Asha – Page 47 – free them all

Taloja prison authorities not complying with order allowing computer use, court told

21/04/2023 Asha

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

The accused, Surendra Gadling and Arun Ferreira, were permitted by the court on January 23 to use computers twice a week and software to view documents submitted by the National Investigation Agency as evidence.
Nearly three months after a special court directed authorities at Taloja Central Prison to permit two accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, who are lawyers representing themselves, use of computers twice a week and necessary software to view evidence, they informed the court on Thursday that prison officials had not complied with the order.
Read more

Also read:
● Provide access to computer, court tells jail authorities on plea made by Surendra Gadling and Arun Ferreira (The Indian Express / Jan 2023)
● Punished without trial: How India’s political prisoners are being denied basic rights in jail (Scroll.in / Aug 2022)

Azim Premji University students stand in solidarity with Dalit activists arrested under UAPA

18/04/2023 Asha

News Trail / by NT Correspondent

Students demand justice for 16 Dalit activists who have been behind bars for three years without official charges under the UAPA
In a powerful display of solidarity and support, over 50 students from Azim Premji University in Bengaluru gathered on Monday to demand the release of 16 Dalit activists who were arrested in 2018 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
These activists, who were advocates for marginalised groups, were accused of inciting violence during a celebration in Bhima Koregaon. Despite no official charges being brought up against them three years later, they remain behind bars.
Read more

Also read/watch:

● Report: UAPA – CRIMINALISING DISSENT AND STATE TERROR (PUCL / Sep 2022)
Download report
● Video: Sudha Bharadwaj talks about “Fighting in the Courts and on the Streets: The Situation of Precarious Workers” (Azim Premji University Colloquium / 2016)

Fourth Drone Bomb Attack on Indigenous People in Bastar, Chhattisgarh

18/04/2023 Asha

IndiaMatters UK / by over 60 international organisations and individual campaigners, activists and academics

Fourth Drone Bomb Attack on Indigenous People in Bastar, Chhattisgarh
Stop This State Terror Now!

Press Note

Indigenous (Adivasi) people in Bijapur district of Bastar, in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, have been traumatised by yet another aerial bomb attack from the security forces which have been using drones to carry out these operations. Although the Indian Air Force is not officially deployed for combat in Chhattisgarh, the repeated use of aerial bombardment on civilian populations suggests a new dimension to the state terror being inflicted on the Adivasi population of Bastar for years.
… Social activists who have been speaking out against this injustice have also ended up in prisons … there are the well known sixteen democratic rights activists falsely implicated in what has come to be known as the Bhima Koregaon case. These sixteen were locked in prison between 2018 and 2020 on the basis of an essentially fabricated case prepared by the notorious National Investigative Agency against them under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
Read full statement

Also read:
▪ Security forces’ operations in adivasi areas compared with Russia-Ukraine war (Counterview.net / April 2022)
▪ In Jharkhand, Scheduled Tribes Still Battle Flimsy Criminal Cases Filed With Little Evidence (Indiaspend.com / Oct 2021)
▪ Gadling in jail. Reason? As lawyer-activist he has been ‘unpleasant’ to India’s topcops (Counterview.net / Dec 2020)
▪ Gadchiroli’s 300 Gram Sabhas Pass Resolution in Support of Activist Mahesh Raut (The Wire / Oct 2018)
▪ Condemn the State Sponsored Massacre Scripted as ‘Encounter’ in Gadchiroli and Bijapur in Central India (wssnet.wordpress.com / May 2018)
▪ How corporate land grab is sought to be legitimized in Chhattisgarh by misusing legal framework (Kractivism │ by Sudhy Bharadwaj │ Feb 2018)

Invitation to Stan Jayanti Day at Bagaicha (April 26)

17/04/2023 Asha

By Justice for Father Stan Swamy / @FreeFrStanSwamy

Click to enlarge poster

Also read/watch:
● Jesuit priest accused of terrorism was victim of digital hacking (Independent Catholic News / Apr 3, 2023)
● Fabricating Evidence Against Life and Liberty: Tampering with Fr. Stan Swamy’s computer and its implications for Bhima Koregaon case (Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy / Dec 22, 2022)
● Hackers Planted Files to Frame an Indian Priest Who Died in Custody (Wired / Dec 13, 2022)

Video: Testimony of Stan Swamy, two days before his arrest on 8 October 2020.

