Fr Stan Swamy and the Ides of March

Sometime, just before Monday 22 March (the day the order in response to his bail application was scheduled to be pronounced), Fr. Stan Swamy sent a communication from the confines of the Taloja Prison where he has been incarcerated for near six months now. In that communication he said, “So, we await ‘the ides of March’.”

From the tone of this communication Fr Stan was ‘apparently’ using ‘the ides of March’, in a fairly positive manner, in a hopeful way. That is exactly how the phrase ‘the ides of March’ was originally meant to be. The origins of this phrase are in a non-threatening story: Kalends, Nones and Ides were ancient markers used to reference dates in relation to the lunar phases. ‘Ides’ simply referred to the first new moon of a given month, which usually fell between the 13th and 15th. In fact, the Ides of March at one time signified the new year, which meant celebrations and rejoicing. It was a new beginning, a new hope; a time of positive change; a springtime!

Over a period of time the meaning of the phrase underwent a dramatic change. Noted playwright William Shakespeare was regarded as the first one to give the ‘ides of March’ a negative connotation. In his celebrated play ‘Julius Caesar’ (first performed in 1599). Early in the play, during a particular popular Roman festival, Julius Caesar holds a victory parade ; but a soothsayer warns him to “Beware the ides of March”, which Caesar conveniently ignores and ultimately the tragedy illustrates how he meets with betrayal and ultimately his death on 15 March 44 BC (the ides of March). Since then, Shakespeare’s interpretation has stuck; the phrase and the date, March 15, is now branded with dark and gloomy connotations. It is very likely that many people who use the phrase today are unaware of its true origin. In fact, just about every pop culture reference to the Ides (except for those appearing in actual history-based books, movies or television specials) makes it seem like the day itself is cursed. Today ‘this cursed day’ is not merely one day in the month of March but it is stretched to include any day of the month and as an English idiom it is conveniently used to denote any ‘bad’ day in the year!

There is also the underlying historical fact that Julius Caesar was murdered by his Senators because he was becoming too dictatorial, arrogating more and more unbridled power to himself. There is a stark similarity to today’s reality, which cannot be lightly dismissed! Strangely enough, ten years ago, in 2011, Columbia Pictures released The Ides of March, a movie about an idealistic campaign staffer (Ryan Gosling) who gets a harsh lesson in dirty politics while working for an up-and-coming presidential candidate (George Clooney). The movie involves quite a bit of figurative backstabbing, but it’s a pretty clear allegory for the death of Caesar. Again, death and destruction loom. That says it all!

So, when on 22 March, Sessions Judge Dinesh E. Kothalikar of the Special NIA Court, denied Fr Stan Swamy bail, it was without doubt the Shakespearean understanding of ‘the ides of March’ that was at play.

In the detailed court order of 34-pages Justice Kothalikar says in his order that based on the material available on record, Fr Stan seemed to be a member of a banned Maoist organisation. “Prima facie it can be gathered that the applicant along with other members of the banned organisation hatched a serious conspiracy to create unrest in the entire country and to overpower the Government, politically and by using muscle power,” Adding, “The material placed on record thus prima facie denote that the applicant was not only a member of banned organisation CPI (Maoist) but he was carrying out activities further in the objective of the organisation which is nothing but to overthrow the democracy of the nation,”

The material that the court referred to included around “140 e-mails between the applicant (Swamy) and his co-accused,” the fact that Swamy and others he communicated with, were referred to as “comrades”, and that Swamy had received Rs eight lakh from one comrade, Mohan, allegedly for the furtherance of Maoist activities. When Swamy’s lawyers challenged the so-called material evidence the Judge said that raising questions on the authenticity of the evidence in the case would amount to interference with the court proceedings. “It is well known that the present proceeding is sub judice. Therefore, making any comments as to the evidence to be placed before the Court would amount to interference in the administration of justice. In fact, such action is required to be deprecated”

In the arguments earlier the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had opposed Swamy’s bail plea saying probe had revealed that Swamy was a staunch supporter of organisations such as ‘Vistapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan’ and ‘People’s Union for Civil Liberties’, which according to the NIA were working as “fronts of the CPI (Maoist)”. Swamy’s lawyer Sharif Shaikh had argued that the NIA had failed to establish Swamy’s connection to the Elgar Parishad-Maoists links case. Fr Stan did not participate in that particular Elgar Parishad and has never visited Bhima-Koregaon all his life

