The writer is Dawn’s correspondent in Delhi.
“THEY killed Stan Swamy.” Fellow journalist John Dayal’s Facebook message startled me. The 84-year-old Jesuit priest was put on the ventilator two days ago after weeks of fighting Covid at a private hospital in Mumbai. Although denied bail, a judge permitted him to be treated for the virus contracted in prison.
Swamy was suffering from Parkinson’s when he was thrown into prison in October last year, and was slapped with outrageous terror charges. Nothing better can be expected, of course, from India’s palpably communal rulers. They thrive on a blend of hate and ignorance. It was early in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s innings that a Hindutva fanatic murdered an Australian missionary and his two young sons in an Orissa village by setting their jeep on fire. Vajpayee was at least contrite and condemned the crime publicly. That was a different stage in the steady journey of Hindutva.
Father Stan Swamy, Indian Jesuit, dies following 9 months in prison | News Headlines
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Father Stan Swamy has died of Covid-19, still in the custody of the Indian government
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