“If this makes me a ‘desh drohi,’ then so be it,” wrote Fr Stan Swamy in his email to his friends on 28 July 2019, when he came to know that he had been accused of the crime of championing the rights of Adivasis in Jharkhand. His legacy transcends time, although his voice, which rang louder against the power, has been brought to a halt. Five years since his death, we look back at Stan’s life, the legacy he left behind, and where things stand today, with the struggles he devoted his life to.Having been born into a wealthy landholding, high-caste family in Tamil Nadu, Stan chose a life that differed from the crowd. Paulo Freire's “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” served as a pathway for him to undertake the mission that the liberation struggle should be led by the oppressed themselves. Having been trained at the Indian Social Institute in Bangalore, he developed a strong and clear sense of purpose that led him to spend the rest of his life living among the Ho Adivasis in Jharkhand as one of them.'I Wish You Were Alive': Umar Khalid's Letter to Rohith Vemula from JailThe Movements That Shaped StanStan built a very simple life for himself at Bagaicha in Jharkhand—a simple house with books and a hall that hosted young Adivasis. He was one among them in their cultural practices and festivals—never was an “outsider.” He believed in the strength of people’s movements, which was precisely the reason for the state getting rattled by his fight. The chief attention drawer was the Pathalgadi movement, where the tribals erected a stone in each of their villages with the provisions of Indian Constitution on self-government of the Tribals, carved in their own local languages. The pathalgadis found their place at the entrance of every village. As papers were signed by the billionaires, Stan stood by the people in resisting the corporations from snatching their lands. Bagaicha, which Stan founded, became a vibrant centre where Adivasi youth gathered in large numbers to learn from him about their rights and to develop the skills and strategies needed to challenge oppression through a variety of participatory methods.Stan also helped undertrial Adivasis languishing in the Jharkhand prisons, without trial, for offences oblivious to them. Through RTIs, he collected data and undertook rigorous research through jail visits, collecting their documents and talking to their relatives, as part of the Persecuted Prisoners Solidarity Committee that he had formed. Most of them had been termed ‘Maoists’ for trying to protect their own lands from the corporate cronies of the state. Stan filed a Public Interest Litigation at the Jharkhand High Court, which he called “a thorn in the flesh” of the state, eventually leading to his house at Bagaicha being raided.The Real Crime of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima & OthersThe Land Wars ContinueThe tribals live a peaceful life, away from the noise of the city, having their own leader, living in harmony with nature. Remembering Stan is remembering the Adivasi struggle in the country, which today has been exacerbated with their voices being silenced with brute force. In states like Chhattisgarh and Odisha, where there is a higher concentration of tribals, particularly in Bastar, the line between an activist and a criminal is drawn by the state. Sudha Bharadwaj, one of the activists implicated alongside Stan in the Bhima Koregaon (BK-16), told The Quint,Sudha Bharadwaj"It is quite paradoxical when the state claims that it only wants to stop violence by Naxals, but arrested the Adivasi youth of Bastar when they carried out peaceful demonstrations, much like the “cockroaches” at Jantar Mantar today, on the implementation of the PESA and the Forest Rights Act. The state not only refused to engage with them, but banned the “Moolvasi Bachao Manch”, a youth-led Adivasi movement against state oppression and land grabbing. Youth leaders like Raghu Midiyami, Suneeta Pottam and so many others still languish in jail. Remembering Stan’s sacrifice means listening to these voices, engaging with them and building a Bastar of their dreams, not Adani’s.”At the tribal villages in and around Bagaicha, anyone who fights against the land grabber is labelled a “naxal”, and this was the story behind many undertrial prisoners that Stan has been seeking the release of. Adding to this is the notice of Home Minister Amit Shah that Naxalism will be eradicated before 31 March, 2026.The recent clampdown on the peacefully protesting adivasis in Sijimali hills in Odisha against the state handing over their lands for bauxite mining to Vedanta is one of the many similar adivasi struggles of our times. The tribals in Bastar who are battling similar land grabs are enduring gory state violence, symbolising what is happening across the length and breadth of this country.Stan believed in non-violence, and that is why he mobilised adivasis in an organised manner, keeping it civil and legal. This is the foundation of the Pathalgadi movement, bringing the Constitution to the forefront—an assertion of their place and legal rights as citizens of this country. Stan based his struggle on existing laws in the country, like the PESA Act of 1996, which gave power to the Gram Sabhas and the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, which gave the ordinary people the right to fair compensation for giving up their lands. “Written laws are like a spider-web. It will trap the poor and the weak, but it will be torn to pieces by the rich and powerful. That, in short, has been the story of the indigenous Adivasi societies in our country. True, some laws have been enacted apparently in favour of Adivasis, however, simultaneously, enough loopholes are provided so that these laws do not take effect”, wrote Fr Stan.Yuvraj Mehta’s Death Shows Even the Rich Are Not Beyond State FailureThe Arrest That Shook Civil SocietyThe arrest of Stan on 8 October 2020 was not unexpected. His post-arrest became worse in a way Stan had never thought it would, probably because he believed that the world would be a little kinder to him for what he symbolised. But to his