The campaign to clear the name of the late Jesuit priest Fr Stan Swamy continued with a vigil outside the Indian High Commission in London.
Peaceful protestors gathered in front of India House, in Aldwych, on Friday (11 July), where they stood silently with placards calling for Fr Stan to be exonerated.
Fr Stan spent most of his life defending the rights of vulnerable communities in India, including Adivasi (indigenous tribal) and Dalit (low caste) people.
He was arrested by Indian authorities in October 2020 under controversial anti-terror laws for his alleged involvement in violence surrounding protests in 2018 in the village of Bhima Koregaon.
Suffering from Parkinson’s disease, he was kept in appalling conditions in prison and died as a result in July 2021, aged 84.
The demonstration, which was arranged by international development organisation Jesuit Missions, included prayers and readings on the theme of justice.
Paul Chitnis, Director of Jesuit Missions, attempted to hand over a box of cards signed in memory of Fr Stan at the end of the vigil, but this was refused by the High Commission staff.
Jesuit Missions, alongside colleagues in Britain and India, has consistently campaigned for Fr Stan’s name to be cleared.
This is the third time it has demonstrated outside India House – the first was shortly after his arrest, when it urged the Indian government to release him – and it has arranged meetings in Parliament to try to bring the case to wider attention.
It has also hosted several talks by University of Oxford Professor Alpa Shah, whose book The Incarcerations details the cases of Fr Stan and the 15 others arrested following the 2018 protests, collectively known as the BK-16.
Speaking at the vigil, Mr Chitnis said: “We continue to voice our call for Fr Stan’s name to be cleared, refusing to forget him and his legacy of working for the marginalised.
“Jesuits across the world and their supporters want the Indian Government to officially declare his innocence.
“We are also calling for due process for others arrested on similar charges, some of whom have been in pre-trial detention for years.”
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