'Stan Swamy: Jailed activist dies at 84', 5 July 2021

Jailed Indian tribal rights activist Stan Swamy has died of a cardiac arrest in Mumbai city. He was 84. The Jesuit priest, who suffered from Parkinson's disease, was moved to a private hospital in May after he tested positive for Covid. Swamy, the oldest person to be accused of terrorism in India, was arrested in October 2020. He was among 16 renowned activists, academics and lawyers, who were charged under a draconian anti-terror law. Swamy had repeatedly denied the charges, saying he was being targeted for his work related to the caste and land struggles of tribespeople in Jharkhand state... He trekked to remote tribal villages to inform them of their rights. He told them how mines, dams and townships were being built without their consent, and of how they had been deprived of land, often with no compensation. He openly sympathised with a 2018 rebellion of tribespeople, asserting their rights over their resources and common land. He regularly wrote articles on how big corporations were taking over tribal land for factories and mines...