Stan Swamy – Page 2 – free them all

Let us remember Father Stan Swamy and take forward his legacy! Justice for the BK16!

04/07/2023 Asha

by PUCL India / @PUCLindia (July 4, 2023):
The National Campaign to Defend Democracy, a coalition of over 150 organisations, is hosting a discussion tomorrow at 9 PM to remember Father Stan Swamy & talk about the stories of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.
Let’s demand immediate bail and release of all the BK16!

by PUCL India / @PUCLindia (July 4, 2023)
PUCL Karnataka is hosting an event tomorrow at @AshirvadSocial at 5:45 PM!
Join @VSuresh_Rights, Fr. Frazer Mascarenhas and Maitreyi Krishnan (@AilajHq) for a discussion on the work & life of Father Stan Swamy, the abuse of draconian laws like UAPA & the rights of prisoners.

by Jesuit conference of South Asia / @JCSADelhi
On the occasion of the 2nd Death Anniversary of Stan Swamy, you are invited to join a panel discussion on civic literacy and political participation.
#StanSwamy

by Jesuit conference of South Asia / @JCSADelhi (Jul 4, 2023):
We pay tribute to our martyr, Fr. Stan Swamy, on the occasion of the second anniversary of his martyrdom.
#StanSwamy #ReleaseAllPoliticalPrisoners

Stan Swamy Commemorative Convention

by Justice for Father Stan Swamy / @FreeFrStanSwamy (June 23, 2023):
Stan Swamy Commemorative Convention
Children’s Theatre Park, Ernakulam
5th July,
3 p.m. IST

Human rights activists to hold Sankalp Sabhas on July 5

04/07/2023

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

Activists in Jharkhand have decided to take a pledge to continue their fight for jal, jungle and jameen, along with a demand for punishment to those responsible for ‘murder’ of Stan Swamy.
Human rights activists in Jharkhand have decided to take a pledge to continue their fight for jal (water), jungle (forest) and jameen (land), along with a demand for punishment to those responsible for the “murder” of Stan Swamy, on July 5 which marks the third death anniversary of the Jesuit priest.
Read more

The Challenge to Live Fr. Stan Swamy’s Legacy Today!

04/07/2023

Countercurrents.org / by Cedric Prakash

… Given the grim realities which throttle the nation today, one person whose physical presence is greatly missed today is that of Jesuit Father Stan Swamy. Two years ago on 5 July 2021, he said ‘good-bye’ to us, having completed his pilgrimage here on earth. He was arrested on 8 October 2020 on fabricated charges, incarcerated in the Taloja jail where he suffered very much. His terrible and untimely death is regarded by many as ‘institutional murder’. He has still not been declared ‘innocent’ by the courts. However, Stan (as he was called by all very lovingly) the man, mission and message -lives on in the hearts and lives of thousands everywhere. He has left us with a rich legacy and challenges us to live that legacy today.
Read more

Video: Testimony of Stan Swamy, two days before his arrest on 8 October 2020.

en | 7:48 min | Oct 6, 2020
Watch video

I am not a Silent Spectator – Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolarable, Justice so out of reach

An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection

Indian Social Institute, Bangalore | by Stan Swamy | August 2021
Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages
Access a free PDF copy of the book here

Institutionalisation of injustice the order of the day, says noted journalist-author

27/06/2023 Asha

The Telegraph / by Achintya Ganguly

P. Sainath said this while delivering the second Father Stan Swamy memorial lecture on ‘Governance by gagging and the moral universe of media’
Earlier the media was expected to speak the truth to the power that be but now it also needs to speak the truth about that power.
Magsaysay award-winning journalist-author P. Sainath said this while delivering the second Father Stan Swamy memorial lecture on “Governance by gagging and the moral universe of media” at XISS auditorium in Ranchi on Sunday afternoon.
Read more

Digital archive on Adivasis named after Father Stan Swamy / Justice for Stan Swamy

24/06/2023 Asha

Independent filmmaker sets up digital archive on Adivasis named after Father Stan Swamy

