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Month: June 2022

Taloja jail cites security threat for refusing mosquito nets / Net of contention

Taloja jail cites security threat for refusing mosquito nets / Net of contention

Taloja jail cites security threat for refusing mosquito nets

16/06/2022

Hindustan Times / by Charul Shah

Gautam Navlakha, Sagar Gorkhe and others lodged in Taloja jail had approached the special court for a direction to provide mosquito nets.
Citing security threats, the Taloja jail prison authorities have objected to the use of mosquito nets in prison in the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court. The authorities filed a reply to the plea filed by the accused booked in connection with the Elgar Parishad Bhima Koregaon case.
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Net of contention: Courts to decide on pleas by ‘mosquito-infested’ Taloja inmates this week

13/06/2022

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

In May, jail authorities conducted a search of belongings of inmates and seized mosquito nets being used by them. The reason cited by the officials was that the nets have a long string which the prisoners could use to harm themselves or others.
The move caused discord among prisoners who said that there was a mosquito menace in the jail and that the nets were their primary form of protection against diseases. One inmate, Sagar Gorkhe, booked in the Elgaar Parishad case, even approached the Kharghar police alleging that the jail authorities had conducted “theft” by seizing his mosquito net, which cost him Rs 620. A number of inmates have approached trial courts seeking the nets.
Read more

Also read:
● As Sagar Gorkhe announces fast unto death, Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court seeking mosquito net (The Leaflet / May 2022)

Is India Really a Democracy? The Answer, My Friend, Is Blowing in the Wind: Nayantara Sahgal

Is India Really a Democracy? The Answer, My Friend, Is Blowing in the Wind: Nayantara Sahgal

The Wire / by Nayantara Sahgal

The author’s lament about the attacks on individual rights and freedoms in present-day India.
… Recently I heard that the government wants a strong opposition. But when members of the opposition such as the Elgar Parishad prisoners, to name one case, are in jail for criticising some official measure or not falling in line with the ruling ideology, is this the way that a democracy treats dissent?
Read more

Bhima Koregaon: If Collector Had Acted On Time …

Bhima Koregaon: If Collector Had Acted On Time …

Bhima Koregaon: If Collector Had Acted On Time …

09/06/2022

Rediff.com / by Jyoti Punwani

‘This shows how casually these officials approached a dispute simmering for years which finally erupted into violence.’
„Nero fiddling while Rome burnt.”
That’s how Advocate B G Bansode described the actions of Saurabh Rao, who was collector of Pune district when the January 1, 2018 riot at Bhima Koregaon took place.
Rao is currently divisional commissioner, Pune.
Bansode’s remarks came as Rao was deposing on June 6 before the Bhima Koregaon Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice J N Patel in Pune.
Read more

Bhima Koregaon Probe Panel Orders Summons to Chiefs of Six Political Parties in Maharashtra

09/06/2022

The Wire / by pti

The Koregaon Bhima Commission, probing the January 1, 2018 violence near a memorial in Maharashtra’s Pune district, has ordered to issue summons to heads of six political parties in the state, including the Shiv Sena, Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on an application stating that their presence will be helpful to suggest measures to avoid incidents of violence in the future.
Read more

Also read:
● Witness Before Probe Panel Accuses Sambhaji Bhide & Milind Ekbote Of Instigating Bhima Koregaon Riots (Live Law / Oct 2021)
● Casting a Veil – What we miss by ignoring Maratha caste politics in the Bhima Koregaon case (The Caravan / Dec 2020)

Bombay HC bench recuses from hearing pleas of Hany Babu and Gautam Navlakha

Bombay HC bench recuses from hearing pleas of Hany Babu and Gautam Navlakha

Bombay HC bench recuses from hearing pleas of Hany Babu and Gautam Navlakha

09/06/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Babu had filed a bail application while Navlakha requested access to phone calls in the Taloja prison.
A Bombay High Court bench on Wednesday recused itself from hearing two separate petitions filed by former Delhi University professor Hany Babu and human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, both accused in the Elgar Parishad case, PTI reported.
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Bombay HC Judge Justice Revati Mohite Dere recuses from hearing plea by accused

08/06/2022

Bar & Bench / by Narsi Benwal

Justice Dere is not the only judge to recuse from hearing Bhima Koregaon cases. Previously, Justices Sadhana S Jadhav, PB Varale and SS Shinde had recused from hearing cases related to Bhima Koregaon.
Bombay High Court’s Justice Revati Mohite Dere on Wednesday recused herself from hearing two applications, one by Delhi University’s Prof. Hany Babu and the other by rights’ activist Gautam Navlakha, both accused in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case.
Read more

