‘Threats from Hindutva Orgs,’ Mangaluru College Defers Decision to Name Park After Stan Swamy
St. Aloysius College, a private educational institution in Mangaluru on Saturday, October 9, postponed its decision to name one of its parks after the Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Stan Swamy who died in July 2021, Indian Express has reported.
The decision was made by the college’s administration after facing fierce opposition and threats of protests from right-wing Hindu organisations, which labelled Swamy as an ‘urban Naxal’. The college wanted to name the park after Swamy as a tribute to his lifelong efforts to improve the lives of tribals and poor sections of society.
Swamy was arrested on October 8 last year over what the NIA claimed was his involvement in the Elgar Parishad case, which has been described as a witch-hunt against critics of the government. Swamy was the 16th person to be arrested in the case and also the oldest. At the time of his arrest, he was frail and ailing and had an advanced stage of Parkinson’s disease. He had difficulty in even sipping water from a glass and was dependent on co-prisoners in jail. However, he was unable to obtain bail due to the stringent provisions of the UAPA and died in jail on July 5 after contracting COVID-19….
