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Month: August 2020

NIA Opposes Bail Plea of Activist Sudha Bharadwaj in Bombay High Court

NIA Opposes Bail Plea of Activist Sudha Bharadwaj in Bombay High Court

The Print / by pti

Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday opposed the bail plea of activist Sudha Bharadwaj … in the Bombay High Court saying her ailments were not of serious nature … The HC, however, pointed out that a bench led by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta had presided over a PIL filed by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and had sent detailed guidelines for prison authorities across the state to ensure the safety of inmates in light of COVID-19 … the bench directed the Maharashtra government to submit Bharadwaj’s latest health report and an affidavit within a week clarifying how it proposed to implement safety guidelines and the court’s PUCL judgement in the Byculla prison to protect inmates.
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Birthday cards from students for jailed professor Hany Babu as he turns 54

Birthday cards from students for jailed professor Hany Babu as he turns 54


Poster by@WithHanyBabu

MAKTOOB / By MAKTOOB Staff

“Birthday wishes Hany Sir. It pains me to write a birthday wish this way. I hope you are safe there. I hope you come out of this, back to your family and friends, back to the University, soon,” Nimisha Salim who studies English literature at the University of Delhi extended her wishes to her English teacher Hany Babu.
On Sunday, when Delhi University Professor Hany Babu turns 54 in a Mumbai jail where he’s been imprisoned in connection with the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case, his students tried to ensure that he’s not greeted with silence.
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DU professor PK Vijayan says NIA questioned him on role in Saibaba committee

DU professor PK Vijayan says NIA questioned him on role in Saibaba committee

Free Press Journal / by Bhavna Uchil

Delhi University’s Hindu College professor PK Vijayan has said that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) questioned him last Friday regarding his role in the Saibaba Defence Committee.
Prof Vijayan who teaches English in the institution said he is not at liberty to speak on what happened during the questioning, as he has been advised by his advocates not to do so but described the session ‘cordial’ and ‘civil’. “We (he and Prof. Rakesh Ranjan) were kept waiting for about 5-6 hours and questioned for the rest,” he said.
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Tongues are on Trial – Why the attack on poets and activists is special

Tongues are on Trial – Why the attack on poets and activists is special


Illustration by Hannah K Lee for TED

Indian Cultural Forum / by Brama Prakash

Under the current circumstances, amidst a pandemic, what we are facing is the urgency of life — a deep existential crisis. Viruses and corpses are no longer metaphors. They are footing in front of us. Bereft of a physical form, the virus is real. Bereft of bodies and ceremony, the silent corpse is real. Amidst the roaring sound of the Rafale jet, the howling cry of a patient is real. The number of deaths and positive cases, though manipulated, are real.
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Video: Sudha Bharadwaj (Part 1 – Arrested Series)

Video: Sudha Bharadwaj (Part 1 – Arrested Series)


Solidarity program in Chhattisgarh, 2019

hindi | 4:29min | 2020

By #InBetweenNews

Sudha Bharadwaj was arrested by the Pune Police on suspicion of being involved in Maoist terror activities in August 2018, along with five other accused across the country.
An alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology, Bharadwaj has been living in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh for the last 29 years and has worked as trade unionist and civil rights activist for most of her life.
Having been exposed to horrific working conditions of labourers during her time as a student at IIT, she moved to work with the late Shankar Guha Niyogi’s Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha in 1986.
She fought passionately against corrupt bureaucrats to ensure proper wages were paid to the workers in the mines and plants located in Bhilai. She also engaged in issues of Dalit and Adivasi rights, specifically the right to land, the right to education, health and for security against corrupt landlords.
Here is #InBetweenNews ‘s special report on Sudha Bharadwaj’s overtly political arrest and her life as an activist.
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Mahesh Raut: The Beloved Brother of Adivasis in Gadchiroli

Mahesh Raut: The Beloved Brother of Adivasis in Gadchiroli

Gauri Lankesh News / By Gauri Lanksh News Desk

Mahesh’s incarceration is a standing testament of the State’s repression of Rights’ activists who protect the values of the Constitution which the same State is trampling upon.
Hailing from Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, Mahesh Raut is a young prominent activist working for the rights of Adivasi communities in his district … He has tirelessly advocated for laws like The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act and Forest Rights Act which protect the democratic rights of indigenous communities against unlawful land grabbing by large corporations.
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Surendra Gadling: One who gave Legal Aid Even When In jail

Surendra Gadling: One who gave Legal Aid Even When In jail

Gauri Lankesh News / by Gauri Lankesh News Desk

Gadling had conducted fact-finding in Chhattisgarh and brought out a report about persecution and harassment of lawyers who take up cases pertaining to tribals trapped in UAPA cases.
Surendra Gadling holds significant knowledge in special laws such as MCOCA, POTA, TADA, UAPA has handled many cases before various forums, including before hon’ble high court for the last 24 years. His professional work, which is his fundamental duty and is part of ensuring the fundamental rights of the accused person has brought him many enemies within the Police Machineries.
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Gautam Navlakha: India’s Inspiration to Demand Civil Liberties in Kashmir

Gautam Navlakha: India’s Inspiration to Demand Civil Liberties in Kashmir

Gauri Lankesh News / by Prof. Manoranjan Mohanty

Gautam was among the very few who had grasped the issues, personally investigated the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir, produced many fact-finding reports which shaped the thinking in the civil liberty movement in India.
Gautam Navlakha launched an Independent Initiative on Kashmir in the 1980s and that was when we had some serious discussion on the Kashmir question at Delhi University. Many of us were so far confused about the way to formulate the J&K issue and most people were unaware of the historical facts. Gautam, then with the Economic and Political Weekly, was among the few who clearly underlined the political question of self-determination that was at the center of the debate.
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Academics express support for DU professor

Academics express support for DU professor

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

Rakesh Ranjan questioned by NIA in Bhima-Koregaon violence case.
Leading academics on Saturday issued a statement expressing solidarity with Delhi University professor Rakesh Ranjan, who was summoned and questioned by National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case on Friday. Another Delhi University professor P.K. Vijayan, was also questioned on Friday.
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‘Stop Harassment of Academics’: Scholars Express Solidarity With DU Teacher Rakesh Ranjan

15/08/2020

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

New Delhi: A group of activists and academics issued by Emeritus Professors, Faculty Members & Alumni of Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, JNU and Colleagues of Delhi University have released a statement in solidarity with Rakesh Ranjan, who was summoned for questioning by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on August 14.
Read more / full solidarity statement