Why Father Stan Swamy had to die In cold blood, the state decided to wreak on him and others the full might of its vengeance for daring to speak for the poor and deprived A Jesuit priest visits Father Stan Swamy in Mumbai's Holy Family Hospital in May. (Photo supplied) We mourn Jesuit Father Stan Swamy today. Tomorrow we will start celebrating his life. It is a moot question which of these events the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be more apprehensive about. Will it wonder why an 84-year-old Catholic priest’s death from Covid-19 and other complications in a Mumbai hospital has triggered such a tsunami of grief across India and the globe, much more than if it were that of a political leader or a sports icon?