25/06/2023

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

The Stan Swamy Archive of Adivasi Narratives is available on YouTube as a repository of videos on the tribal way of life, interviews with achievers and common Adivasis and their problems
An independent filmmaker and poet has set up a digital archive on Adivasis named after Father Stan Swamy, the Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist who died in custody in July 2021 and became a symbol of State repression.
Read more

Stan Swamy Commemorative Convention

by Justice for Father Stan Swamy / @FreeFrStanSwamy
Stan Swamy Commemorative Convention
Children’s Theatre Park, Ernakulam
5th July,
3 p.m. IST

Equality, Liberty, Fraternity: During Emergency and at Present

by Justice for Father Stan Swamy / @FreeFrStanSwamy / program by (PUCL Delhi)
Gandhi Peace Foundation,
New Delhi
24 June,
5.30 p.m. IST

Also read:
● Vigil for Stan Swamy (jesuits.org.uk / June 2023)
● Remembering Stan Swamy. July 5, 2022

Who are the acclaimed ‘BK-16’? / HRDs and families await justice, five years down

22/06/2023 Asha

HRDs and families await justice, five years down

22/06/2023

cjp / by Sabah Maharaj

Faulty investigation and severe loopholes in investigation, surrounds the controversial BK-16 case. International outcry has not helped move the trial five years down even while the targeted languish, families await the return of their loved ones
In June 2021, European Union parliamentarians, Nobel Laureates, renowned academics, and internationally known figures wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, the then Chief Justice of India as well as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, and other authorities in India, demanding to the release of political prisoners arrested with relation to the Elgar Parishad and Bhima Koregaon incident.
Amidst contested accusations of an anti-India conspiracy, militancy, and violence, five long years have passed since the BK-16 have been imprisoned without trial.
Read more

Who are the acclaimed ‘BK-16’?

22/06/2023

cjp / by CJP Team

Five years have passed, and human rights defenders (HRDs) and their families continue to await justice.

Surendra Gadling
Status: Detained without trial
Charges:Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) since June 2018
Location: Taloja Central Prison, Mumbai
Gadling is a human rights lawyer and a Dalit activist. Over time, Gadling established himself as a keen advocate and a key figure in cases related to extrajudicial killings, police misconduct, false accusations, and injustices against Dalits and Adivasis in the region…
Read more

Also read:
● Five years behind bars for five activists – Without bail, without charges being framed, without justice! – Various statements

Fr Stan Swamy – Clear his Name. Silent Vigil in London

20/06/2023 Asha

By Jesuits in Britain / @JesuitsBritain

Fr Stan Swamy SJ died after being accused of terrorism and imprisoned in India.
The team @JesuitMissions are marching in London today to raise awareness and clear his name! #standwithstan
Please sign the petition here

Thread by Jesuits in Britain / @JesuitsBritain (June 20, 2023)
While the Indian High Commissioner was practicing yoga in Trafalgar Sq, we were @HCI_London demanding justice for Fr Stan Swamy SJ

The @HCI_London wouldn’t come to the door to speak to a group of priests and lay people, or accept our letter and petition calling for justice for Fr Stan Swamy

The facts are these:
– Fr Stan Swamy was 84 years old and suffering from Parkinson’s; in no position to ‘otherthrow’
@narendramodi
– Fr Stan died of Covid after being mistreated in jail
– We have proof that incriminating evidence was placed on his PC.
– India should clear his name

Vigil for Stan Swamy

20/06/2023

jesuit.org.uk / By Jesuits in Britain

This morning (20th June 2023) staff at the Indian High Commission in London refused to engage with Jesuits priests and laypeople who attempted to hand in a petition calling for justice for a priest who died of Covid whilst in Indian custody.
While the High Commissioner visited Trafalgar Square to view the celebrations marking the International Day of Yoga, British Jesuits and their supporters marched to the Indian High Commission in Aldwych where they held a peaceful vigil and then attempted to hand in a petition containing thousands of signatures calling for justice for Father Stan Swamy SJ.
However, as Met police officers looked on at the peaceful protest, Commission staff went through their own contortions as they refused to answer the door, or accept the petition.
Read more

By Justice for Father Stan Swamy / @FreeFrStanSwamy

Fr Stan Swamy – clear his name – silent vigil in London

15/06/2023

By Independent Catholic News

A silent demonstration, prayers and petition in support of Fr Stan Swamy will take place on Tuesday 20th June 2023.

