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Month: July 2020

In Solidarity with Varavara Rao: Statements & Visuals

In Solidarity with Varavara Rao: Statements & Visuals


+++ Udpate: VV Rao has been moved to the JJ Hospital in Mumbai +++

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The PUDR said that it had become a standard procedure for the NIA to refuse bail to the poet as he did not suffer from a life-threatening disease.
The People’s Union for Democratic Rights on Monday expressed shock at the deteriorating health condition of poet Varavara Rao, and called for him to immediately be released. Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, is lodged in Taloja jail in Mumbai and his family has accused the authorities of neglecting his condition.
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AN APPEAL FROM PEN INTERNATIONAL AND PEN DELHI

By Pen International and Pen Delhi

Poet Varavara Rao has been held in jail since 2018 and has been consistently denied bail. Varavara Rao is 81 years old. His health is deteriorating. He is old. He is frail. He is ill. When he speaks with his loved ones what he says does not make much sense. Those taking care of him are concerned. At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is raging and the government has ordered the decongestion of jails to prevent the infection from spreading, there is an even greater risk to Varavara Rao’s health.
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Video: Statement by Meena Kandasamy


en | 2:18 min | 2020
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RELEASE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS

By Communist Party of India (Marxist)

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) expresses grave concern over the deteriorating health condition of several jailed political and human rights activists. Some of them have been reported to have contracted Covid-19 in jail. The deplorable conditions in the overcrowded jails, which lack even basic facilities has contributed immensely to their deteriorating health condition. Many of them have co-morbidities and have been on medications since long.
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Letter by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury – Leader of Congress Party in the Lok Sabha

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NIA Issues Summons to an Academic, a Journalist and 3 Activists

NIA Issues Summons to an Academic, a Journalist and 3 Activists


Drawing by Arun Ferreira

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Delhi University teacher Hany Babu is being made to travel from Delhi to Mumbai despite his apprehensions about travelling during the pandemic.
Mumbai: Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, when passenger travel across states is still regulated, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) wants Delhi University associate professor Hany Babu M.T. to travel from Delhi to the agency’s Mumbai office. The NIA has served him a notice to be present at their South Mumbai office on July 15 as a “witness” in the Elgar Parishad case.
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Sign petition: Ensure Immediate Health Care & Release Vara Vara Rao Now

Sign petition: Ensure Immediate Health Care & Release Vara Vara Rao Now

+++ Udpate: VV Rao has been moved to the JJ Hospital in Mumbai +++

By Citizens In Solidarity with Vara Vara Rao

Do sign this open appeal to @PMOIndia & @CMOMaharashtra to #FreeVaravaraRao & ensure proper medical treatment. Click on link below to sign. Add ur name, organizational/professional affiliation and city/location.
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Mumbai Special Court Rejects Gautam Navlakha’s Plea For Default Bail

Mumbai Special Court Rejects Gautam Navlakha’s Plea For Default Bail

Live Law / by Nitish Kashyap

In a Sunday hearing, a special court in Mumbai denied default bail to activist Gautam Navlakha who is currently lodged at Taloja jail. Court also allowed NIA’s application seeking custody of Navlakha for ten days in order to question him in the Bhima Koregaon case …
Moreover, Judge Kothalikar accepted NIA’s plea seeking extension of 90 to 180 days to file chargesheet against Navlakha and Dr. Anand Teltumbde, also accused of being a part of the maoist movement and inciting the caste based violence that took place on the 200th anniversary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon through speeches at the Elgar Parishad conclave a day earlier on December 31, 2017.
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Bhima Koregaon inmates can barely communicate, worried about their health: Families

Bhima Koregaon inmates can barely communicate, worried about their health: Families

The Caravan / by Nileena MS

On the evening of 11 July, the 81-year-old poet Varavara Rao called his wife, Hemalatha, from the overcrowded Taloja Central Prison in Maharashtra, sounding incoherent and delirious, according to a press release circulated by his family …
Families and lawyers of others who have been imprisoned in connection to the Bhima Koregaon case have pointed out they are barely able to communicate with the inmates during the pandemic. At least four of the 11 undertrial prisoners have pre-existing medical conditions that make them vulnerable to the novel coronavirus.
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Immediate Transfer to a Hospital and Prompt Treatment for Varvara Rao

Immediate Transfer to a Hospital and Prompt Treatment for Varvara Rao

+++ Udpate June 13: VV Rao has been moved to the JJ Hospital in Mumbai +++

Counter Currents / statement by Romila Thapar, Prabhat Patnaik, Devaki Jain, Maja Daruwala & Satish Deshpande

We appeal to the Government of Maharashtra and the National Investigation Agency to facilitate the immediate transfer of Mr. Varavara Rao to JJ Hospital where he can receive proper treatment. Mr Rao poses no flight risk and has voluntarily submitted to all investigations for the past 22 months. There is no reason in law or conscience to hold him in circumstances that increase risk to his fragile health.
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Bhima Koregaon case: NIA summons Delhi University professor Hany Babu to Mumbai

Bhima Koregaon case: NIA summons Delhi University professor Hany Babu to Mumbai


Solidarity with Hany Babu, Delhi 2019

Scroll.in / by Sruthisagar Yamunan

The National Investigation Agency inquiring into the Bhima Koregaon case in Maharashtra has summoned Delhi University associate professor MT Hany Babu to appear before it in Mumbai on July 15. The summons were delivered to him by an officer on Saturday. Babu described the agency’s move as “harassment”.
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Press Note from Vara Vara Rao’s Family

Press Note from Vara Vara Rao’s Family


VV Rao’s daughter Pavana and wife Hemalatha in May 2020

By Vara Vara Rao’s Family

DON’T KILL VARA VARA RAO IN JAIL !!
We, the family members of Varavara Rao, world-renowned Telugu revolutionary poet and public intellectual, who is incarcerated in Navi Mumbai’s Taloja Jail, are very much worried about his deteriorating health. His health condition has been scary for over six weeks now, ever since he was shifted in an unconscious state to JJ Hospital from Taloja Jail on May 28, 2020. Even as he was discharged from the hospital and sent back to jail three days later, there has been no improvement in his health and he is still in need of emergency heathcare. …

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Varavara Rao health condition deteriorates, Family Alleges Severe Negligence by Authorities

Varavara Rao health condition deteriorates, Family Alleges Severe Negligence by Authorities

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

Rao, who has been in jail for close to two years, has been unwell since the lockdown and his family claim that he is suffering from memory loss.
Mumbai: The health of 78- year-old political activist, poet and writer Varavara Rao, who has been in jail for close to two years, has worsened. His family has alleged that the prison department has been blocking information on his condition from reaching them.
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VARAVARA RAO NEEDS MEDICAL HELP: FAMILY

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

81-year-old famous poet not receiving any treatment inside jail, they say.
Varavara Rao, 81-year-old famous poet incarcerated at the Taloja jail, called his family after eight days on Saturday and spoke about his parents’ death, said his daughter Pavana …
Mr. Rao’s appeal against rejecting his bail is slated to be heard by the Bombay High Court on July 17.
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