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Month: June 2020

Travesty of Justice – Persecution of Human Rights Defenders

Travesty of Justice – Persecution of Human Rights Defenders

By Civil Liberties Committee (AP &Telangana State)

We cannot forget 2018. In fact that the violence in Bhimakoregaon in Maharashtra on January 2018 was a planned and organized by the RSS and other Hindhutva outfits in order to foil Edgar Parishat, a conglomeration of dalits, bahujans and minorities who gathered in a single  platform. The Parishad proclaimed to fight against fascist hindutva forces and reclaim Constitution and its ideals. In the months of June and August the Maharashtra Police raided selectively the houses of human rights and social activists across the country.
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Video: We Shall Fight, Comrade

Video: We Shall Fight, Comrade


en/marathi | 3:46 min | 2020

By The Boston Coalition

Today is 2 yrs. since peaceful activists were first arrested in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case.
Stop the misuse of draconian UAPA & NSA laws in India!
We fight to #FreeBK11!
Watch video

Two years of Bhima Koregaon Arrests – The Beginning of Urban Naxal: Concoctions of the State

Two years of Bhima Koregaon Arrests – The Beginning of Urban Naxal: Concoctions of the State

The Leaflet / by Nihalsing B Rathod

In the following article, Advocate Nihal Singh Rathod recounts the beginning of this witch-hunt before abusing law became a norm.
JUNE 6, 2018, shall remain a day deeply engraved on my psyche forever, for it changed my life and life of many I know. It shook me to the core. It is not as if I was not at all prepared for it, given its foundation was laid much prior.
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Second Anniversary of June 6 Arrests – Who are these Activists?

Second Anniversary of June 6 Arrests – Who are these Activists?

By Concerned Citizens

June 6 marks the second anniversary of the nation-wide onslaught on and implication of activists and their arrest in the Bhima Koregaon case. Exactly two years ago, Pune police conducted simultaneous raids on five houses in Nagpur, Delhi and Mumbai and arrested Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawle and Mahesh Raut. The case has not moved an inch in the last two years and they are still languishing in Maharashtra jails.

Who are these activists?

Who is Surendra Gadling?
All posts related to Surendra Gadling
Who is Shoma Sen?
All posts related to Shoma Sen
Who is Rona Wilson?
All posts related to Rona Wilson
Who is Sudhir Dhawale?
All posts related to Sudhir Dhawale
Who is Mahesh Raut?
All posts related to Mahesh Raut

Solidarity Statements of June 2018

Statement by Indian Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL):
IAPL CONDEMNS ARREST OF ACTIVISTS
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Statement by Women against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS):
ON THE ARBITRARY ARRESTS OF SHOMA SEN, SUDHIR DHAWALE, SURENDRA GADLING, RONA WILSON, AND MAHESH RAUT BY THE MAHARASHTRA POLICE
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Statement by People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), Maharashtra:
PUCL CONDEMNS THE ARREST OF SURENDRA GADLING, SUDHIR DHAWALE, RONA WILSON, SHOMA SEN, MAHESH RAUT AND RANA JACOB
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End The Unjust Cruel And Continued Incarceration Of Bhima Koregaon Activists: AI India

End The Unjust Cruel And Continued Incarceration Of Bhima Koregaon Activists: AI India

By Amnesty International India

On the second anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon arrests, the Government of India must consider the release of the 11 human rights activists pending trial and ensure that their health and safety is not jeopardised simply because they have been critical of the state, Amnesty International India said today.
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Bhima Koregaon Case: A glaring example of Hindutva lies

Bhima Koregaon Case: A glaring example of Hindutva lies

Siasat.com / by N Venugopal

New Delhi: Hindutva – the official guiding principle of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and all the members in its parivar – is an embodiment of lies, fabrication, distortion, deception, obfuscation, hatred and unleashing violence. If one thought that this characterization is an ideological subjective opinion, it is better to look at this glaring example of Bhima Koregaon violence case, a subject of gross obfuscation of facts and inhuman incarceration of public-spirited individuals over the last two years.
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Covid cases in jail where Shoma lodged worry kin

Covid cases in jail where Shoma lodged worry kin

The Times of India / by Shishir Arya & Sarfaraz Ahmed

Nagpur: Two years after activists — Nagpur University professor retired) Shoma Sen and lawyer Surendra Gadling – were arrested in Bhima-Koregaon case, their kin say the lockdown has left them clueless about their well-being in jail. They were already complaining of a slow progress in the case.
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Chorus from abroad on Bhima-Koregaon charge

Chorus from abroad on Bhima-Koregaon charge

The Telegraph / by Special Correspndent

Outfits from US, UK, Canada, Japan want activists freed.
Twenty-one organisations working for the cause of social justice in the US, the UK, India, Canada and Japan have demanded immediate withdrawal of charges against civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde and 10 others in connection with the 2018 Bhima-Koregaon violence and alleged Maoist links.
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HUMAN RIGHTS NOW IN INDIA

The Telegraph / by The Editorial Board

The European Parliament has reminded the Indian government that in times of a pandemic, “prisoners of conscience” should be released.
Who defends in India the rights of the defenders of human rights? Going by the incisively worded letter of the European Parliament’s subcommittee on human rights to the Indian home minister, no one.
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PEN Delhi joins PEN International in Expressing Deep Concern for the Welfare of Varavara Rao

PEN Delhi joins PEN International in Expressing Deep Concern for the Welfare of Varavara Rao

By Pen Delhi

PEN Delhi joins PEN International in expressing deep concern for the welfare of Indian poet P. Varavara Rao who has been in detention since November 2018. Aged 81 and in poor health, a bail hearing for Rao was due on 2 June 2020. He had been admitted into the hospital for his failing health last week, but was discharged one day before the hearing, on 1 June 2020, and sent back to jail. The bail hearing has now been postponed to 5 June 2020.
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Pen International: Release poet Varavara Rao on medical grounds

01/06/2020

By Pen International

PEN International is deeply concerned for the welfare of Indian poet P. Varavara Rao who has been in detention since November 2018. Aged 81 and in poor health, a bail hearing for Rao is due 2 June 2020. Given his fragile state of health and questions surrounding the validity of the charges under which he is held, PEN is calling for him to be released on medical grounds.
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