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Month: July 2019

Sleepless in New Bharat: A Guide to Combatting Insomnia

Sleepless in New Bharat: A Guide to Combatting Insomnia

The Wire / by Rohit Kumar

What, indeed, does one do in these dark times which threaten democracy?
I have never had a problem with insomnia, but over the last month or so, sleep – “sore labour’s bath, balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, and chief nourisher in life’s feast” – seems to have forsaken me. I find myself anxious and awake till the wee hours of the morning, thinking about the violence that is spreading across India.
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Telugu poet Varavara Rao taken into police custody in Karnataka in connection with a 2005 alleged naxal attack

Telugu poet Varavara Rao taken into police custody in Karnataka in connection with a 2005 alleged naxal attack

The Leaflet / by The Leaflet

Revolutionary Telugu poet and activist Varavara Rao has been taken away by the Karnataka Police from Yerwada jail in Pune into their custody in connection with a 2005 alleged Naxalite attack on the police in Pavagada taluk of Kolar districtin which nine of their personnel were killed. The police have implicated well known singer, Gaddar, along with Rao as a co-conspirator.
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WSS Statement On Arrest Warrants Issued By Jharkhand Government Against Activists And Writers

WSS Statement On Arrest Warrants Issued By Jharkhand Government Against Activists And Writers

By Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS)

Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS) expresses shock and concern at the arrest warrant issued against Stan Swamy, Aloka Kujur, Rakesh Roshan, Vinod Kumar and Babita Kashyap on 17 June 2019, one year after the FIR was filed against 20 writers, intellectuals and activists in Jharkhand on 26 July 2018 based on Facebook posts. All five are vulnerable to imminent arrest as part of the Jharkhand government’s targeted campaign against those defending human rights of adivasis in the state.
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Condemn the Issuing of Arrest Warrants against Stan Swamy, Aloka Kujur, Vinod Kumar, Rakesh Roshan Kiro and Babita Kashyap

Condemn the Issuing of Arrest Warrants against Stan Swamy, Aloka Kujur, Vinod Kumar, Rakesh Roshan Kiro and Babita Kashyap

By Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)

STOP HARASSMENT OF RIGHTS ACTIVISTS IN JHARKHAND
PUDR condemns the arrest warrant issued against Stan Swamy, Aloka Kujur, Vinod Kumar, Rakesh Roshan Kiro and Babita Kashyap on 19 June 2019, in relation to FIR filed on 26 July 2018 for waging war against the state, sedition, conspiracy, and Sections 66 and 66A IT Act based simply on their Facebook posts. The Jharkhand government had filed this FIR 124/ 2018 at Khunti PS against 20 writers, intellectuals and activists as part of the continued wave of repressive measures against the pathalgarhi movement in Jharkhand over June-July 2018, wherein more than 300 villagers have also been slapped with sedition cases without their knowledge, and there has been deployment of security forces, raids and constant surveillance over the past one year.
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As Bhima Koregaon case accused await bail hearings, families decry dehumanising jail conditions

As Bhima Koregaon case accused await bail hearings, families decry dehumanising jail conditions

Firstpost / by Meena Menon

‘Nyayadhin Bandi Kothdi,’ says a board tucked away in a secluded corner of the Sessions Court complex at Shivajinagar, Pune. That is where the under-trial prisoners who are produced in court are kept in transit from Yerwada Jail. Anxious relatives braved the rain on Thursday (27 June) to get a glimpse of their family members, but a thunderstorm put paid to that. Under-trial prisoners here are escorted to court, tied with thick rope, against Supreme Court rulings. However, the police are more careful with regard to the nine arrested in the high-profile Bhima Koregaon case where they seem to obey the law.
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