July 2020 – Page 2 – free them all

Gonsalves’s Covid report negative, yet to get Teltumbde’s result

29/07/2020 Rani

Hindustan Times / by K A Q Dodhiya

The state has informed the Bombay high court (HC) that the Covid-19 report of Elgar Parishad accused, activist Vernon Gonsalves, has come negative, while the test result of another accused, Dr Anand Teltumbde, is awaited.
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Maharashtra govt seeks time to know if Teltumbde is tested for COVID-19

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday sought time to find out if COVID-19 test has been done on Anand Teltumbde lodged at the Taloja central jail.
A division bench of justices RD Dhanuka and VG Bisht was hearing two petitions filed by Vernon Gonsalves, 61, and Mr. Teltumbde, 68, urging the court to conduct a swab test on them too as they were in close proximity with Varavara Rao inside the jail.
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Mahesh Raut moves Bombay High Court for COVID-19 test

29/07/2020 Rani

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

The youngest accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, Mahesh Raut, 33, moved the Bombay High Court on Tuesday seeking that he be tested for COVID-19 as he has all the symptoms. Mr. Raut was arrested on June 6, 2018 and is lodged at Taloja Central jail.
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Condemn the arbitrary arrest of Prof. Hany Babu!

28/07/2020 Rani

By Campaign Against State Repression

Stop the witch-hunt of human rights defenders by the NIA!
Immediately release all political prisoners!

July 28th 2020: The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) condemns the arrest of Professor Hany Babu MT at Mumbai by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the Bhima Koregaon-Elgaar Parishad case. Despite the surging cases of COVID-19 in both Delhi and Mumbai, Prof. Babu of the Department of English in Delhi University was summoned as a witness and forced by the NIA to travel to Mumbai after being denied the option of video conferencing. Cooperating with the NIA since July 24th 2020, it quickly became clear that the questioning was merely a ruse to force Prof. Babu into providing false testimony against other persons and accepting allegations of being a functionary of the Maoists. …

NIA Arrests Hany Babu, ‘Pressured Him to Implicate Others,’ Says Wife

28/07/2020 Rani

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

The DU academic’s wife, professor Jenny Rowena, told The Wire that the NIA has tried repeatedly to nudge him towards implicating others in the case, during questioning.
Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday, July 28, arrested Delhi University associate professor of English, Hany Babu M.T, in connection with the Elgar Parishad case. With Babu’s arrest, 12 people – all activists, lawyers and academics – have been arrested in the case.
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`A Pattern´: NIA Arrests DU Prof Hany Babu in Bhima Koregaon Case

The Quint / by Amita Nandy

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested Delhi University Professor Hany Babu on Tuesday, 28 July in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence probe. He was being interrogated at the NIA’s Mumbai office since 23 July.
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NIA arrests DU professor Hany Babu, say reports

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The National Investigation Agency on Tuesday arrested Delhi University professor MT Hany Babu in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case, reported PTI.
Babu will be produced before a special NIA court in Mumbai on Wednesday, according to The Times of India.
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HC Directs NIA To Submit A Reply To Sudha Bharadwaj’s Appeal

28/07/2020 Rani

Live Law / by Nitish Kashyap

The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the National Investigation Agency to file a short affidavit in the appeal filed by lawyer and trade unionist Sudha Bharadwaj against rejection of bail sought on medical grounds by the Special Court in Mumbai. This is the second time the agency will file a reply to the said plea, as an affidavit has already been filed on June 26 strongly opposing Bharadwaj’s plea.
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NIA ‘strongly opposes’ Sudha Bharadwaj’s bail plea in Bombay HC

Firstpost / by pti

NIA told the court it has ample evidence to show that Bharadwaj had ‘participated in anti-national activities’, and, thus, does not deserve to be let out on bail…
The same bench also heard a plea filed by activists Vernon Gonsalves and Anand Teltumbde, Bharadwaj’s co-accused in the case, seeking coronavirus tests as the two had been in close contact with another co-accused, poet-activist Varavara Rao, in Taloja prison.
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Submit Report on Varavara Rao’s Health: Bombay HC to City Hospital

28/07/2020 Rani

The Quint / by The Quint

The Court also permitted Rao’s family to see him while he is in the hospital, subject to the hospital’s conditions.
The Bombay High Court, on Tuesday, 28 July, directed Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital to produce a report on the status of poet-activist Varavara Rao’s health, reported Bar and Bench.
The Court has also permitted Rao’s family to see him while he is in the hospital, subject to the hospital’s conditions.
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Where are the Humane People Among Those in Authority Today?

28/07/2020 Rani

News Click / by Romila Thapar

Varavara Rao, 80 years old, became seriously ill. His illness was aggravated by the terrible living conditions in Indian prisons, not to mention the rank over-crowding in jails.
As citizens of India, we need to know what is happening to other Indians. We have the right to know what is happening to them. Why were these eleven Indians arrested?
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How VV Rao & revolutionary poetry influenced each other over six decades

28/07/2020 Rani

Firstpost / by Sai Priya Kodidala

Varavara Rao’s poetry, which evolved over six decades, reflects and critiques modern social history, balancing it with a consistent and hopeful quest for freedom.
*
When crime becomes authority
And hunts down people branding them criminals
Everyone with a voice who keeps silent
Becomes a criminal.
`Whose side are you on?´
*
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Health status: Varavara Rao’s family turns to Deshmukh

28/07/2020 Rani

@THMumbai Just in: #BombayHC directs Nanavati Hospital to submit report on medical condition and line of treatment to poet #VaravaraRao.

Health status: Varavara Rao’s family turns to Deshmukh

28/07/2020

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

After writing to the National Human Rights Commission, the family of poet Varavara Rao (81) has requested Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh to ensure that they get regular updates on Mr. Rao’s health.
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No information on Varavara Rao’s health for 12 days, says family

27/07/2020

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The family of Telugu poet-activist Varavara Rao has written to Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh alleging that they have been denied any information on the activist’s health condition or treatment for the last twelve days.
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Jails become the new Covid hotspots

27/07/2020 Rani

Click to enlarge poster

The Print / by Aneesha Bedi

New Delhi: With poet Varavara Rao and activists Akhil Gogoi and Sharjeel Imam testing positive for Covid-19 inside crowded prisons, the cases have brought to the fore concerns about the safety of inmates and jail staff amid the Covid pandemic. Jails across the country are reporting increasing cases of the infection, and the situation appears to be alarming at some places.
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