Part III: ‘The State snatched away my time with my daughter’

04/02/2022

Rediff.com / by Neeta Kolhatkar

‘It’s little things like these – sharing medicines, consoling each other after a mulaqat (meeting) or a tearful phone conversation with your loved ones or when we would return, dejected, when our bails were rejected – that made our time in jail bearable.’
Creativity, says Sudha Bharadwaj, is a vital lifeline for those who find their freedom taken away for crimes they may, or may not, have committed.
Survival as a prisoner during the last three years has been difficult, both emotionally and physically, but her brilliant smile makes light of it.
There were times however, she tells Rediff.com Senior Contributor Neeta Kolhatkar, when she too felt devastated.
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Part IV: ‘It is my love for the people of this country’

04/02/2022

Rediff.com / by Neeta Kolhatkar

‘I can’t help it if people don’t love the minorities, the Dalits and Adivasis; they are as much of this country as any other Indian.’
‘If I love them, it does not mean I do not love my country.’
‘It is ironic and funny that they have laid such severe anti-national charges against me.’
Good memories. And bad.
Difficult moments. And memorable ones.
Trade union leader, activist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj has gathered them all in her challenging walk through Life.
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Part II: ‘My greatest strength were prison inmates’

03/02/2022

Rediff.com / by Neeta Kolhatkar

‘You are with each other 24×7, so how can you ignore someone crying next to you?’
‘How can you not share a piece of chicken with someone who is sitting next to you and watching you eat it?’
‘Of course, you will share.’
‘And you become friends with the kind of people you never thought you’d even know.’
In a conversation with Rediff.com Senior Contributor Neeta Kolhatkar, Sudha Bharadwaj explains how she kept her spirits up.
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Also read:
● Part I: ‘I was imprisoned in the phansi yard’ (Rediff.com / Feb 2022)