Jesuit priest Fr. Stan Swamy, was arrested from his residence in Ranchi on 8 October 2020, was produced before a Special Court in Mumbai the next day and has since been lodged at the Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai. He was arrested for ‘apparently’ being part of the Bhima- Koregaon conspiracy case. The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the ‘Elgar Parishad’ conclave held at Shaniwarwada in Pune on 31 December, 2017, in which police suspect triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon- Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of the city. The police had claimed that the Parishad was backed by outlawed Maoist groups; till today nothing has been proved on that count

Originally, the main suspects for this violence were those who belonged to the Sangh Parivar. Several months later human rights defenders were arrested for their ‘alleged’ involvement in the violence. Fr Stan was the sixteenth and last person to be arrested – also making him the oldest person who is incarcerated under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in the country till date. All the ones arrested are well-known for their unstinted commitment to human rights of the poor, the marginalised and the excluded; some of them are well-known academics and intellectuals who have contributed significantly to the cause of the Dalits and Adivasis of the country.

Fr. Stan’s Swamy’s advocate had argued that the practice of taking hash values of electronic records was not followed by the investigation officer, making them open to fabrication. He had also told the court that the typed letters suffer many legal shortcomings and that the prosecution cannot connect them with the accused based on short names or alphabets used to denote sender and receiver.

Early in February Arsenal Consulting, a US-based digital forensics firm, released a damning report which posed serious questions about the credibility of the letters that were allegedly found in the computer and other gadgets of Rona Wilson, prisoners’ rights activist, who like Fr Stan , is in jail after being arrested in the Bhima-Koregaon conspiracy case The report said that a cyber attacker had gained access to Wilson’s computer at least twenty-two months before his arrest and at least ten incriminating letters were placed on it through this attack. While Arsenal Consulting has not attributed the attack to any particular entity, in its report they have stated that the attacker responsible for compromising Rona’s laptop had extensive resources including time and it is obvious that their primary goals were surveillance and incriminating document delivery.

Fr Stan too was interrogated over a period of time. The NIA was unable to find anything incriminating against him, during the raids conducted at his residence in Ranchi. His computer was taken away. In today’s world almost any so-called “incriminating” evidence can be planted on anyone’s computer or other electronic gadgets. The judge however, refused to take into account the Arsenal report of alleged tampering with the computer of Rona Wilson, a co-accused of Fr Stan.

Fr Stan’s lawyers also asserted that 83-year-old, besides his advanced age, suffers from Parkinson’s disease and he has lost the ability to hear; also suffers from other physical ailments. On his age and health condition, the judge cited previous Supreme Court judgements to hold that given the seriousness of the allegations made against Swamy, the “collective interest of the community would outweigh Swamy’s right to personal liberty”. Adding that, “as such the old age and or alleged sickness of the applicant would not go in his favour.” The Judge was too afraid to cite the Supreme Court’s judgement on Arnab Goswami, (the blue-eyed boy of the ruling regime)- which ruled in favour of an individual’s personal liberty!

The judge also disregarded the fact that Fr. Stan was not a flight risk and would not jump bail. In his plea Fr Stan said that his name was not even part of the original FIR but was added in the remand application in 2018 by the police as a ‘suspected accused’. The court, however, held the fact that though Fr Stan had not been named in the initial FIR, did not entitle him to any relief. Judge Kothalikar, in a highly questionable order, accepted the prosecution’s submissions saying they had “substance”. He said, “upon cumulative consideration of all the aforesaid circumstances as well as the law on the subject, I conclude that the applicant has failed to make out a case for grant of bail.”

The order concluded, “there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation of commission of the offences punishable under chapters IV (punishment for terrorist activities) and VI (terrorist organisations) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against the applicant is prima facie true. Considering the express bar imposed by Section 43D 5 (no person accused with chapters IV and VI shall be released on bail) of the UAPA, the applicant cannot be released on bail.”

Fr. Stan’s missive from jail, a little before the preposterous order denying him bail, says it all,

“Dear one and all

Pardon me for clubbing all of you together as I have one and the same message to give to you soon. Practically everyone writing to me expresses the wish that I be released from prison ‘at the earliest/ immediately/without any further delay ‘or some such wish

Apart from the fact that the wheels of justice turn very slow, all 16 of us are implicated in serious cases such as sedition and UAPA, where it is very difficult to get bail. Still our lawyers are trying their very best. So, we await ‘the ides of March’

Whereas arrests under sedition are increasing, conviction is just 3 percent. As for UAPA, 5,922 arrests were made during 2016 – 2019, and only 132 were convicted (source Times of India 11-02 – 2021). Our prisons are bursting at the seams. Consequently, we have a scenario of deprivation of even the basic amenities to prisoners …So much for now.