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

Podcast #2 | Ideas Behind Bars: Shoma Sen

16/04/2023 Asha

en | 18:01min | 2023

By InSAF India

This is a podcast in which we discuss the ideas, thoughts, and works of thinkers, activists, artist and scholars from India who have ended up behind bars for their work, or whose work has been censored or silenced. This podcast is produced by InSAF India in collaboration with nether quarterly.

Works by Shoma Sen discussed*:
“The Village and the City: Dalit Feminism in the Autobiographies of Baby Kamble and Urmila Pawar.” The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, vol. 54, no. 1, 2019, pp. 38–51., doi:10.1177/0021989417720251. “Class Struggle and Patriarchy: Women in the Maoist Movement.” Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 52, no. 21, 2017, pp. 56–56.
* Direct quotations have been shortened for clarity.

Sound Editor: Ashish Kumar
Voice: Divya Nadkarni
Listen to the podcast

Also Read:
● Mahesh Raut, Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson seek bail from Bombay HC on parity with Sudha Bharadwaj (India Today / March 2023)

Release Gautam Navlakha Immediately! Release all political prisoners. / BK16 Solidarity

14/04/2023 Asha

By Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)

Today, 14 April 2023 marks four years, seven months and eighteen days since Gautam Navlakha’s arrest on 28 August 2018. A well-known human rights activist, respected journalist and writer of long standing, Gautam has now been incarcerated for three years since 14 April 2020 when he surrendered at the NIA office in Delhi.
Read more

Also read:
● Protest the Arrests of Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde: Demand release of the 11 arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case (PUDR / April 2020)
● Protest and Solidarity Statements on the arrests of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha (free-them-all.net / April 2020)

Gautam Navlakha has a tremendous archive of writings from the 1980s to the present, documented by The Friends of Gautam Navlakha.
To read some of his recent writings and a full list of his articles with Economic & Political Weekly, the NewsClick newsportal and the platform Sanhati visit: Gautam Navlakha – Journalist, Human Rights Defender, Political Prisoner

#BK16: Solidarity in New York, Berlin and Amsterdam

14/04/2023

By IndienKoGruppe / @IndienKoGruppe (April 14):

Freedom for political prisoners in India. “Dissent is the safety valve of democracy” (Supreme Court of India) Solidarity from New York, #FreeBK16

#BK16 solidarity from Berlin Freedom for political prisoners in India. Dissent is no crime, it is “the safety valve of democracy”

Ambedkar Jayanthi in Amsterdam, in solidarity with Bhima Koregaon activists in jail. #FreeBK16

Petition by Amnesty International: Act now to demand the release of the BK16!

Since 2018, Indian authorities have arrested 16 activists under a draconian anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case. 11 of them continue to languish in prison without trial. The repression of activists must end.
…
INDIAN AUTHORITIES MUST RELEASE ALL IMPRISONED ACTIVISTS IN THE BK16 CASE!
Act now to urge the Union Home Minister of India, Amit Shah to:
– Drop all charges against the 16 activists and immediately release the 12 who remain in detention
– Pending their release, ensure that they are granted prompt, regular, and unrestricted access to medical care and other basic necessities
– Repeal or substantially amend the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

India more casteist than ever before, says Anand Teltumbde

14/04/2023 Asha

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

Mr. Teltumbde says B.R. Ambedkar is being used by political parties to get Dalit votes
Today’s India is more casteist than ever before, scholar and civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde said on the eve of Ambedkar Jayanti. Grandson-in-law of the architect of the Constitution, the 73-year-old said B.R. Ambedkar is being used by political parties to get Dalit votes.
Read more

Also read:
● From the vault: Contemporary challenges before the anti-caste movement (The Leaflet | by Anand Teltumbde | April 2022)
● Dalit leaders condemn Anand Teltumbde’s arrest on 14 April—Ambedkar Jayanti (The Caravan | April 2020)
● Protest and Solidarity Statements on the arrests of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha (free-them-all.net / April 2020)

Gautam Navlakha was active member of banned terrorist says special court while rejecting bail plea [read order]

