Asha – Page 51 – free them all

The ugly face of justice: Anand Teltumbde reviews Abdul Wahid Shaikh’s ‘Innocent Prisoners’

25/02/2023 Asha

Scroll.in / by Anand Teltumbde

The book exposes a sinister modus operandi of the police of charging innocent Muslims for terror acts, which is structurally made easier in India.
“The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.”

– Milan Kundera, ‘The Book of Laughter and Forgetting’.

What if the state that is supposed to have been created by the people, the real sovereign as the constitution proclaims, turns into a monster that devours them? What if the police, vested with the responsibility of protecting people with law and order, turns into an organised gang of criminals supported by the state, conspire against innocent people, arrest them, torture them, and kill them with impunity?
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Supreme Court Adjourns Bail Applications Of Vernon Gonsalves & Arun Ferreira To Feb 28

21/02/2023 Asha

by Bar & Bench (Feb 21, 2023)
++ #SupremeCourt to shortly hear bail pleas by Bhima Koregaon accused Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira who are facing charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 for alleged Maoist links. ++

++ Pass-over granted, at the behest of the Additional Solicitor-General. To be taken up later today. ++

++ Bench about to rise for lunch.

Senior Advocate Rebecca John: We have informed the other side, I have some difficulty after lunch. Can it be listed next Tuesday?

Bench: Alright, next Tuesday. Feb 28. ++

Supreme Court Adjourns Bail Applications Of Vernon Gonsalves & Arun Ferreira To Feb 21

13/02/2023

Live Law / by Awstika Das

The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing of the bail applications of Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, both of whom have been lodged in jail since August 2018 after their arrest over alleged Naxal links in Bhima Koregaon case. The accused are facing charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
A division bench comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia stated in the order: “Accommodation has been sought on behalf of the solicitor-general. List the matter as the first item on Tuesday, February 21.”
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Thread by Bar & Bench (Feb 13):

The Supreme Court to shortly hear bail applications of activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in the Bhima Koregaon case.
Matter before Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia.

Justice Bose: Mr SG, Your junior is saying it will take some time. Should we keep it tomorrow?
SG: Could it be next week?
Justice Bose: That is too long a time.
Sr Adv Rebecca John: Can it be today? SG: That is difficult.
SC: First item Thursday after the fresh matters.

Justice Dhulia: We are told (by court staff) that we cannot have it on Thursday.
John: I have waited so long. I can wait till Tuesday.
Order: List on next Tuesday.

Also read:
● ‘We’re Conscious It Is A Matter Of Personal Liberty’: Supreme Court After Adjourning Bail Pleas Of Bhima Koregaon Accused At NIA’s Request (Live Law / Jan 8, 2023)
● Supreme Court adjourns bail pleas of Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira at the request of NIA (The Leaflet / Feb 6, 2023)
● Why the letter about a ‘Rajiv Gandhi-type’ assassination plot to kill Modi is fake (dailyo | by Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves | Jun 2018)
● Why peoples’ coalitions are uniting against Hindutva — the ‘new Peshwai’ (dailyo | by Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves | Jan 2018)

NIA highlights Gautam Navlakha’s ‘Pakistani connect’ to oppose bail in Elgar Parishad case

21/02/2023 Asha

NIA highlights Gautam Navlakha’s ‘Pakistani connect’ to oppose bail in Elgar Parishad case

21/02/2023

India Today / by Vidya

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has opposed the bail plea of Elgar Parishad accused Gautam Navlakha, claiming that he was an active member of banned terror outfit CPI (Maoist) and had links with a Pakistani secret agent.
The NIA said that Gautam Navlakha sought clemency for an ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) agent, who was arrested in the US, in an American court…
The bench of Justices AS Gadkari and PD Naik will be hearing Navlakha’s petition on February 27.
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Gautam Navlakha was introduced to Pakistan ISI General for recruitment, NIA tells Bombay High Court

21/02/2023

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

The agency claimed that Navlakha was working in urban areas to unite intellectuals against government forces to defeat them “both physically and otherwise.”
Activist Gautam Navlakha was introduced to a Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) General for his recruitment, which shows his nexus to the organisation, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) told the Bombay High Court on Tuesday.
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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

‘Urban Naxal’ is a label to terrorise intellectuals: Prabhat Patnaik

20/02/2023 Asha

Poster campaign, Jun 2020

The Telegraph / by Subhoranjan Dasgupta

Neo-fascist regime working towards ‘destruction of thought’
The government is reportedly planning a crackdown against “Maoist intellectuals operating front organisations in the cities in the guise of NGOs and civil rights organisations”, months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for the eradication of “Naxalism”, whether “the ones with guns or the ones with pens”.
But who are these so-called “Urban Naxals” and why does the government consider them so dangerous? Social scientist PRABHAT PATNAIK explains in this interview with SUBHORANJAN DASGUPTA, professor of human sciences.
Read more

Also read:
● From Anti-National to Urban Naxal: The Trajectory of Dissent in India – How the term Urban Naxal came to being (Newsclick / Sep 2018)

Bombay High Court adjourns hearing on plea filed by Varavara Rao to March 1

20/02/2023 Asha

By Bar & Bench (Feb 20, 2023)

Also read:
● Bombay High Court seeks response from NIA on plea by Varavara Rao to undergo cataract surgery at Hyderabad (Bar & Bench / Jan 5, 2023)
● Can’t Allow Varavara Rao To Stay In Hyderabad For Three Months For Cataract Treatment, Will Delay Framing of Charges: NIA Court (Live Law / Sep 2022)

