From Cauvery Delta to the jungles of Jharkhand: Stan Swamy's engagement with dispossessed tribals

Born in remote Viragalur village, on the banks of river Kollidam, a distributary of the Cauvery in Trichy district in 1937, Fr Stan Swamy found his calling towards the Adivasis shortly after joining the Jesuit order to become a priest. After his formal schooling in his native village and higher education in Trichy, he pursued higher education in the Philippines and Belgium. He volunteered to move to Jamshedpur and work among the unorganised labourers and the marginalised in society. During his tenure as Director of the Bengaluru-based Indian Social Institute (ISI), he was instrumental in creating a vibrant civil society by helping in the blossoming of a band of activists in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the late seventies and eighties. Under his watch, ISI Bengaluru, turned into a training ground for social activists, equipping them with a theoretical and practical understanding of society, writes ETV Bharat's Chennai Bureau Chief, MC Rajan.

Chennai: A spartan till the end, the soft-spoken Fr Stan Swamy's life was committed to the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden. Born in the fertile Cauvery delta, his life was devoted to the tribals of Jharkhand. His demise in incarceration has come as a shock to many of his fellow travellers in various walks of life and those who have been associated with him.

Without any pretensions, he was an intellectual at ease with the illiterate tribals as well as academics and activists. Though a Catholic priest of the Jesuit order, he never carried that identity on his collars. During his study abroad, he got associated with the radical Brazilian Archbishop He'lder Camara, a champion of the poor who forcefully advocated that the Church should distribute its riches and take an active role in promoting social change.

In those days, students who had passed the Intermediate could join the Jesuit order and pursue their studies besides theology and philosophy. After passing out from St Joseph's High School in Trichy, he stepped into the order.

“Rather than remaining in Tamil Nadu, he opted to work in the area in and around Jamshedpur. What distinguishes his work is his steadfastness with the centrality of tribals in all the programmes. Even the Tribal Research Centre in Ranchi that he had established on a seven-acre area, everything is in tune with Adivasi culture. Organising the tribals to demand their rights against the mining lobby and the struggle against the Netarhat firing range had brought him into conflict with the authorities. He also took up the legal fight to get the nearly 3000 tribal youth kept in jails without trial,” explained Fr John Kumar Sj, Director of Social Watch-Tamil Nadu.

“He led an austere life and his belongings were books. A very amiable person, he had a burning passion for social change. It was he who started the 3-month training programme for social activists at ISI which was instrumental in creating a strong civil society in Tamil Nadu and parts of Karnataka. He has spotted and moulded many of us,” reminisces Fr John Kumar, who has been associated with Fr Stan for over 18 years and who also hails from Trichy district.

Echoing the same, another former Jesuit, A Samy of Trichy recalled that Fr Stan was very close with CPI and CPI (M) leadership and used to invite them for the training programme to give lectures.

“Fr Stan had even criticised the western missionaries as a problem and persistently advocated that the Church should take a proactive role in addressing the issue of poverty,” recalls Fr Kumar.

A jovial personality, Fr Stan would share his experiences at the formation in the Jesuit order then. Thankfully, much of the practices are no longer in vogue.

“During our times we have to smoke a cigar after dinner. It was part of life in the formation of Jesuits. If you don't you are looked down upon as less cultured. Drinks too were there.” he had revealed in a lighter vein once at a training programme in which the writer was a participant as a student leader in the late eighties.

His extended family and relatives are still in his native village, which mourns the demise of a son of the soil. For associates and companions, his will continue to be an inspiration.