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Month: October 2020

Suppressing Dissent / Who is Really the Enemy of the People?

Suppressing Dissent / Who is Really the Enemy of the People?

Suppressing Dissent

20/10/2020

Medium.com / by Arun Simon

Dissent is rarely welcomed in any society. As power increases, appreciation of dissent decreases. Innumerable examples can be seen with dictators or absolute powers. It is also possible in religion, culture, and other domains… My country India, with all its high democratic values, is no different. The officially declared emergency(1975) may be the worst period in that line. But there are many unofficial competitors for the same today. The recent arrest of many social activists (latest in that line being Fr. Stan Swamy, a tribal activist) under a draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with many contemporary events raises serious questions.
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Who is Really the Enemy of the People?

20/10/2020

NewsClick / by Suhit K Sen

India will have to look to forces within the country to steer back towards political processes that incorporate opposition, dissent and diversity.
Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist, was arrested in Ranchi on 9 October. The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which carried out the arrest, claimed he was a member of the CPI (Maoist) organisation. It appears that anyone who works for Dalit rights, or is not in full agreement with the toxic ideology of the Sangh parivar, must be a Maoist.
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DMK adds voice to Swamy release plea / Press Release by MP Chidambaram

DMK adds voice to Swamy release plea / Press Release by MP Chidambaram


Pic: Ranchi, Oct 2020

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

MP and former Union minister Kanimozhi Karunanidhi condemned the arrest of the Father, who was born in Tamil Nadu.
Support continues to pour in from Opposition MPs along with social outfits and tribal activists for the release of octogenarian Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, arrested by the NIA earlier this month near Ranchi for alleged Maoist link and involvement in the Bhima Koregaon case.
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Press Release by MP Karti Chidambaram

19/10/2020
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Stan Swamy: Tamil Nadu Catholics observe day of solidarity

Stan Swamy: Tamil Nadu Catholics observe day of solidarity


Madurai, Oct 19, 2020

Matters India / by Arockiasamy Santhanam

Madurai: Catholic churches across Tamil Nadu October 18 expressed solidarity with Jesuit Father Stan Swamy, a native of the southern Indian state now who is in a Mumbai jail for alleged Maoists links.
During the Sunday Mass, Catholics prayed for the good health and immediate release of Father Stan. They also organized parish level-programs in front of the churches condemning the priest’s arrest and demanded his immediate release.
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Stan Swamy’s bail plea cites his age, ailments, corona

Stan Swamy’s bail plea cites his age, ailments, corona

Stan Swamy’s bail plea cites his age, ailments, corona

19/10/2020

The Times of India / by Rebecca Samervel

An 83-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal rights worker from Jharkhand, Stan Swamy, who was arrested earlier this month in the Elgar Parishad and the Koregaon-Bhima case, has moved the special NIA court seeking interim bail citing his age, ailments and the coronavirus pandemic.
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Stan Swamy moves special court for bail on medical grounds

19/10/2020

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

The NIA, however, opposed the plea on Saturday, stating that there is no merit in Swamy seeking relief as per the committee’s guidelines.
Stan Swamy, the 83-year old Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist, arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) earlier this month in the Elgaar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, approached a special court last week seeking interim bail on medical grounds…
The court will hear Swamy’s bail application on Tuesday.
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If teaching Marx and Ambedkar is a criminal activity: A profile of K. Satyanarayana

If teaching Marx and Ambedkar is a criminal activity: A profile of K. Satyanarayana


Solidarity poster Sep, 2020

The Polis Project / by The Polis Project and maraa

In collaboration with maraa, The Polis Project launched Profiles of Dissent – a new series centered on remarkable voices of dissent and courage in India and their personal and political histories, as a way to reclaim our public spaces. These are prominent writers, poets, activists, and human rights defenders who have been in prison, held under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The profile features K. Satyanarayana who has been implicated in the connection with Bhima Koregaon investigation in relation to his father-in-law Varavara Rao.
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Other brothers behind Stan Swamy / Activists Under Detention for Their Words: Tharoor

Other brothers behind Stan Swamy / Activists Under Detention for Their Words: Tharoor

Other brothers behind Stan Swamy

18/10/2020

The Telegraph / by Jhinuk Mazumdar

The priest should be released, otherwise all minorities will come together and agitate in the country, the Imam of Nakhoda Mosque said.
The Centre should release Father Stan Swamy, otherwise all minorities will come together and agitate, an Imam of Nakhoda Mosque said at the end of a silent walk on Park Street expressing solidarity with the 83-year-old Jesuit priest.
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Tweet by Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, Oct 18: Jharkhand: MLA Bandhu Tirkey has written to President, home minister and PM asking for immediate release of Stan Swamy, closure of bhima-koregaon case, repeal of UAPA and amendment in NIA rules to respect federalism.