Schedule
8 – 8.30am Parish Mass – Church of the Immaculate Conception
Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, Parish Priest
8.30 – 9am Coffee – Arrupe Hall, London Jesuit Centre (location tbc)
Welcome by Paul Chitnis, Director Jesuit Missions
9 – 9.15am Gather in courtyard outside London Jesuit Centre
Collect placards
9.15 – 10am Walk to High Commission of India
…
Read more

MP raises case of Indian Jesuit priest Fr Stan Swamy SJ in House of Commons

14/06/2023

By The Catholic Network UK

A Conservative Party politician has called on the Foreign Office to ”make representations” to the Indian government over the treatment and death in custody of an Indian Jesuit priest.
Speaking during Foreign, Commonwealth and Development questions in the House of Commons this morning, Simon Fell, Member of Parliament for Barrow in Furness, said that “Fr Stan Swamy, aged 84, died in custody with Parkinsons only a couple of years ago.”
In his lifetime, Fr Stan Swamy SJ stood with the excluded, championing the rights of indigenous people in India.
Read more

Also read:
● Fabricating Evidence Against Life and Liberty: Tampering with Fr. Stan Swamy’s computer and its implications for Bhima Koregaon case (Press Release by Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy / Dec 2022)
● Hackers Planted Files to Frame an Indian Priest Who Died in Custody (Wired / Dec 2022)
● Fight to clear Fr Stan Swamy’s name ‘will continue’ (UCA News / Dec 2022)

Stan Swamy’s birth anniversary celebrated in Bagaicha / Fellowship for rights defenders

26/04/2023 Asha

Stan Swamy’s birth anniversary celebrated at his center

26/04/2023

Matters India / by P M Antony

Bagaicha, April 26, 2023: Friends and associates of late Jesuit social scientist Father Stan Swamy on April 26 observed his 86th birth anniversary at a center he founded near Ranchi, capital of Jharkhand state in eastern India.
Father Stan, as he was popularly known, died on July 5, 2021, as an undertrial prisoner at Mumbai, western India.
For his 86th birth anniversary, about 70 friends of Stan gathered at Bagaicha to cherish his memories, works and get energized and inspired by his life and works towards creating a more just and democratic society.
Read more

Father Stan Swamy’s acquaintances launch fellowship for rights defenders

28/04/2023

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

‘Most of us are aware of Stan Swamy’s work and contribution to defending human rights, especially the Adivasis’ right to jal, jungle aur zameen’
Friends and acquaintances of Father Stan Swamy have on his birth anniversary launched a fellowship for rights defenders like him and individuals involved in social work.
Read more

by Cedric Prakash / @CedricPrakash (April 26, 2023)
Today birth anniversary of #stanswamy He is fondly remembered by many as a brother, friend, mentor, guide, companion, human rights defender, crusader for justice & more! He was institutionally murdered on 5 Jul 2021; he will never die he LIVES in the hearts of many FOREVER !

Earthly Birthday Greetings to Stan Swamy in Heaven

26/04/2023

Countercurrents.org / by Cedric Prakash

Dear Stan,
It is your birthday today here on earth! You would have completed eighty-six years, if you were around. Well, that was not to be; on 5 July 2021 you were murdered by a brutal and fascist regime, which did not want a human rights defender like you to continue living! This is your second earthly birthday up above. Not sure how you will be celebrating it!
Read more

Swamy and Friends: A Poem by Keki Daruwala

26/04/2023

LiveWire / by Keki N. Daruwalla

This poem was originally published on July 9, 2021 and is being republished on April 26, 2023.

