THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Leaders cutting across political affiliations expressed condolences over the passing away of Fr Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist, at a Mumbai hospital on Monday afternoon. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan tweeted that he is deeply saddened by the passing away of Fr Stan Swamy.
“Unjustifiable that a man who fought all through his life for our society’s most downtrodden had to die in custody. Such travesty of justice should have no place in our democracy,” tweeted Pinarayi. It may be recalled that Pinarayi had demanded justice for the priest in 2020 after his arrest in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case. He had then questioned the breach of democratic values of tribals for whom Fr Stan had been working for decades.
Opposition leader VD Satheesan said Fr Stan’s death was the result of the murder tactics of the BJP administration. He demanded to know the reason behind the Centre slapping draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) charges against a veteran tribal activist like Fr Stan.
“He was put in jail after slapping the UAPA case in the Bhima Koregaon case when he had been fighting for the rights of tribals and the marginalised people. Fr Stan, who was the rare embodiment of justice, humaneness and fearlessness, was lost to the institutional brutality of the administration, that too when his bail application was being considered,” said Satheesan.
LDF convener A Vijayaraghavan also blamed the BJP administration for the death of the Jesuit priest. “The death of Fr Stan is the last example of the BJP government silencing the people who speak up against them. He died a slow death after being denied timely medical help. The Centre must explain what sort of justice has been meted out for killing him in prison,” said Vijayaraghavan.