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Month: October 2020

Varavara Rao’s wife moves Supreme Court for his immediate release on medical grounds

Varavara Rao’s wife moves Supreme Court for his immediate release on medical grounds

Hindustan Times / by Kanchan Chaudhari

The wife of 82-year-old activist and poet Dr Varavara Rao, P Hemlatha, moved a writ petition in the Supreme Court (SC) for Rao’s immediate release on medical grounds. The petition says his custody amounts to cruel and inhuman treatment, violating Article 21 of the Constitution of India and is violative of his dignity in custody.
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‘Dr. Varavara Rao’s Health Condition Feeble’: Wife Moves SC For His Release On Medical Grounds

Live Law / by Sanya Talwar

Dr. P. Varavara Rao’s wife, Pendaya Hemlatha, has moved the Supreme Court in a writ petition for the immediate release of her husband basis medical grounds…
Filed on behalf of Senior Advocate Sunil Fernandes, the writ petition preferred under Article 32 of the Constitution states that Rao’s immediate release is pertinent from Taloja Central Jail, Maharashtra as his health condition is very feeble and that he suffers from various co-morbodities and not every person with Covid19 has similar symptoms.
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Father Stan Swamy’s arrest ripples in Northeast

Father Stan Swamy’s arrest ripples in Northeast

The Telegraph / by Umanand Jaiswal

Guwahati-based social scientist Father Walter Fernandes on Wednesday said the arrest of tribal rights advocate Father Stan Swamy from Ranchi had “implications” for the Northeast, which too had witnessed arrests of rights activists and the displacement of tribal communities in the name of development.
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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 …?

Who is Varavara Rao?
All posts related to Varavara Rao
Who is Sudha Bharadwaj?
All posts related to Sudha Bharadwaj
Who is Sudhir Dhawale?
All posts related to Sudhir Dhawale
Who is Arun Ferreira?
All posts related to Arun Ferreira
Who is Surendra Gadling?
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Who is Vernon Gonsalves?
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Who is Mahesh Raut?
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Who is Shoma Sen?
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Who is Rona Wilson?
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Who is Gautam Navlakha?
All posts related to Gautam Navlakha
Who is Anand Teltumbde?
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Who is Hany Babu?
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Who are the Kabir Kala Manch artistes Jyoti Jagtap, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor?
All posts related to Jyoti Jagtap, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor
Who is Stan Swamy?
All posts related to Stan Swamy

Jailed activist Stan Swamy has spent half a century making Adivasi struggles his own

Jailed activist Stan Swamy has spent half a century making Adivasi struggles his own

Pic: National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations (NCHRO)

Jailed activist Stan Swamy has spent half a century making Adivasi struggles his own

15/10/2020

Scroll.in / by John Dayal

The Jesuit priest has sought to interpret his vocation and training in Ignatius Loyola’s philosophy in the service of the most deprived, the most threatened.
In one of those coincidences, 83-year-old Stan Swamy was arrested by India’s high-profile National Investigation Agency about the same time that another octogenarian, Francis, was declaring that all men and women in the world are brothers and sisters, with responsibility to each other and to the earth on which they all live, its resources, its environment, its climate.
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Stan Swamy: The oldest person to be accused of terrorism in India

13/10/2020

BBC News / by Soutik Biswas

On Thursday evening, detectives from India’s National Investigation Agency arrived in an SUV at a red and white building on the outskirts of Ranchi in India’s eastern state of Jharkhand.
There they picked up Father Stan Swamy, an ailing 83-year-old activist and Jesuit priest. They seized his mobile phone and asked him to pack a bag. They then drove him to the airport and boarded a flight to Mumbai, where Father Swamy was remanded to judicial custody until 23 October.
He is now the oldest person to be accused of terrorism in India.
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Media reports about the new 10,000 page chargesheet in the Bhima Koregaon case

Media reports about the new 10,000 page chargesheet in the Bhima Koregaon case


Drawing by Arun Fereirra

Chargesheet in Elgar Parishad case: CPI Maoist documents, letters on ‘anti-fascist front’ cited by NIA

14/10/2020

The Indian Express / by Deeptiman Tiwary

The agency last week submitted its first chargesheet in the case, which was filed in connection with the violence on January 1, 2018, in Pune.
Literature on 50 years of Naxalbari, CPI Maoist press releases, a guide on encrypted data communication on GSM network, a mini manual of “urban guerrilla”, “information literature related to weapon, bomb, mortar” and letters discussing issues like raising a militant “anti-fascist front” in the wake of attacks on Dalits and minorities — these are among key evidences cited by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against activists such as Stan Swamy, Hany Babu, Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde in the Elgar Parishad case.
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Milind Teltumbde organised weapons training in forests: NIA claims in its charge sheet

14/10/2020

National Herald / by IANS

Absconding accused Milind Teltumbde had organised arms training in the Korchi forest area of Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli for three activists of the banned organisation Kabir Kala Manch, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) claimed in its charge sheet filed in the Bhima Koregaon case last week. The three activists were Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor and Jyoti Jagtap…
The NIA also claimed that Delhi University Associate Professor Hany Babu, who was arrested from his residence in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida in July this year, was in contact with Paikhomba Meitei, Secretary I&P Military Affairs KCP (MC), an organisation banned under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
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NIA chargesheet says Stan Swamy received Rs 8 lakh for CPI-Maoist activities