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Activists Under Detention for Their Words: Tharoor

17/10/2020

News 18 / by pti

Pune: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said a large number of people, including activists Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj and Anand Teltumbde, are under detention for their words, although none of them is accused of hitting anyone or possessing a gun. He also said that words and ideas may outlast power and authority.
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Massive Ranchi rally demands release of Stan Swamy / Jesuits protest worldwide

Massive Ranchi rally demands release of Stan Swamy / Jesuits protest worldwide

Massive Ranchi rally demands release of Stan Swamy

17/10/2020

The Hindu / by Satyasundar Barik

All major non-BJP political parties and social activists on Saturday took to the streets in Ranchi, demanding the immediate release of Stan Swamy, the 83-year-old tribal rights activist, who was arrested last week by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with Bhima Koregaon case.
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HUMAN CHAIN LED BY ARCHBISHOP FELIX TOPPO, STOOD WITH FATHER STAN

17/10/2020

By Release the Poet

More than 5,000 people formed a 4km human chain in Ranchi on Friday to express solidarity with octogenarian Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, arrested and jailed in Mumbai for alleged Maoist links, in Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case.
Many of the protestors, also lit candles, terming it a symbol of hope against the attempts to silence intellectuals and rights activists.
Friday’s congregation, part of ongoing protests by various groups, was led by Archbishop of Ranchi Felix Toppo and auxiliary bishop Theodore Mascarenhas.
Father Toppo’s banner read: “We demand justice”. Among the other slogans printed on posters were “Stop terrorizing activists”, “Stan is a worker for Dalit and Adivasi rights and not a terrorist”, “Everyone has human rights, stop branding them as terrorists” and “Release Stan Swamy—the voice of the oppressed”.
We received an update about a similar human chain in the same cause from Bengaluru as well.

Jesuits worldwide protest against imprisonment of elderly priest

17/10/2020

The Tablet / by Ruth Gledhill

Jesuits worldwide are mobilising in protest after an 84-year-old Jesuit priest and human rights activist was arrested in India accused of terrorist links.
Fr Stan Swamy SJ, a prominent and popular human rights activist, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency for alleged Maoist links on October 8.
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Jharkhand boils in anger because of Stan Swamy’s wrongful arrest

17/10/2020

Gauri Lankesh News / by Rupesh Kumar Singh |Gauri Lankesh News Desk

Human Rights activist and intellectual Father Stan Swamy was arrested in relation to Bhima Koregaon Case, despite never having visited the spot.
Jharkhand capital Ranchi is witnessing large-scale unrest in response to the wrongful arrest of 83 year old Father Stan Swamy- a prominent Human Rights Activist engaged in the Bhima Koregaon case- from “Bagaicha” in Jharkhand on 8th October by the Mumbai NIA.
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Catholics protest in Ranchi against the arrest of Fr Stan Swamy

17/10/2020

National Herald / by VP Sharan

Jharkhand has been witnessing widespread protest against arrest of 82-year old Christian priest Father Stan Swamy by NIA for his alleged involvement in Bhima Koregaon violence.
Members of civil society, Catholics and senior Catholic priests held a silent candle light vigil and protest at the St Mary’s Church in Ranchi on Friday against the arrest of the Jesuit priest, originally from Tamil Nadu.
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A conversation with an officer of the NIA on the arrest of 84-year-old Jesuit Fr Stan Swamy

A conversation with an officer of the NIA on the arrest of 84-year-old Jesuit Fr Stan Swamy

National Herald / by Uttam Sengupta

The priest was arrested by the NIA for his alleged links with Maoists and for instigating the violence at Bhima Koregaon near Pune in 2017, a place he never visited.
The conversation with the NIA officer took place at a location which cannot be disclosed at his request. The officer, not authorized to speak to the media, spoke on the condition of anonymity. Excerpts from the conversation.
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The BK 16

The BK 16


All the people who are the focus of this blog have been accused of being associated with what has come to be known as the “Bhima-Koregaon” or “Elgar Parishad” case.
To mark the bi-centenary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon in 2018, more than 200 Dalit, Bahujan, Ambedkarite and other organisations came together. The coalition organised the hugely successful and massively attended event, ‘Elgar Parishad’ (loud declaration committee), on December 31, 2017 in Shaniwarwada in Pune, once the seat of Peshwai power. This event, as per the organisers, was organised to expose the Navi Peshwai — an era of increasing repression on movements, alienation of minorities, increasing caste atrocities, anti-poor development policies and more.

Charges against the Activists

● That they had made inflammatory speeches at the Elgar Parishad.
● That they are acting on behalf of, or are members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoists).
● That they were plotting to assassinate the Prime Minister.

Lack of Evidence

As it turns out, most of those arrested were not even at the Elgar Parishad event, the charges about the links to Maoists entirely shown to be based on fabricated evidence and so far the charges about the assassination plot had not even a single piece of evidence produced.

The Case of the Reliance Workers Satyanarayan Karrela, Babushankar Vanguri, 
Shankar Gunde, Ravi Marampelli and Saidulu Singapanga

The BK16: Who is …?

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Calcutta walk for Stan Swamy / Activists hold protest at district collectorate in Pune

Calcutta walk for Stan Swamy / Activists hold protest at district collectorate in Pune

Calcutta walk for Stan Swamy

16/10/2020

The Telegraph / by Jhinuk Mazumdar

Solidarity gesture organised by the Mother Teresa International Award Committee.
A march that will not differentiate between religions and political affiliations to show solidarity with Father Stan Swamy and demand his release from jail will be led by St Xavier’s University vice-chancellor Father J. Felix Raj in Calcutta on Saturday afternoon.
The protest organised by the Mother Teresa International Award Committee will start from St Xavier’s College on Park Street and end in front of the statue of Mother Teresa at the Park Street-Camac Street crossing.
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Activists hold protest at district collectorate to demand release of Stan Swamy

15/10/2020

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

The delegation of activists submitted their demands to District Collector Rajendra Deshmukh.
Activists of various organisations held a protest at the Pune district collectorate on Thursday to demand the release of 83-year-old Stan Swamy, the Jesuit priest from Jharkhand who has been arrested by the National Investigation Agency in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case.
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