Accused in Bhima Koregaon case Father Stan Swamy passes away

The Bombay High Court was informed that Father Stan Swamy, 84, passed away at 1.24 p.m. on Monday. He was accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence case and was arrested from Ranchi on October 9, 2020. Medical Director of the Holy Family Hospital Dr. Ian D'souza told a Division Bench of Justices S.S. Shinde and N.J. Jamadar that Father Stan had pulmonary infection, post-COVID complications in the lungs and pneumonia. As the court took up his bail plea hearing on Monday, Stan Swamy's lawyer told the bench that the medical condition of the 84-year-old deteriorated late Sunday night. He went into cardiac arrest at 4.30 am and couldn't be revived, the lawyer said.
He also had other ailments. He was put on a ventilator and he never regained consciousness. Father Stan was shifted to the private hospital from Taloja Central Jail on  May 29 after being directed by the High Court. He tested positive for COVID-19 on May 30. Last week, Swamy had filed a plea in the HC, challenging section 43D(5) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). 

Father Stan Swamy, a tribal rights activist and a social worker associated with the Jharkhand Organization Against Uranium Radiation arrested in the Elgaar Parishad case last year. Father, who started the movement against Uranium Corporation in the year 1996, raised his voice for tribal rights. While the construction of the dam in Chaibasa was stopped due to the movement of Father Stan, he also did a lot of work among the tribals of Koderma and Bokaro district . In the year 2010, Father Stan Swamy also wrote the book 'The Truth of Prisoners in Jail'.
Father Stan Swamy was a Jesuit priest and a tribal rights activist based in Jharkhand had worked in the state for over three decades on various issues of the tribal communities on land, forest and labour rights. In a statement given two days before the NIA took him into custody, Swamy had said that he had challenged the “indiscriminate” arrest of thousands of young tribals and locals with investigating agencies labeling them as “Naxals”. The NIA, which took over the investigation into the Elgar Parishad/Bhima Koregaon case, alleges that all the accused have links with the banned CPI (Maoist). 
On January 1, 2018, lakhs of Dalits had gathered near Pune to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon, which was won by the British army — largely comprising soldiers from the Dalit community — against the Peshwas in 1818. There was violence, with vehicles of those assembled being burnt, and assaults on them.
Father Stan Swamy had come to Jharkhand from Kerala in the year 1991. Father used to say that even though Jharkhand has valuable mineral wealth, but the development is uneven and the tribals didn't get their share . 40 percent of the country's minerals are found in Jharkhand. It includes uranium, mica, lead, bauxite, gold, silver, coal and copper. But the tribals of Jharkhand are extremely poor despite the ample mineral available in the state, specially in tribal dominated areas.
Father Swamy, a resident of Kerala, was very actively associated with social work in Jharkhand. He worked as a pastor in the initial days. Gradually, raising the voice of the rights of the tribal and disadvantaged groups, established the anti-displacement mass movement in Jharkhand. At the same time, school and technical training institute for tribal children was also started in the Namkum area of ​​the capital Ranchi.
There was a lot of protest against the arrest of Father Sten Swami . On May 30, on the orders of Bombay High Court, he was admitted to Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai due to ill health. There was no improvement in his health even after long treatment and he died on July 5, 2021 (Monday). Catholic society, social and human rights activists, including CM Hemant Soren, also protested against the arrest of Father. CM Hemant Soren had also attacked the central government on the arrest of Stan Swamy, who raised the voice of the poor, deprived and tribals. Soren had said that what message does the BJP government at the Centre wants to send by arresting old Father Stan Swamy.