Activist Varavara Rao, under house arrest, says Pune Police’s case against him is false
Scroll.in / By Scroll Staff
His counsel alleged that the Telangana Police were not permitting his lawyers to meet him.
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For the record: Am I a Naxalite?
The Indian Express / By Anand Teltumbde
“The harassment I have faced is meant to terrorise intellectuals, subdue dissent.”
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Jailbird Jabbar
First published: Feb 1, 2013
The Caravanne Magazine / By Vernon Gonsalves
In 2007, the Naxal activist Vernon Gonsalves was arrested by the Maharashtra Police and charged on 18 counts, including that of waging guerilla war against the Indian state. Six years on, though now acquitted in many of these cases, Gonsalves continues to languish as an undertrial in Nagpur Central Jail, after a stint in Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail. If something fruitful has emerged from his long incarceration, it is words. In Gonsalves’s short story “Jailbird Jabbar”, the narrator—an “old class-strugglewalla”—tells us the story of Jabbar, one of the thousands of adolescents in Mumbai who live freestyle on the street, make a living from its many systems of trade, bootlegging, and barter, and sometimes fall foul of the law.
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‘Punished for Being Varavara Rao’s Son-In-Law’: EFLU Professor Satyanarayana
The Wire / by The Wire Staff
The professor’s wife was apparently questioned by the police about her caste and why she did not wear a ‘sindhoor’ or was not dressed like a ‘traditional wife’.
New Delhi: Asserting he was punished for being Varavara Rao’s son-in-law K. Satyanarayana – an EFLU professor whose house was also raided as part of a nationwide swoop by Pune police against activists – rejected the charges against him. The police have implicated the professor in either the Bhima-Koregaon protest or the alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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Who Is Vernon Gonsalves, the Activist Held for ‘Naxalite’ Links
The Quint / By Mythreyee Ramesh
“Any form of freedom of expression and dissent is only tokenism. If you have ideals and they question you and your authority, then you will be arrested.”
These are the words of Sagar, who is still coming to terms with his father Vernon Gonsalves’ arrest from their residence in Mumbai on Tuesday, 28 August.
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Mumbai rights groups issue joint statement condemning illegal raids, arrests of human rights activists by Pune police
The Leaflet / Statment by civil society organisations/ groups/ collectives
“We, the undersigned civil society organisations/ groups/ collectives, have jointly convened this urgent Press Conference to condemn the appalling state actions of reprisals against noted human rights activists and intellectuals, which are clearly politically motivated and an attempt to stifle voices of dissent. The unjustified raids on and arbitrary arrests of the above public spirited individuals who have tirelessly worked for the cause of the poor and marginalized sections of society, are nothing but an attack on Indian democracy and an attempt to undermine the democratic fabric of our society.”
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In Nationwide Swoop, Five Rights Activists Arrested, Several More Raided
The Wire / By The Wire Staff
The Delhi high court stayed Gautam Navlakha’s transfer to Pune till Wednesday. Sudha Bharadwaj too won a two-day reprieve. Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira and Varavara Rao were also arrested and are due to be transferred to Pune.
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“Dissent Is The Safety Valve Of Democracy”: Supreme Court Says Five Activists Arrested Shall Be Kept At Their Houses Only. [Read order]
LIVE LAW NEWS NETWORK / By Live Law News Network
“Dissent is a safety valve of democracy. If you don’t allow dissent, the pressure valve of democracy will burst”, Justice Chandrachud observed during the hearing.
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Maharashtra government sitting on NHRC notice on illegal detention of human rights activists
The Leaflet / By The Leaflet
NHRC had issued notice on June 29, 2018 to the Director General of Police (DGP), Maharashtra calling for a report in connection with the illegal arrests of five human rights defenders namely Surendra Gadling, Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen and Mahesh Raut by Maharashtra police on June 6, 2018.
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„They had come to search our house and arrest my father“
Facebook post / By Sagar Abraham-Gonsalves
I experienced a familiar sense of helplessness yesterday morning. Around 6 AM our house was raided by more than 10 people from the Pune Police along with constables from our local MIDC Police Station. They had come to search our house and arrest my father.
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