Also read:
● 3 years after Bhima Koregaon: How criminal law was violated (The Leaflet / June 2021)

As Bhima Koregaon case completes its fourth anniversary, State reprisal is writ large in its twists and turns

As Bhima Koregaon case completes its fourth anniversary, State reprisal is writ large in its twists and turns

The Leaflet / by Nihalsing Rathod

As we have completed four years since the first arrest in the Elgar Parishad case, a quick recap of how 16 renowned human rights activists were jailed may be useful.
There is much more than meets the eye. Maybe we will have a few answers after the trial ends, but not all. It would be difficult to say what exactly caused the arrest of these 16 eminent persons, but we can definitely relook at the turn of events and try to understand what really happened.
Read more

Also read:
● ‘We are all prisoners of conscience’, say those facing trial in Bhima Koregaon case on the occasion of fourth anniversary of their arrests [read letter] (The Leaflet / June 2022)
● 3 years after Bhima Koregaon: How criminal law was violated (The Leaflet / June 2021)

Bhima Koregaon: Who’s who of those arrested and the developments in the case pertaining to each

Bhima Koregaon: Who’s who of those arrested and the developments in the case pertaining to each

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanwala

In the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, leading activists, lawyers, scholars and artists have been arrested without trial under the charges of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (‘UAPA’). According to the police, allegedly provocative statements and speeches made at the Elgar Parishad meeting in Pune on December 31, 2017, instigated the violence at Bhima Koregaon the following day on January 1, 2018 that led to death of one and injuries to several others …

The Leaflet brings to its readers a brief profile of each of the arrested persons, and the developments in the case pertaining to each.
Read more

And Ma can’t sing with Sagar

And Ma can’t sing with Sagar

Midday / by Ajaz Ashraf

Sagar Gorkhe, termed Maoist twice and sent to jail, where he fights for the rights of the inmates, continues writing songs—of hope: “From wounds shall burst out vines/Learning how to blossom again”
agar Gorkhe, a Dalit accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case, was on the fourth day of his hunger strike at Mumbai’s Taloja Central Jail when his mother Surekha learnt about it, via a WhatsApp forward on her daughter’s mobile. Surekha stopped taking food. Her family and members of the Kabir Kala Manch, a cultural troupe to which Sagar belongs, tried to coax her into eating. 
Read more

Also read:
● And he waits for Shoma Sen (Midday.com / May 2022)
● And she waits for Gautam Navlakha (Midday.com / May 2022)

Five Bhima Koregaon accused write open letter on four years of incarceration [read letter]

Five Bhima Koregaon accused write open letter on four years of incarceration [read letter]

click to enlarge posters

‘We are all prisoners of conscience’, say those facing trial in Bhima Koregaon case on the occasion of fourth anniversary of their arrests [read letter]

05/06/2022

The Leaflet / by The Leaflet

As they complete four years in prison, those accused of instigating violence wonder how much more time the judiciary will take to digest that all the evidence fabricated against them is fake.
In a poignant letter from the prisons where they have been languishing for the past four years, those facing trial in the Bhima Koregaon case, have asserted that their suffering is nothing in comparison to many other prisoners, who have spent years altogether with a smile on their face. “Looking at them gives us some a different kind of energy. [sic] Even in these inhuman places, they live with great optimism….”
Read more


Read their letter in full here

Five Bhima Koregaon accused write open letter on four years of incarceration

05/06/2022

The Hindu / by Special Correspondent

Reiterate their commitment to fight for the underprivileged and downtrodden.
It has been four years since Prof Shoma Sen, advocate Surendra Gadling, activist Rona Wilson, Mahesh Raut and Sudhir Dhawale were arrested for the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad conference. They have written an open letter that they are still committed to take up the cudgels for the labourers, underprivileged and the downtrodden.
Read more


siddhesh gautam (Jun 6):
Bhima Koregaon: four years of injustice, 2022
From 6th June 2018 to 6th June 2022, four years of imprisonment, four years of wrongful incrimination, four years of injustice and an eternity of separation and pain.

#FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners   #freebk16

Also watch/read:

VIDEO: THE BHIMA KOREGAON CONSPIRACY CASE – THREE YEARS TOO MANY …

06/06/2021

By Family and Friends of BK16

Three years ago, on 6 June 2018, the first arrests of human rights activists in the Bhima Koregaon Conspiracy Case occurred. Today, 16 of the finest citizens of India face trumped up charges in this fabricated case.
Join the Family Members and friends of BK16 on a webinar and Book Release.
Book Release by Bhanwar Meghvanshi, leading writer and Dalit Intellectual

hindi + en | 4h 30min | 2021
Watch video at PUCL fb

SALAAKHON MEIN QAID AVAAZEIN (IMPRISONED VOICES)

06/06/2021

By Family Members and friends of BK16

“Salaakhon Mein Qaid Avaazein”
Edition: June 2021
Language: Hindi
Paperback: 69 pages
Access a PDF copy of the book here (15MB)

‘Unjust’ jail and death can’t eclipse Stan Swamy’s work / What is the Martin Ennals Award?

