh Raut, Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor, Sagar Gorkhe, Surendra Gadling
On the fourth anniversary of Father Stan’s death due to alleged medical negligence in prison, his co-defendants in jail have vowed to lead a hunger strike.
On July 5, 2021, Father Stan Swamy left us, succumbing to failing health aggravated by the deliberate denial of medical care by a repressive state as part of its devious strategy in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case. Four years have passed since this institutional murder of Father Stan. We seethe in indignation on the very memory of this day, when the real, violent, blood-thirsty face of the state unravelled to one and all. Read more
‘Tell the judge he has done no crime’: The struggles of Hany Babu’s family
On July 28, Delhi University professor 57-year-old Hany Babu will complete five years of incarceration.
When the National Investigation Agency came for Babu in 2020, India was battling the Covid-19 virus, which is known to fester and multiply in densely packed spaces, such as prison cells.
The Delhi University professor, arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, has been in jail for five years with no trial in sight. Read more
It prompts us all to ask: What kind of society do we want to become?
Father Stan Swamy’s death in custody raises profound questions about India’s commitment to humanity under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
The 84-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist died on July 5, 2021, while imprisoned under harsh anti-terror laws, triggering outrage and sorrow across the nation. Read more
Modi promised a strike on Pakistan. Instead, he turned the tools of the British empire inward—counting caste to divide, not to dismantle it.
After the Pahalgam terrorist attack of April 22, 2025, the mitti me mila denge threat from Narendra Modi seemed to imply that he would launch a big-bang, post-Pulwama-style surgical strike on Pakistan. But what came on April 30, 2025, after a week of quiet, was the declaration of a caste census. Read more
The BK-16 case links India’s harmful neoliberal policies, state authorities abuse of laws, and the collapse of institutions, says the social anthropologist
… In this episode of State of Southasia, Shah speaks to Nayantara Narayanan about the work of the BK16 with indigenous communities and other minorities, their pushback against neoliberal policies and why they were seen as threats by the Indian state, and how and why they were implicated in the Bhima Koregaon case. The case shows a “very direct link between the kinds of interests of the state and corporate powers in accessing resources that lie under [Adivasi] lands and the fight for justice of those people who those lands belong to,” she says.
▪ The Incarcerations: Bhima Koregaon And The Search For Democracy In India
Author: Alpa Shah
Publishing Date: March 2024
Publisher: Harper Collins Publisher
Pages: 672 Read more / order
Lawyers demand protection from harassment, sexism, and state repression as AILAJ finalizes draft Advocates’ Protection Bill after month-long campaign.
All India Lawyers Association of Justice (AILAJ) Delhi culminated its month-long campaign for the enactment of an Advocates’ Protection Act in a state-level consultation held on 12 April at the Press Club of India. …
Advocate Rohin Bhatt … urged that the Bill must have provisions that discourage the state from maliciously prosecuting lawyers, as it has done to lawyers like Sudha Bhardwaj and Surendra Gadling in the Bhima Koregaon case. Read more
▪ Video: The Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails
By All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice – AILAJ / March 2022
en | 1:21:23 | 2022
The huge number of undertrials, the overcrowding, and the disproportional numbers of Dalit, Muslim and Adivasi prisoners are part of the prison problem in India.
We are joined by Adv. Sudha Bharadwaj for a discussion on the Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails. Watch video
A caged bird can still sing – clearing Fr Stan’s name
The Indian Jesuit and human rights defender Fr Stan Swamy, who was suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, died in custody, aged 84, in 2021. He would have been 88 on 26 April this year. Jesuits around the world are calling on the Government of India to declare him innocent of the crimes of which he was accused.
Fr Stan Swamy died as an “undertrial” at Holy Family Hospital, Mumbai on July 5, 2021. In 2023, I met Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves and Anand Teltumbde in Mumbai after they were released on bail. All three were implicated in the Bhima Koregaon case, popularly known as the BK16 or Elgar Parishad case, as there were 16 accused.
Arun Ferreira lived with Stan in the same prison cell and took care of Stan like a mother. Vernon and Anand became good friends discussing various socio-political issues. Read more
