St. Xavier’s College cancels annual Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture after protest by ABVP

But, earlier this week, the ABVP wrote a letter to the college administration, strongly opposing the event, and demanded action from the state government against the event. “This lecture glorifies a person who was declared as the main accused in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, and against whom charges have been filed under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967,” said the letter.

Father Stan Swamy was a Jesuit priest and a tribal rights activist based in Jharkhand. He was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on October 7, 2019, and stayed in state custody till he died at a Mumbai hospital in 2021.

Stating that these lectures are usually held on August 9 on the occasion of World Indigenous Day, Rector Fr. Keith DSouza, from St. Xavier’s College, said, “Our annual Stan Swamy memorial lecture has been delivered by reputed scholars who have done research in the area of history and development of indigenous peoples across the globe. The topic this year was on the theme of migration. While the lectures are on several themes related to indigenous life—which no one has objected to—we understand that the contentious issue is mainly about the nomenclature of the lecture series, named after Stan Swamy. However, from a Jesuit point of view, Fr Stan Swamy was an Indian citizen who was accused, but not as yet convicted of his alleged crimes till his demise. As per our Indian criminal jurisprudence, a person is innocent unless proven guilty.”

Highlighting that the underlying motif of the DIRS is “respecting the other”, Fr D Souza further said, “While we respect other perspectives and concerns, we hope to elicit a reciprocal attitude of respect from others as well. A controversy like this does not augur well for international higher educational relations.”