‘Unjust’ jail and death can’t eclipse Stan Swamy’s work / What is the Martin Ennals Award?

‘Unjust’ jail and death can’t eclipse Stan Swamy’s work

04/06/2022

The Telegraph / by Pheroze L. Vincent

Jesuit priest has been honoured by Martin Ennals Foundation in Geneva for showing exceptional commitment to defending and promoting human rights.
Stan Swamy, the human rights defender and Jesuit priest who died in judicial custody in Mumbai at the age of 84, has been posthumously honoured by the Martin Ennals Foundation in Geneva.
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What is the Martin Ennals Award, the ‘human rights Nobel’, which honoured Father Stan Swamy?

04/06/2022

The Indian Express / by Dipanita Nath

In a special move this year, the Martin Ennals Foundation posthumously honoured Father Stan Swamy for his “many contributions to human rights”. Who was Martin Ennals, and what is the intention of the award?
Every year, the Martin Ennals Foundation, based in Geneva, Switzerland, gives out an award that is regarded as the Nobel Prize for human rights defenders. The recipients of this year’s awards include Daouda Diallo from Burkina Faso, Pham Doan Trang from Vietnam and Abdul-Hadi Al-Khawaja of Bahrain.
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Late Indian Jesuit honored with rights ‘Nobel Prize’

04/06/2022

UCA News / by UCA News reporter

Father Stan Swamy, the late Indian Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist, has been posthumously awarded the Martin Ennals Award, regarded as the Nobel Prize for human rights defenders…
Though the award was presented posthumously, the priest was chosen for it while he was still alive. “Father Stan was nominated for the award in spring 2021, but he sadly passed away before it could reach him,” said Hans Thoolen, chair of the award jury.
Read more

‘Death of Imagination’ / Hindutva, Sangh Parivar, UAPA: Penguin Censors Words From VV Rao’s Book

‘Death of Imagination’ / Hindutva, Sangh Parivar, UAPA: Penguin Censors Words From VV Rao’s Book

Penguin Random House Drops ‘Hindutva’, Other Words From Varavara Rao’s Latest Book: Report

05/06/2022

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

The said words, from the book which is yet to be released, have been removed by the publishers’ legal team purportedly to avoid attracting charges such as sedition or defamation.
Penguin Random House India’s legal team has allegedly removed words like ‘Hindutva’, ‘Sangh Parivar’ and ‘saffronisation’ from Telugu poet Varavara Rao’s latest book Varavara Rao: A Revolutionary Poet, the Quint has reported.
The book, which is yet to be released, will become the first English-translated collection of poems by the 81-year-old Rao, who was arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case. He is at present out on medical bail.
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‘Death of Imagination’: Meena Kandasamy on Penguin Censoring Varavara Rao’s Book

04/06/2022

The Quint / by Nikhila Henry

Meena Kandasamy, an editor of Varavara Rao’s book, says climate of fear among publishers is real in India.
Penguin Random House (PRH), a leading publisher in India, has prescribed removal of several words including ‘Hindutva,’ ‘Sangh Parivar,’ and ‘Ayodhya,’ from Telugu poet Varavara Rao’s book – Varavara Rao: The Revolutionary Poet.
Poet, novelist, and translator Meena Kandasamy, who is one of the editors of the book, speaks to The Quint in an interview about the legal vetting.
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Hindutva, Sangh Parivar, UAPA: Penguin Censors Words From Varavara Rao’s Book

03/06/2022

The Quint / by Nkikhila Henry

References to ‘revolution,’ saffronisation’ and ‘Ayodhya’ in poet Varavara Rao’s poems were flagged by Penguin.
Penguin Random House India, a leading publisher in the country, has prescribed censorship of Telugu poet Varavara Rao’s poems for fear of being slapped with sedition and defamation charges, reveal comments from the legal team of the publisher, posted on the latest edit of the book Varavara Rao: A Revolutionary Poet.
Read more

Also read:
● ‘Legal Row’: Penguin Censors Poems, Then Stalls Varavara Rao’s Book Indefinitely (The Quint / Nov 2021)