Ever in solidarity,

Stan.”

Even from prison Fr Stan has retained his positivity and sensitivity for others. All his life he has been labouring for and accompanying the Adivasis and other excluded groups in their quest for justice, equity and dignity. He has always worked within the Constitutional and democratic framework of the country. That anyone could even think that he was trying to “overthrow the democracy of the nation” is not merely outlandish but a sheer travesty of justice. In fact, the way democracy is being dismantled in the country today by the fascists, is there for everyone to see. The learned judged (who will certainly be given some promotion!) will have neither the honesty or the courage to look into the obvious.

For Fr Stan, the order was indeed the ‘ides of March’; however, it is not a closed chapter; the pursuit and struggle for justice and truth will continue relentlessly, whatever the consequences. One day with Fr Stan, we will certainly say we have overcome for ‘Satyameva Jayate!’

(Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ is a human rights & peace activist/writer.)

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Several Thousand Sign the Appeal for Bail to 84-year Old Stan Swamy

More than 2500 people from across the country and world have issued the attached statement against the recent rejection of bail application of 84-year old Stan Swamy and appealed for his immediate bail. They have also appealed for repeal of UAPA, and a return to the norm where bail is the rule not the exception.

The signatories include several noted academics, activists, artists, film-makers, economists, jesuits, journalists, lawyers, retired bureaucrats and writers such as Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas, Aloka Kujur, Alpa Shah, Anand Patwardhan, Anuradha Talwar, Apoorvanand, Aruna Roy, Ashish Kothari, Bela Bhatia, Bharat Bhushan Choudhary, Cedric Prakash, Dayamani Barla, Elina Horo, Farah Naqvi, Jayati Ghosh, Jean Dreze, John Dayal, Kavita Srivastava, Lalita Ramdas, Nandita Das, Nikhil Dey, Reetika Khera, Sridhar V, Sushanto Mukherji, Teesta Setalvad, Vasavi Kiro, Virginius Xaxa, Wajahat Habibullah, Yogendra Yadav and many more.

30 March 2021

Appeal for Immediate Bail to 84-year Old Stan Swamy

We, the undersigned, are shocked by the rejection of a bail application filed by Stan Swamy in the Bhima Koregaon case by the special NIA (National Investigation Agency) court on 22 March 2021. He was arrested on 8 October 2020 and continues to languish in jail.

Eighty-four-year old Stan Swamy is a Parkinson’s disease patient with severe tremors in both hands. He has trouble drinking from a glass, taking bath and washing clothes on his own. He has other health ailments as well. Before his arrest, he used to spend most of his time at Bagaicha, Ranchi. Despite being repeatedly harassed (first by Maharashtra police and then the NIA) since 2018 in this case, he stayed in Bagaicha and cooperated fully with the investigation. Rejection of the bail of an elderly and ailing person, with limited mobility and no history of violence against others, is beyond comprehension.

We know Stan as an exceptionally gentle, honest and selfless person. We have the highest regard for him and his work. He has spent decades in Jharkhand working for the rights of the Adivasis and underprivileged.

It is ironic that while public support for Stan Swamy continues to grow, the court rejected the bail application in the “community’s interest”. Adivasis, Gram Sabhas, civil society, several political leaders and parties, and Jharkhand’s Chief Minister himself have condemned Stan’s arrest and expressed support and solidarity with him.

The recent Arsenal report, prepared on the basis of electronic evidence collected by the NIA, has exposed how fake documents were planted into the computers of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. Stan himself clearly told the NIA that some so-called extracts allegedly taken from his computer were fabricated and that he disowned them. It is disturbing that the court decided to ignore this evidence of fabrication as it rejected the bail application.

Stan Swamy is a symbol of the plight of thousands of undertrial prisoners who languish in jail for years under fabricated UAPA charges, often aimed at harassing those who stand up for the underprivileged or oppose the government. The conviction rate in UAPA cases is extremely low (2.2% between 2016-19 as mentioned in the Parliament), confirming that many of the charges are baseless.

We appeal for immediate bail for Stan Swamy, repeal of UAPA, and a return to the norm where bail is the rule not the exception.

(Courtesy: The Citizen)