disappointment, the state denied even a sipper cup in jail to the 80-year-old with Parkinson’s. He contracted COVID-19, yet he was denied treatment in the initial stages, was denied medical bail, and finally was admitted at a stage when the world knew that Father wouldn’t survive long.In a video that he posted two days before his arrest, he said that he would fully cooperate with further interrogation by the NIA, who had by then grilled him for 15 hours. He exposes that the crackdown was not just against him, but a tiny part of the larger process across the nation—a systemic attack on intellectuals, lawyers, student leaders and human rights activists in the country. He asserted to be very happy to be a part of that process and vowed that he was “ready to pay the price whatever be it”. This couldn't be more relevant today. The unfolding of events around that time, and even until today, would only stand as a testament to the dire situation of human rights defenders, including Adivasis in the country—a ruthless crackdown on whoever dares to speak for the voiceless.Stan’s institutional murder lays bare the reality of civil liberties in the country. As a committed citizen, he swore to take on a fair legal battle, yet he was termed a terrorist in a trial that never began. His death was not negligence, but a wilful violence by the state on those who chose to speak for the ordinary folks of this nation. Denying medical treatment was clearly an ‘inhumane treatment’ by the state, which led to his demise. When Stan was arrested and taken to the Taloja jail, he saw the deteriorating health of Varavara Rao, who was already in the same prison, implicated under the same case, and Stan refused treatment at the government JJ hospital where Varavara Rao was left in a pool of urine for weeks. If this is not ‘state violence’, what else could one call it? Sudha Bharadwaj“When I was in jail, I was really touched to receive Fr Stan’s letter written in a shaky, spidery hand. Despite Parkinson’s, he had taken that effort to write with full concern for me as I had been quarantined and Jyoti Jagtap (another co-accused) was Covid positive. He assured us we had many friends who were supporting us outside. But for now, each one of us needed the courage and perseverance to ‘plough their own lonely furrow’. This I will always treasure it as his last message to me, something I will try to live up to."Years After Bhima Koregaon, Caste Fault Lines Deepen In Neighbouring VillageLike he himself said, it was not just Stan, Prof Saibaba had to face death due to his confinement in the “anda cell” where he was not attended to as a person with disability, Prof Hany Babu was granted bail recently after 5 years, Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam continue to languish in their sixth year in the prison, with neither trial nor a bail, and all of them charged under The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). These are individuals whose only hold on life is hope. As Khalid reminds us, “Hope remains a stubborn thing even in captivity.” His PhD thesis on the Adivasis of Jharkhand has recently been published as the book The Fractured Communities.Recalling his long association with Fr Stan from the time he was a young boy (and Stan was with Fr Henry Volken, the founder of Indian Social Institute) till the time Stan spent at his home in Madurai for treatment, Henri Tiphagne, the National Working Secretary of Human Rights Defenders Alert (HRDA), said, “One message to take from this martyr is to determinedly fight till the end and keep your objectives before you.”In all these cases, the state oppresses, and the judiciary, which should supposedly guard the constitutional rights of the ordinary men and women of the country, chooses to remain a ‘silent spectator’. Ironically, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India recently praised the ‘Najeeb ruling ’, which asserted the right to bail of UAPA undertrials, even as the court denies the same to those who are in acute need of it.When Stan was named in the BK-16, he phoned his friend Mihir Desai to ask where that place is since he had never heard of it before, Alpa Shah records in her book “The Incarcerations.” This explains the state of affairs today. What happened to Stan was nothing but the State’s murder of its citizen, a defender of the indigenous people’s rights. Stan never took pride as “The hope” of the Adivasis but only undertook struggles alongside them, as he always believed that the natives ought to be the forerunners in the battle. But Stan’s demise was a sure loss to the collective struggle of the Adivasi movement. 4 Years of Bhima Koregaon Violence: Stories of Loss, Fear, and GriefEven as the state rejoices in eliminating the voice of a “traitor”, of a “desh drohi”, the movement continues to live on. He breathed his last as the State perpetuated violence while the judiciary stood watching, doing nothing. His life and his death, even more, are a tale that represents the human rights struggle in India. If anything that Stan must have wanted to see, it would be to see a better state of civil liberties in India.Henri Tiphagne“Our annual memorials, therefore, should reflect this spirit of Stan, to stand up for the political prisoners in detention, which he himself was, at the time of his death. This is the lesson the state and its institutions must take from his life. Anything more of celebrations will devalue Stan’s spirit."At Bagaicha where the Pathalgadi burial stone stands tall, Stan’s name is engraved as the 55th Adivasi martyr. Remembering Stan is remembering and continuing the cause he lived and died for. Despite the State’s treatment of Stan, he continues to be the man of the soil of Baigaicha. We pay respect and homage to Fr Stan, who never remained a ‘Silent Spectator’.(Grace Anu is a Counsellor at People’s Watch. Edgar Kaiser is a human rights lawyer at People’s Watch and an L.L.M candidate in European and International Human Rights Law at Leiden University, Netherlands. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)How the 'Delhi Riots Conspiracy Case' Pulverised Democracy and 18 Lives