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Month: May 2020

Appeal: Save our father Varavara Rao – Release him immediately from Taloja Jail

Appeal: Save our father Varavara Rao – Release him immediately from Taloja Jail


Varavara Rao greeting family members, 2018 (Photo: DC)

South Asia Citizens Web / by P Sahaja, P Anala, P Pavana

To
The Governor, Maharashtra,
The Chief Justice, High Court of Maharashtra,
The Chief Minister of Maharashtra,
We, P Sahaja, P Anala, P Pavana, daughters of the famous revolutionary poet P Varavara Rao, who is incarcerated in Maharashtra jails (in Yerawada, Pune jail till February 2020 and in Taloja, Navi Mumbai jail since then) in a fabricated case, are perturbed to see the news that a prisoner died in Taloja jail due to Covid-19, as admitted by the government in a PIL case in Mumbai High Court yesterday.
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CITING HEALTH, VARAVARA RAO’S DAUGHTERS URGE MAHARASHTRA CM UDDHAV THACKERAY FOR HIS PAROLE

The New Indian Express / by Express News Service

Earlier, at least 40 prominent writers had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting the release of Rao amid the crisis.
MUMBAI: Family members of poet, writer and activist Varavara Rao, jailed in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon case, appealed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to release him on parole amid the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the state and in its prisons.
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Open Letter: Release human rights defenders at risk in the context of COVID-19

Open Letter: Release human rights defenders at risk in the context of COVID-19


Drawing by Arun Ferreira

By International Federation for Human Rights

Dear Home Minister,
We, the undersigned organizations, write with great concern regarding the situation of student activists Safoora Zargar, who is four months pregnant, Meeran Haider, Shifa-Ur-Rehman and Sharjeel Imam, all detained under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). …
Their situation is not unique. For example, on 14 April 2020, the authorities also detained human rights activists Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha under the UAPA for allegedly inciting caste-based violence during a 2018 demonstration in Bhima Koregaon, Maharashtra state. Nine other activists have been detained since 2018 in relation to the same case. They are known for their work defending the rights of Adivasi and Dalit communities and should all be released immediately.
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COVID-19: Jails turn into hotbeds of disease

COVID-19: Jails turn into hotbeds of disease


Drawing by Arun Ferreira

COVID-19: AT LEAST THREE DIE IN MAHARASHTRA PRISONS

26/05/2020

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

In an affidavit submitted to the Bombay high court in response to a PIL, the state government said that a prisoner each has died in the central prisons of Taloja and Yerwada, and in Dhule district prison. Maharashtra is the first state to have reported deaths in prisons so far.
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COVID-19: Jails turn into hotbeds of disease

25/05/2020

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

Judges withhold bail; several prison reforms recommended over the years have fallen through the cracks.
On May 5, two months after the Arthur Road jail superintendent warned that an outbreak of COVID-19 could not be contained in the jail due to overcrowding, his worst fears came true: the first positive case was discovered in the precincts.
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Maharashtra Prisoner Released on Parole Says Jails Unprepared to Handle COVID-19 Pandemic

30/03/2020

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

No transport has been arranged for those who are released, while inmates still in prison fear for their health.
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Amit Shah’s ‘Bhima Koregaon Model’ Used For Anti-CAA Protests

Amit Shah’s ‘Bhima Koregaon Model’ Used For Anti-CAA Protests

Campaign poster, 2020

NDTV / by Nandini Sundar

The recent arrests of Jamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha and two JNU students, Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, both activists with Pinjra Tod, shows that the union home ministry is convinced the ‘Bhima Koregaon model’ works and must be replicated.
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DELHI RIOTS, BHIMA-KOREGAON, GUJARAT RIOTS SAME PATTERN, SAY ACTIVISTS

23/05/2020

Times Now News / by Muhammad Wajihulla

New Delhi: A group of activists led the charge against the state government over the recent arrests of students and activists by the Delhi Police. In an online press conference held on Thursday, the activists claimed that the Delhi riots, Bhima-Koregaon violence and Gujarat riots have a similar pattern – of silencing the voice of dissent and brutal repression by the state.
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Citizens Appeal: Release Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sen From Covid-19 Hit Byculla Jail [read letter]

