Father Stan Swamy, who died aged 84 in Mumbai on Monday, was a Jesuit priest with a Marxian understanding of society and its problems that he imparted to thousands of youths while campaigning for tribal rights for over five decades.
Stanislaus Lourduswamy, which was his real name, was best known for his championing of the Adivasi cause in Jharkhand but hailed from Tamil Nadu.
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He was born on April 26, 1937, in Trichy and went to St Joseph’s School, where he was so deeply inspired by the work of the Jesuit priests that he decided to join the order.
He began pursuing religious studies in May 1957 and committed himself to the cause of the poor and downtrodden.
Father Stan Swamy, the 83-year-old jailed priest, has been selected for an award honouring the late Mukundan C. Menon, journalist and founder of the human rights organisation People’s Union for Civil Liberties.
The award, which includes a cash prize of Rs 25,000 and a citation, “is in recognition of people’s struggle for democratic and human rights of Adivasis led by Father Stan Swamy”, the award organisers have written, according to sources close to the arrested Jesuit priest.
Sources said the award would be sent to Swamy at Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai, where the Parkinsonism patient has been lodged following his arrest by the anti-terror agency NIA from his Ranchi home on October 8.