Although we received news by late evening on October 8, 2020, of Father Stan Swamy’s arrest, we were quite shocked to see him the next morn...
Although we received news by late evening on October 8, 2020, of Father Stan Swamy’s arrest, we were quite shocked to see him the next morning in the adjourning barrack conversing with inmates in his impeccable Hindi.
I was at that time lodged in a cell at the prison hospital with my co- accused Varavara Rao (or VV) and Vernon Gonsalves. It was part of our daily routine for VV and I to do a couple of rounds in his wheelchair before the morning breakfast. The three of us had assumed that the National Investigation Agency would want Stan’s custodial interrogation and hence it would not be until a couple of days before he would be sent to judicial custody i.e. prison.
We were wrong, they just wanted him jailed.
Stan was extremely happy to meet us and the stress of the night, i.e. his first night in prison, immediately evaporated. Over the next two months, the three of us developed a memorable friendship with Stan, who engaged us with anecdotes of his vast experience and occasionally with songs.
Soon, VV, by an order of the High Court, was shifted out to a private hospital and Vernon and I, who were till then taking care of VV, were to...
