Jesuit priest Stan Lourdusamy S.J. (26 April 1937 – 5 July 2021) was done to death by the iron hand of the Indian State 2021.

It’s chargesheet stated: Mr. Lourdusamy, you are a nuisance, because you stir unrest against the State by stirring the conscience of people, particularly the Adivasis. You have declared war against the State because you sought to research into the State’s Operation Jail project which put behind bars Adivasi youngsters accused of being Naxalites. You stand guilty of trying to expose the State which, you said, connived with the landsharks and the mining lobbies for dispossessing the Adivasis of their land.

You have taken part in public demonstrations and protest rallies that accused the State of police atrocities and terror provoking operations against the indigenous. You lent your voice to the voiceless. You stood up and demanded justice for them when you could have remained strategically silent like other law-abiding citizens. Your pen was equally sharp. Instead of writing poems and praises about the benevolent State, your articles and statements revealed the rebel in you.

Your writings and researches were revelations of the backstage operations of the State. You had no business taking the bull by the horns. The State had its own compulsions. You played the savior of the poor when you could have gone about feeding them and shutting their mouths against any exploitation. You wanted to bite more than you could chew. Thus, you were indiscreet, and your misdirected operations were uncalled for.

You could have very well sat back and enjoyed the comfort zone of one of your congregation’s prestigious institutions. Rather, you chose to move out, question even such institutions and play the prophet.

You could have remained and functioned as a simple padiri (priest) feeding the Christian flock by preaching to them submission and silence. You broke that ground rule by speaking of liberation from exploitation. You pointed out Jesus Christ as the liberator of the exploited and the downtrodden. How come you did not think that such activities were subversive and anti-state?

Above all, you trod into areas where even sadhus and sanyasis fear to tread by your advocating for the jailed Adivasis who were awaiting trial, accused of being Naxal sympathizers or collaborators. You claimed that your research proved that the accused were neither sympathizers nor collaborators. You tried to expose the State by showing that the innocent and ignorant Adivasis were caught in the crossfires between the State and the Maoists. You even accused the State of planting illegally anti-state operations of yours in your computer. You took the State head on. No wonder, you merited the terms ‘anti-State’ and ‘anti-national.’

Yes, to sum up, you stand accused of all such crimes for which you deserve punishment, which the State will pronounce in due time!

And, finally, Stan Lourdusamy, murdered by the iron hand of the Indian State had the last laugh as he breathed his last as a prisoner untried and unproved and denied even basic human treatment!