13/04/2023 Asha

Reasonable grounds for believing accusations about Gautam Navlakha being CPI-Maoist member: Court

14/04/2023

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Navlakha was arrested on April 14, 2020, by the NIA and has been under house arrest since November 2022.
IN ITS detailed order rejecting bail to 69-year-old Gautam Navlakha in the Elgaar Parishad case, the special court in Mumbai has said there is prima facie evidence of a nexus between him and Syed Gulam Nabi Fai, who was convicted by a US court in 2012 for links with Pakistani spy agency ISI. The court said there are reasonable grounds for believing accusations against Navlakha, including that he is a member of the banned organisation Communist Party of India (Maoist).
Read more

Gautam Navlakha was active member of banned terrorist group involved in attacks against security forces: Mumbai court [read order]

13/04/2023

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Special judge Rajesh Katariya opined that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusations against Navlakha are prima facie true.
Bhima Koregaon case accused Gautam Navlakha was a member of banned terrorist organisation Communist Party of India (Maoist), which attacked and killed many government security forces, a Mumbai court held while rejecting the activist’s bail plea.
In an order uploaded on Wednesday, Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) judge Rajesh Katariya opined that there were reasonable grounds for believing that the accusations against Navlakha were prima facie true.
Read more
Read order

Also read:
● Bombay HC quashes order rejecting bail plea of Navlakha by special court, orders expeditious rehearing (Sabrang / March 2023)

Surendra Gadling’s plea to allow him to appear in person pending before the Bombay High Court

11/04/2023 Asha

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

In the application, Gadling detailed his right to appear in person and the tedious process of in-person visits for undertrial prisoners.
On April 10, 2023, a division Bench of the Bombay High Court, comprising Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Sharmila Deshmukh, recused itself from hearing an appeal by human rights lawyer and Dalit rights activist Surendra Gadling for the grant of default bail. With its recent change in assignments, the high court is yet to decide on Gadling’s application to appear in person and allow his production before the high court, where his appeal for grant of default bail is pending. The application was sent by Gadling from Taloja jail in November 2022.
Read more

Also read:
● To allow or not allow Surendra Gadling to argue his own case, Bombay HC deliberates (India Today / March 2023)
● Explainer: Arsenal Report on Surendra Gadling (The Leaflet / July 2021)

Also watch:
● Video: The Prison Song of Surendra Gadling
hindi | 11min | 2021

The Wire / lyrics by Ramesh Gaichor

51- year-old Gadling, a well-known criminal lawyer in Nagpur, was once a cultural activist, who sang songs of political resistance. The 11- minutes- long rendition tells you what it means to be incarcerated in Indian prisons. From food, water, to medical care, everything is a struggle, Gadling narrates. The song was recorded by one of Gadling’s colleagues and was made available to The Wire after obtaining his consent.
Watch video

Special NIA Court rejects Gautam Navlakha bail plea after Bombay High Court directed re-hearing

06/04/2023 Asha

Mumbai court rejects Gautam Navlakha bail plea after Bombay High Court directed re-hearing

06/04/2023

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Special judge Rajesh Katariya passed the order today after re-hearing Navlakha’s bail plea, as directed by the Bombay High Court.
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Thursday rejected the regular bail plea of Gautam Navlakha in the Bhima Koregaon case of 2018.
Special judge Rajesh Katariya passed the order today after re-hearing Navlakha’s bail plea, as directed by the Bombay High Court.
A detailed order of the order is yet to be made available.
Read more

Special NIA Court Denies Bail to Gautam Navlakha

06/04/2023

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

The Bombay high court had previously quashed the special judge’s order denying bail to the activist and instructed him to rehear Navlakha’s bail plea, citing the special court’s lack of analysis of the evidence presented by the prosecution.
Activist Gautam Navlakha was once again denied bail by a special NIA court on Thursday, April, in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.
The Bombay high court had previously quashed the special judge’s order denying bail to the activist and instructed him to rehear Navlakha’s bail plea, citing the special court’s lack of analysis of the evidence presented by the prosecution.
Read more

Also read:
● Bombay HC quashes order rejecting bail plea of Navlakha by special court, orders expeditious rehearing (Sabrang / March 2023)