Gautam Navlakha withdraws plea seeking transfer from Mumbai / Allowed to speak with daughter on phone

15/02/2023 Asha

Gautam Navlakha withdraws application seeking to move location of house arrest from Mumbai to Delhi

18/02/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

Withdrawing the application that sought his transfer from Mumbai to Delhi, Navlakha will now seek another place in Mumbai.
On Friday, a division bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justices K.M. Joseph and B.V. Nagarathna, allowed the withdrawal of the application filed by Gautam Navlakha for the transfer of his place of house arrest from Mumbai to Delhi.
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Gautam Navlakha Withdraws Application In Supreme Court Seeking Transfer From Mumbai To Delhi

17/02/2023

Live Law / by Rintu Mariam Biju

Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, on Friday withdrew his application filed in Supreme Court seeking permission to remain in house-arrest in Delhi instead of Mumbai.
When the matter was called up first, an advocate assisting Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought a pass over.
“…You understood what you were getting into when you are in Bombay. You accepted it, now you want a change?”, the Division Bench comprising of KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna asked, turning to the petitioner.
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Navlakha allowed to speak with daughter for 10 minutes on phone

15/02/2023

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Navlakha had filed a plea seeking to speak with his daughter, a resident of Spain. Navlakha, an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, has been under home arrest since last November in Navi Mumbai, following orders of the Supreme Court.
A special court in Mumbai on Tuesday granted activist-journalist Gautam Navlakha permission to speak with his daughter for 10 minutes on the phone of a police personnel.
Read more

Also read:
● Explainer: As activist Gautam Navlakha is allowed house arrest, what does this actually involve? (Scroll.in / Nov 2022)
● Stop Denying Political Prisoners the Right to Healthcare in Jails (PUDR / Sep 2022)
● All I ask is an hour to breathe in fresh air, soak in sun, rights activist Gautam Navlakha in plea (Free Press Journal / Dec 2021)

Appeal for Contributions to Stan Swamy Fellowship

14/02/2023 Asha

by Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha / @JharkhandJanad1 (Feb 14, 2023):
Johar!
Stan Swamy’s friends are initiating a fellowship in his name to keep his memory alive & to continue his work to defend human rights. We appeal to all friends & well-wishers to contribute to the Father Stan Swamy Fellowship for Human Rights Defenders.

Also read:
● I am not a silent spectator – An autobiographical fragment, memory and reflection (Indian Social Institute | By Stan Swamy | 2021)

Publisher: Indian Social Institute
First published in 2021
140 pages
Download pdf

Cop who received village ‘bandh’ letter deposes before Koregaon Bhima panel

11/02/2023 Asha

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

Dattatraya Hole is being examined before the commission in connection with the Koregaon Bhima village “bandh” letter he had received from a gram panchayat staffer while performing his duty at the Shikrapur police station on December 31, 2017.
Head constable Dattatraya Hole of the Pune rural police deposed as a witness before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry on Friday.
The two-member commission, headed by retired judge Justice J N Patel, is probing into the causes of violence in Koregaon Bhima area on January 1, 2018, causing the death of one person and injuries to several others.
Read more

Also Read:
● Top Investigating Officer Admits Elgar Parishad Event ‘Had No Role’ in Bhima Koregaon Violence (The Wire / Dec 27, 2022)
● Saffron Conspiracy in Bhima Koregaon? – Fact finding report by Rashtra Seva Dal unearths insidious scheme to target Dalits (CJP / Jan 2018)

Anybody dissenting will be treated in this manner: Father Frazer Mascarenhas

09/02/2023 Asha

Rediff.com / by Neeta Kolhatkar

In November 2021, the Bombay High Court allowed Father (Dr) Frazer Mascarenhas, SJ, to approach the court to clear the name of Father Stan Swamy, the oldest of the 16 Bhima Koregaon accused, who died in hospital in July 2021 …
Known to speak freely and stand by his principles, Father Frazer, who is now the parish priest at a Mumbai church, tells Rediff.com Senior Contributor Neeta Kolhatkar, “It seems to be a culture now. Anybody dissenting will be treated in this manner. No human rights… It is not limited to any one political party. The evidence shows that a group of political parties seem to be using this in an extensive and deliberate manner.”

The first of a two-part interview
Read more

Also read:
● 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 2022)

Podcast: Elgar Parishad case defies logic, creates perpetual sense of disbelief

08/02/2023 Asha

en | 38:57min | 2023

By All Indians Matter

The Elgar Parishad case, in which several activists have been accused of making speeches that led to violence in Bhima Koregaon near Pune in 2018, drags on. Dalit scholar Anand Teltumbde, lawyer-activist Sudha Bhardwaj and poet Varavara Rao have got bail, but only after spending years in prison. But others, such as Vernon Gonsalves, continue to languish behind bars.
Eighty-four-year-old Jharkhand-based tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, meanwhile, died in custody on July 5, 2021. What does this case tell us about human rights in India and about the effectiveness – or lack of it – of the judiciary?
Susan Abraham – a lawyer who’s been at the forefront of the legal battle, human right activist and wife of Vernon Gonsalves – speaks to All Indians Matter.

Listen to the podcast

Also read:
● Why the letter about a ‘Rajiv Gandhi-type’ assassination plot to kill Modi is fake (dailyo | by Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves | Jan 30, 2018)
● Why peoples’ coalitions are uniting against Hindutva — the ‘new Peshwai’ (dailyo | by Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves | Jan 30, 2018)