Citizens Appeal: Release Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sen From Covid-19 Hit Byculla Jail [read letter]

Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sen

The Citizen / by Concerned Citizen

660 concerned citizens from all walks of life have written to the High Powered Committee comprising Justice AA Sayed, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Sanjay Chahande, Director General of Prisons SN Pandey, Maharasthra urging them to temporarily release Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj and Professor Shoma Sen from Byculla Jail, Mumbai, due to rampant COVID-19 spread within the prison.
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Media coverage of the letter

25/05/2020

Over 600 citizens call for temporary release of Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sena from jail

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

They have been booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for their alleged role in the Bhima Koregaon violence case.
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Over 600 Citizens Call for Temporary Release of Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sen From Byculla Jail

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

The signatories pointed out that Bharadwaj and Sen were suffering from multiple ailments, making them vulnerable to COVID-19.
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Video: Angela Davis in Solidarity with UAPA Prisoners

Video: Angela Davis in Solidarity with UAPA Prisoners


en | 4:32 min | 2020

By Collective Delhi

The COVID 19 Lockdown has exposed how the ruling regime considers repressing democratic voices as an ‘essential service’. UAPA and Sedition laws have been used to for a witch-hunt of those who stand by secular, progressive ideals. Peasant and working class organizers, democratic rights defenders, lawyers, journalists and others have also been arrested under these colonial-era laws.
Angela Davis, activist in prison abolition movement and anti-racism revolutionary, speaks in solidarity with those being targeted today under UAPA.
Watch video

From the shadows of dissent – women engaged to free arrested family members

From the shadows of dissent – women engaged to free arrested family members

Mumbai Mirror / by Jyoti Punwani

Meet the women engaged in an endless battle with the state to free family members arrested under stringent laws.
On Friday morning, the Bombay High Court rejected the parole application of GN Saibaba, the Delhi University professor undergoing a life sentence in Nagpur jail since 2017 for “Maoist links”.
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NIA opposes interim bail plea of Shoma Sen, Varavara Rao and Sudha Bhardwaj

NIA opposes interim bail plea of Shoma Sen, Varavara Rao and Sudha Bhardwaj

Hindustan Times / by Charul Shah

The three accused have moved the special court separately for interim bail on the ground of the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in prison, and have expressed concerns about contracting SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease.
The National Investigating Agency (NIA), which has been probing the Elgar Parishad case since January, has opposed the plea for interim bail filed by the accused activists Dr Shoma Sen, Vara Vara Rao, and Sudha Bhardwaj. … The next hearing will be held on May 28.
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GUIDELINES TO FREE INMATES ON TEMPORARY BAIL NOT APPLICABLE TO ACCUSED: NIA

23/05/2020

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

The high-powered committee, which was constituted to decongest jails in the state, has recommended the release of all undertrials with exceptions, including those facing charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The Elgaar Parishad accused are booked under UAPA. It has, however, left it to such accused to file for interim bail to be considered on medical grounds or circumstances of the case by the courts.
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Judicial custody of Anand Teltumbde extended till June 5

Judicial custody of Anand Teltumbde extended till June 5

The Hindu / by Special Correspondent

A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Friday extended the judicial custody of Anand Teltumbde, an engineer and Indian Institute of Management graduate who used to teach at the Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur), arrested by the agency on April 14 in connection with the Elghar Parishad case, till June 5.
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Delhi HC to Hear Gautam Navlakha Bail Plea

Delhi HC to Hear Gautam Navlakha Bail Plea

The Quint / by The Quint

The Delhi High Court on Friday, 22 May, issued notice in the interim bail plea filed by human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, who is in the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with his alleged role in the Bhima Koregaon case.
Justice Anup J Bhambhani has directed the NIA to respond to the bail plea by the next date of hearing, which has been set as 27 May.
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