Stan Swamy's family may not be able see him 'one last time'

Family members of activist Stan Swamy are hoping to bring the activist's mortal remains back to Virugallur village

As the death of tribal activist Father Stan Swamy leaves behind a trail of grief and outrage over state machinery, his family in Tiruchy may not be able to see him even for the last time.

Stan Swamy's body cannot be brought to his native village due to Covid-19.

“He (Fr. Stan Swamy) lived for the cause of the tribals, and he always expressed his wish to be buried at the campus of the Social Action Centre in Ranchi. Neither his wish has been fulfilled nor that of ours to have a last look at him,” Stanis Sundar, the nephew of the activist, said.

Read | Stan Swamy death: Activists express anguish, call for fixing accountability for 'custodial murder'

Sundar, the son of Stan’s elder brother T P L Irudayaswamy, told DH from his native village of Viragallur, 41 km from Tiruchirappalli, that his father is “inconsolable” since Monday afternoon after hearing the death of his younger brother.

“How do we console him when we know he did not die of old age but of apathy and rigid attitude of the (Union) government that jailed a man who was in his 80s. My father had played a crucial role in shaping my uncle’s future and he regrets not seeing him for one last time,” Sundar said.

Though Stan Swamy was involved in active public service, he never missed a chance to drop by his native village to meet Irudayaswamy when he was in Tamil Nadu.

“His last visit to my native was in 2019 and he stayed with us for three days. He would come to meet my grandfather and grand aunt who stayed nearby. Whenever he was in our village, he never missed going to the church in the evening,” Benitto Prabhu, Stan Swamy’s grandnephew, said.

After hearing about Stan Swamy’s death, the family members tried to participate in the last rites ceremony, in vain due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Read | A lot else died with Father Stan Swamy

“We were hoping that his body will be brought to Bengaluru as he worked with the Indian Social Institute for 15 years. Travelling to Bengaluru would have been easy. But since he is being buried in Mumbai, we cannot travel. It is very sad we cannot see him even after his death,” Sundar added.

They also cited a cap imposed by the Maharashtra government on the number of people attending a burial and “mandatory Covid-19 negative report” as reasons for not going ahead with their plan to travel to Mumbai.

Sundar and Benitto said Stan Swamy had always wished to be buried in Ranchi where he spent nearly two decades working for the tribals. They regretted the fact that his last wish could not be fulfilled. Benitto, who met Stan in Chennai in February 2020 for the last time, said they did not expect the courts to deny him bail for months together though the arrest was not unexpected.

“The arrest was not surprising for us because he had indicated to me when I met him last. But we never expected him to die in jail (in his hospital bed). We were hoping that the courts would give him bail keeping his age factor in mind,” Benitto said.