Browsed by
Month: October 2020

Various Solidarity Statements: We stand with Fr. Stan Swamy / Petition: Drop the false charges immediately!

Various Solidarity Statements: We stand with Fr. Stan Swamy / Petition: Drop the false charges immediately!

Pictures: Ranchi, 9 Oct 2020

Petition: Drop the false charges against Fr Stan Swamy immediately!

09/10/2020

Petition initiated by George Pattery

We stand together strongly to condemn the false allegations and defamatory charges  against Fr Stan Swamy by the Pune police, under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA). These charges frame him in the Bhima Koregaon case, call him an “urban naxalite”, and accuse him of plotting the assassination of the Prime Minister. They are patently false and defamatory.
Read more/sign petition

‘Distressed, troubled’: Ranchi Catholic Church demands Stan Swamy’s release

09/10/2020

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

On Thursday, Father Stan Swamy was taken into custody from his Ranchi home in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case. He was brought to Mumbai from Ranchi and produced before a court at 1.30 pm today which then directed him to be sent in judicial custody till October 23.
Read more

Statements by Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat (SJES), Society of Jesus & Jesuit Conference of South Asia

09/10/2020

Click to enlarge statements

We Stand With Stan Swamy

09/10/2020

By Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha

The recent arrest of Stan Swamy is a gross violation of human rights and democratic norms
Two thousand people condemn the arrest of tribal rights activist Stan Swamy by the NIA on 8 Oct 2020 and urge @HemantSoren JMM to oppose the arrest.

Click to enlarge full statement

‘Preposterous’, ‘Witch-Hunt’: Twitter Outraged Over Stan Swamy’s Arrest In Bhima-Koregaon Case

09/10/2020

HuffPost / by Rohini Chatterji

An 83-year-old activist, Stan Swamy, was arrested by the National Investigative Agency on Thursday, the lates in the series of arrests of activists in the Bhima-Koregaon case.
He was taken into custody from his home in Ranchi.
Swamy’s arrested created outrage with many taking to social media to protest it.
Here’s what people said
Read more

PUCL Condemns the Detention and Arrest of Fr. Stan Swamy in Bhima Koregaon Case

08/10/2020

Countercurrents / by PUCL

PUCL is shocked by and condemns the detention and arrest by NIA police team of 83 year old Fr. Stan Swamy from his residence in Bagaicha, Ranchi to take him to Mumbai to be remanded in the Bhima Koregaon (BK) case for allegedly being part of the larger conspiracy to cause unrest.
The inhuman and insincere act of the NIA authorities in arresting Fr. Stan stands out for its sheer vindictiveness for Fr. Stan fully cooperated with the Investigating officers of the NIA when they questioned him in the Jesuit Residence in Bagaicha for over 15 hours, on July 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th and 6th August. Despite his advanced age and other age related ailments, Fr. Stan patiently answered all queries put to him.
Read more

NIA Arrests Adivasi Rights Activist Stan Swamy in Elgar Parishad Case / Statements by Stan Swamy

NIA Arrests Adivasi Rights Activist Stan Swamy in Elgar Parishad Case / Statements by Stan Swamy

NIA Arrests 83-Year-Old Tribal Rights Activist Stan Swamy in Elgar Parishad Case

08/10/2020

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Swamy has been questioned in the case on multiple occasions.
Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken 83-year-old Jharkhand-based tribal rights activist and Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy into custody. Swamy, who has been questioned at multiple occasions, is the 16th person taken into custody since June 2018 in connection with the ongoing investigation in the Elgar Parishad case. Swamy, who is suffering from multiple ailments, is the oldest person to be arrested in the case so far.
Read more

Video: Testimony of Stan Swamy, 6 October 2020


en | 7:48 min | Oct 6, 2020
Watch video

Statement by Stan Swamy, Morning 8th of Oct

Democracy in Higher Education, Social Justice and the Importance of Hany Babu

Democracy in Higher Education, Social Justice and the Importance of Hany Babu


Delhi, Aug 2020

Countercurrents / by Dr Ajay S Sekher

We are going through one of the most dismal times in the history of post-independence India. Anyone who resists, anyone who speaks for the greater common good, for truth and justice, is getting hounded. Hate campaigns are unleashed against them or they are implicated under fabricated charges and thrown into prison.
Read more