13/10/2020

ANI / by Nishant Ketu

Stan Swamy, who was arrested last week from Ranchi in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon case, possessed Maoist propaganda material and received Rs eight lakh to carry out activities of the banned CPI-Maoist, NIA has said in its chargesheet.
The NIA said it among the documents seized from Swamy’ residence were “guide of encrypted data communication on GSM network”, “an essential underground handbook”, “letter between comrades for using encryption, “mini-manual of urban guerilla”.
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This is what NIA’s Bhima Koregaon chargesheet says about Stan Swamy

13/10/2020

India Today / by Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu

Stan Swamy is a Jharkhand-based Jesuit priest. He has been booked for criminal conspiracy under the Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act (UAPA). Here’s what the NIA chargesheet says about him.
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Gautam Navlakha Was In Touch with ISI Lobbyist, Says NIA Chargesheet

13/10/2020

News 18 / by Arunima

The NIA in its Elgar Parishad investigation has found a link between Pakistan’s ISI and the CPI-Maoist. The agency in its chargesheet has called activist Gautam Navlakha the link between the two.
The agency filed its first chargesheet in the special NIA court in Mumbai last week against eight people. Besides Navlakha, it named Hany Babu, Stan Swamy, Anand Teltumbde, Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, Jyoti Jagtap and Milind Teltumbde under several sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Prevention Activities Act.
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Protests intensify against Swamy arrest/ Indians rally behind Jesuit arrested for „Maoist“ links

Protests intensify against Swamy arrest/ Indians rally behind Jesuit arrested for „Maoist“ links

Protests intensify against Swamy arrest

14/10/2020

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

The show of solidarity with octogenarian Jesuit priest, Father Stan Swamy, who was arrested by the NIA near Ranchi on October 8 and jailed for alleged Maoist links, continued on Tuesday in Jharkhand.
Nearly 60 representatives of people’s organisations and tribal activists resumed their hunger strike near tribal icon Birsa Munda’s memorial at Kokar in Ranchi from 11am on Tuesday, while around 50 youths under the banner of Jharkhand Christian Youth Association (JCYA) burnt the effigy of the central government at Albert Ekka Chowk as a mark of protest against the arrest.
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Indians rally behind Jesuit arrested for „Maoist“ links

13/10/2020

Matters India / by Matters India

Cities across India on October 12 witnessed an unprecedented show of solidarity with an octogenarian Jesuit priest who has been arrested and jailed for alleged Maoist links.
From New Delhi to the North East, from Bengaluru to Patna, and from Kochi to Mumbai, hundreds of people from all walks of life, who are saddened, shocked and indignant, stood up against the arbitrary arrest of the 83 year old Jesuit priest.
Read reports from Delhi, Guwahati, Bengaluru, Kochi, Patna and Trichy

CDRO: Release of all those arrested in the fabricated Bhima Koregaon case

CDRO: Release of all those arrested in the fabricated Bhima Koregaon case

Countercurrents / by Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO)

CDRO is shocked to hear the news of the arrest of Father  Stan Swamy in connection with the infamous Bhima-Koregaon (BK) case. We note with disgust that Father Stan Swamy is the latest victim of the witch hunt operation carried out by the BJP-government in the name of BK case. It is a well-known fact today that the NIA, in the BK case, could not find any convincing material implicating the incarcerated activists and proving several alleged trumped-up charges including “criminal conspiracy to assassinate the Prime Minister”.
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How the Right Is Starting a Psychological War by Targeting the Old and Ageing

How the Right Is Starting a Psychological War by Targeting the Old and Ageing

How the Right Is Starting a Psychological War by Targeting the Old and Ageing

13/10/2020

The Wire / by Ajay Gudavarthy

The right seems to believe that given the cultural codes of Hindu way of life, dispensing with the old will meet less protest and resistance from the society – creating a scope for more fear and less resistance.
… It began with the murders of Govind Pansare, Narendra Dabholkar and Kalburgi – all of them into their 70s, and more recently the arrest of Varavara Rao, and now Stan Swamy, both into their 80s.
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There is an environment of fear in India. The State must renew the commitment to rights

12/10/2020

Hindustan Times / by Hindustan Times

The action against a range of intellectuals and activists and journalists – Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand Teltumbde, Stan Swamy, Apoorvanand, Harsh Mander are among the better-known examples – indicates that the space for free expression and dissent is jeopardised.
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NCRB 2019 data shows 165% jump in sedition cases, 33% jump in UAPA cases under Modi govt

12/10/2020

The Print / by Leah Verghese

In recent years, sedition and UAPA have been weaponised against critics of the govt. National Crime Records Bureau’s recently-released data confirms this.
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A new website launched by Friends of Sudha Bharadwaj

A new website launched by Friends of Sudha Bharadwaj

By Friends of Sudha Bharadwaj

Sudha Bharadwaj is a trade-unionist, activist and lawyer who has lived and worked in Chhattisgarh for over three decades. On the 28 th of August 2018, along with other lawyers, writers and activists, Sudha was arrested under wrongful charges in the Bhima Koregaon case and put in jail under the draconian UAPA law. Part of the vibrant labour movement that began in the iron ore mines of Dalli Rajhara as a young activist, Sudha was urged by workers to study law and fight for them in the courtroom.
Visit website

The battle to protect Adivasis’ right to the land: A profile of Father Stan Swamy

The battle to protect Adivasis’ right to the land: A profile of Father Stan Swamy


Pic: Ranchi Oct, 9

The Polis Project & maraa

Fr. Stan Swamy is an indigenous people’s rights defender. He is the founder of Vistapan Virodhi Janvikash Andolan (VVJA), an all India platform for different movements that are campaigning against human rights violations caused by the displacement of Adivasis, Dalits, and farmers from their lands.
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