Online events: The incarceration of Stan Swamy – Repeal UAPA – Release BK16 arrestees – Book Release
By twenty initiating movements/organisations
Online programmes:
• On 15 January: HUNDRED DAYS of the incarceration of Father Stan Swamy and the brutal face of the Indian State
• On 20, 21, 22 January: Repeal UAPA, the draconian legal tool to indefinitely put dissenters behind bars, using the bogey of national security and extremism.
• On 24 January: “Why does the Indian State fear Sudha Bharadwaj”. The Release of a PUCL published book on Advocate, activist, trade unionist, lawyer and mother Sudha Bharadwaj.
Dear Friends,
SALAAM!
During the last 20 months since the 2019 elections, we have all witnessed the depths to which the present ruling party can descend to crush, subvert, deny, undermine and weaken the institutions, structure and processes of rule of law and constitutional democracy. Brazenly and with impunity, the government has used the law and the police agencies to stifle and silence democratic voices of dissent through false prosecutions and persecution of rights defenders and undemocratic measures to curb the lawful activities of organisations. What is most distressing is the near-total abdication of their constitutional duties to safeguard constitutionally mandated fundamental rights and crushing of dissent by constitutional institutions, including the Supreme and High courts.
As happened in the emergency period and other times in our history as an independent nation, citizens are now standing up to say “Enough is enough” and are fighting to safeguard the Indian Constitution, rule of law and democracy.
In response to a call to citizens and citizen’s groups to collectively campaign emphasising the values enshrined in the Preamble to the Constitution, a number of people and groups have come together to organise a series of programmes in the run-up to 26 January 2021, our Republic Day!
The objective for this initiative is to connect with ordinary people who are concerned and willing to take a stand, to join the campaign against the incarceration of innocents under the UAPA. We would like to communicate the horror, inhumanity and injustice of the fabricated cases against many innocents and imprisonment of leading rights leaders through a series of programmes, which include having cultural and aesthetic presentations of dissent involving music, dance, comedy, memes and other creative forms.
The demands are:
1. Release immediately Fr Stan Swamy and the 15 others arrested in the BK case
2. Arrest the real perpetrators of the violence that took place on the 1 January, 2018 in the Bhima Koregaon incidents.
3. Repeal the UAPA
For these programmes (all online events) we would like to invite all the organisations/ networks/ platforms, from the length and breadth of the country to demonstrate that there are democrats across India who are prepared to collectively campaign to safeguard the Constitution and democracy.
Thanking you in anticipation
in SOLIDARITY