Bhima Koregaon judicial panel requests state to put hearings on hold due to Covid

Bhima Koregaon judicial panel requests state to put hearings on hold due to Covid

Hindustan Times / by Nadeem Inamdar

The Bhima Koregaon judicial commission has written to the chief secretary, government of Maharashtra, requesting the state government to put the extension notification on hold at least till the end of the year due to the aggravating Covid-19 situation in the state.
Read more

Who cares for Bhima Koregaon Commission?

07/10/2020

Rediff.com / by Jyoti Punwani

The government announced on October 6 the final extension to the Commission, asking it to submit its report by December 31, 2020.
The government knows meeting this deadline is an impossible task.
On February this year, the Commission had told the government it would need at least six months to complete its work, as reported by Rediff.com.
After the March 24 lockdown was announced, no hearings have been held.
Read more

Oct 10 webinar: Descent From Democracy – Political Prisoners and the Stifling of Dissent

Oct 10 webinar: Descent From Democracy – Political Prisoners and the Stifling of Dissent

By All India Lawyers´ Association for Justice

The ever-increasing list of political prisoners put into jail for their acts of dissent is deeply alarming. Join us in this webinar on political prisoners and the undemocratic stifling of dissent with Advocate Bela Bhatia & Senior Advocate Colin Gonzalves
Oct 10, 2020
6 p.m. IST

In Conversation With Ambedkarite Activist Suvarna Salve

In Conversation With Ambedkarite Activist Suvarna Salve

Feminism India / by Shivani Chunekar

A transcript of an interview (originally in Marathi) of Suvarna Salve.
… What are the qualities of the artists that inspire you?
Suvarna Salve: Activists like Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, even Sudhir Dhawale have contributed immensely to the Ambedkarite movement. I always wondered how someone could be this dedicated to a cause, leaving behind their personal life and dedicating their entire lives to the movement. This dedication and immense persistence inspires me and has a place in my heart.
I have worked with Sudhir Dhawale for four years after his initial release and I have seen myself grow during the time I worked with him. I consider myself much more politically developed and mature now than I used to be before I worked with him…
Read full interview

Maharashtra grants `final´ extension to Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry till Dec 31

Maharashtra grants `final´ extension to Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry till Dec 31

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

The commission, which is probing the reasons behind the violence that broke out in Koregaon Bhima on January 1, 2018, has been asked to submit its report to the government by that date.
Commission members, however, have sought a bigger site to conduct the hearings, in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read more

Soni Sori Tested Positive – But NIA Made Her Travel for Questioning

Soni Sori Tested Positive – But NIA Made Her Travel for Questioning

The Wire / Sukanya Shantha

Mumbai: A fortnight ago, tribal rights champion Soni Sori found herself in quite a conundrum…
While the Jagdalpur team of the NIA refused to take Sori’s health condition seriously, its Bombay team, investigating the 2018 Elgar Parishad’s case, cancelled its scheduled questioning last week. Sori, who was one of the many guest speakers at the Elgar Parishad event… was to be questioned by the NIA. A team of officers had reportedly traveled to Dantewada but decided to return on finding out about her health condition. The team spoke to Sori on the phone instead and has rescheduled a visit to Dantewada to the coming week.
Read more

Arundhati Roy: Two conspiracies and a cremation

Arundhati Roy: Two conspiracies and a cremation

Scroll.in / by Arundhati Roy

As Diwali approaches and Hindus prepare to celebrate the triumphant return of Lord Ram to his Kingdom (and the spanking new temple that is being built for him in Ayodhya), the rest of us must be content to celebrate this season of serial triumphs for Indian Democracy…
The real purpose of the absurd police-manufactured 2020 Delhi conspiracy, and equally absurd 2018 Bhima-Koregaon conspiracy (the absurdity is part of the threat and the humiliation) is to imprison and pin down activists, students, lawyers, writers, poets, professors, trade-unionists and noncompliant NGOs.
Read more