THE CALL OF GOD FOR FR. STAN
LOURDUSWAMY
Once up
on a time a young
man was grazing sheep at the far side of a desert. While he was sitting and keeping watch on his
sheep suddenly, he saw at a distance a strange sight. He saw a bush burning but
the fire was not consuming the bush.
When he went close to see the strange event, he was told that the place
he was standing was holy and he should remove his sandals. The voice from the bush said, “I have seen
the humiliation of my people at the hands of their exploiters and I have heard
their cries. Go now I am sending you to bring my people out of their slavery.”
Almost in a
similar fashion a young boy from Tiruchirappalli was called by God to go to the
tribal region of Bihar/Jharkhand to set His people free. After his ordination on 14th April
1970 in the Society of Jesus (S.J.) he left to Bihar/ Jharkhand to work with
the Adivasis.
Stan
believed that it was not enough to dole out material goods and food relief to
the Adivasis. He should work for their emancipation
and development. The only way to work for
the development of the Adivasis would be to educate them to understand their rights
and fight for their rights.
After
working for several years in Bihar (Jharkhand) he was asked to work in Indian
Social Institute the Nation’s premier research, training, and documentation
institute in Bangalore. Through this
institute he trained many social workers and youth to work for rural
development and nation building. He enabled them to understand the social,
economic realities of our society to be able to work effectively with the
Dalits, Adivasis and weaker section of the society.
After
completing his term at the Indian Social Institute, he went back to Jharkhand
to work with the Adivasis. He knew that
the constitution and the legal frame work has enough space for the rights of
the Adivasis. For example, “the 5th
schedule of the constitution” deals with the administration of Schedule areas
as well as Scheduled Tribes residing in different states. Secondly in 1996 the
central government had passed a law called “Panchayats (extension to Scheduled
Areas) PESA Act 1996”. By virtue of this
act the constitution gives to the people living in the schedule area the power
of self-governance through traditional Gram Sabhas. This laws prevent outsiders to enter the
schedule area to exploit the people and the natural resources for their private
gain.
The
successive government did not have political will to implement these laws which
protect the lives and livelihood of the Adivasis. Fr. Stan was concerned about non
implementation of the 5th Schedule of the Indian Constitution and
PESA.
One does not
need rocket science to understand why these laws were not implemented. The schedule areas where Adivasis are living
are rich with mineral resources. The
hitherto practice has been the government would evict the Adivasis from their
homes and lands and hand over their land to the corporates and multinational
companies to excavate the minerals below their land. To put in the words of Fr. Stan, “every mine
that is dug not only destroys the green forests, fertile lands and water bodies
but displaces entire village habitations”.
Perhaps in
olden days when Adivasis were ignorant and unorganized they could be easily
pushed out of their land. It is because
of this mindless exploitation of the Adivasis and
With sustained
work of conscientization by people like Fr. Stan Adivasis have woken up to
understand their rights. Through their prolonged struggles PESA Act was passed
in 1996. They have started resisting the oppression. They started a movement called Pathal
Ghadi. They started erecting stone slabs
at the entrance of every Adivasi village.
They inscribe relevant parts of the constitution and PESA Act on the
slab. They also inscribe the names of
the people who have given their lives in the struggle to protect the rights of
the Adivasis. The government has dealt with heavy hand with all the resistance
of the Adivasis from their eviction.
More than 6000 youth are languishing in jail without charge sheet or
trial.
Fr. Stan has
meticulously documented the torture and the sufferings of these Adivasi
youth. Along with other civil right
activists Fr. Stan has filed public interest litigations to bring relief to the
Adivasis.
In response
to this the government filed the case of sedition against Fr. Stan. The National Investigation Agency has implicated
him in Bhima Koregaon violence. At first,
he was only a suspect but now they have accused him of being involved in Bhima
Koregao violence. They have further
accused him as a cadre of the Maoist.
They raided his office in Ranchi and took away his mobile phone and
laptop. The most atrocious things the
NIA has done is they have planted material in his laptop to prove that he is a Maoist.
What is ludicrous is that such material the NIA has planted in many who have
been arrested in Maharastra contain the same spelling mistakes and Marathi
words. Since Stan does not know Marathi
one wonders how could he use Marathi words in the documents planted in his
computer.
Fr. Stan
being a staunch Christian and a Jesuit priest does not believe in indulging in
false hood let alone using violence.
The real
issue is not that Fr. Stan is a Maoist or uses violence. NIA’s charge sheet will not stand the test in
trial court. The real problem is that
Fr. Stan has awakened the Adivasis to understand their rights to their land and
homes. They have started resisting. They
are demanding a share in the wealth that lies beneath their land. This creates
difficulties for the government to hand over their lands to the crony
capitalists for excavating rich minerals from the lands of the Adivasis.
Fr. Stan
asks, “why truth has become so bitter, dissent so intolerable and justice so
out of reach.
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