Beyond the Gangetic plain and the Jumna,
they had their world, women dancing in the night
tapping their earth-and-sky-world into rhythm;
their days ruled by taboo and totem
long before Freud had heard of them;
cults flowered, and shamans held the long stick

Indian Jesuit who died in jail hailed for exemplary life

26/04/2023

UCA News / by UCA News reporter

84-year-old Father Stan Swamy was arrested on false charges and denied bail despite suffering from multiple ailments
The birth anniversary of Father Stan Swamy was observed in India by exhorting the youth to follow the Indian Jesuit priest’s path of dedicating life to the poor indigenous people.
“Usually, after death, one is buried. But Father Swamy was sown. His ideals and sacrifices have to be taught to people,” said Justice K Chandru, a retired Madras High Court judge in Tamil Nadu, the home state of Father Swamy.
Read more

Fourth Drone Bomb Attack on Indigenous People in Bastar, Chhattisgarh

18/04/2023 Asha

IndiaMatters UK / by over 60 international organisations and individual campaigners, activists and academics

Fourth Drone Bomb Attack on Indigenous People in Bastar, Chhattisgarh
Stop This State Terror Now!

Press Note

Indigenous (Adivasi) people in Bijapur district of Bastar, in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, have been traumatised by yet another aerial bomb attack from the security forces which have been using drones to carry out these operations. Although the Indian Air Force is not officially deployed for combat in Chhattisgarh, the repeated use of aerial bombardment on civilian populations suggests a new dimension to the state terror being inflicted on the Adivasi population of Bastar for years.
… Social activists who have been speaking out against this injustice have also ended up in prisons … there are the well known sixteen democratic rights activists falsely implicated in what has come to be known as the Bhima Koregaon case. These sixteen were locked in prison between 2018 and 2020 on the basis of an essentially fabricated case prepared by the notorious National Investigative Agency against them under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
Read full statement

Also read:
● Security forces’ operations in adivasi areas compared with Russia-Ukraine war (Counterview.net / April 2022)
● In Jharkhand, Scheduled Tribes Still Battle Flimsy Criminal Cases Filed With Little Evidence (Indiaspend.com / Oct 2021)
● Gadling in jail. Reason? As lawyer-activist he has been ‘unpleasant’ to India’s topcops (Counterview.net / Dec 2020)
● Gadchiroli’s 300 Gram Sabhas Pass Resolution in Support of Activist Mahesh Raut (The Wire / Oct 2018)
● Condemn the State Sponsored Massacre Scripted as ‘Encounter’ in Gadchiroli and Bijapur in Central India (wssnet.org / May 2018)
● How corporate land grab is sought to be legitimized in Chhattisgarh by misusing legal framework (Counterview.org / Feb 2018)

Invitation to Stan Jayanti Day at Bagaicha (April 26)

17/04/2023 Asha

By Justice for Father Stan Swamy / @FreeFrStanSwamy

Click to enlarge poster

Also read/watch:
● Jesuit priest accused of terrorism was victim of digital hacking (Independent Catholic News / Apr 3, 2023)
● Fabricating Evidence Against Life and Liberty: Tampering with Fr. Stan Swamy’s computer and its implications for Bhima Koregaon case (Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy / Dec 22, 2022)
● Hackers Planted Files to Frame an Indian Priest Who Died in Custody (Wired / Dec 13, 2022)

Video: Testimony of Stan Swamy, two days before his arrest on 8 October 2020.

en | 7:48 min | Oct 6, 2020
Watch video

A Requiem for Fr Stan Swamy

04/04/2023 Asha

Herald Goa / by Jairam N Menon

Authorities everywhere – from classrooms to corporate boardrooms to national capitals – love silent spectators. Silent spectators look after their own interests, and if they see something that is wrong, they may sympathise but turn their eyes away. They are susceptible to the usual blandishments – an out-of-turn promotion, a plum posting etc. If nothing works, they are easy to intimidate. Outliers, on the other hand, are different. They come with a spine of steel. Authority finds them hard to understand, let along manage.
Read more

I am not a Silent Spectator – Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolarable, Justice so out of reach

An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection

Jesuit priest accused of terrorism was victim of digital hacking

03/04/2023 Asha

Independent Catholic News / by John McManus

Today, Jesuit Missions, the international mission and development office of the Jesuits in Britain, along with the international Xavier Network, are calling on the Indian Government to clear Fr Stan’s name, especially in light of new evidence which proves that he was systematically targeted during a four-year campaign, during which time falsified evidence was planted on the priest’s computer.
Read more

Also read:
● Fabricating Evidence Against Life and Liberty: Tampering with Fr. Stan Swamy’s computer and its implications for Bhima Koregaon case (Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy / Dec 2022)
● Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)