i am not a silent spectator Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolerable, Justice so out of reach STAN SWAMY An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection I am not a silent spectator Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolerable Justice so out of reach Stan Swamy An autobiographical fragment, memory and reflection INDIAN SOCIAL INSTITUTE Bangalore © INDIAN SOCIAL INSTITUTE (For Private Circulation only) First published in 2021 Published by INDIAN SOCIAL INSTITUTE 24 Benson Road, Benson Town Bangalore - 560 046 Email:
[email protected] Web: www.isibangalore.com Printed at OPTIM Graphics Institute The Sacred Heart Brothers, Geddalahalli Kothanur P.O., Bangalore - 560 077 Mobile: +91 94490 61033 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword iv Prologue vii Publisher’s note ix 01 Old faces, new hopes 01 02 Drawn as by a magnet 08 03 Flowers don’t bloom in a volcano 14 04 The early morning knock 35 05 Repressed but not defeated 43 06 Difference between Capitalism and Socialism 48 07 ‘Illegal’ can be made ‘legal’ as per convenience 51 08 Adivasis... from forest protectors to ‘forest-destroyers’! 55 09 Pathalgadi equals Sedition 60 10 Silent footsteps that no one wants to hear 65 11 Why Truth has become bitter, Dissent so unpalatable and Justice so out of reach? 73 12 Interrogation on Bhima-Koregaon Case by NIA 78 13 To be released if and when I’m arrested 95 14 Prison Diary and Poems 99 Epilogue 112 iii Foreword A flame that burns bright It was an unexpected honour to be asked to write the foreword for Stan’s memoirs.