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The sad saga of Kanchan Nannaware who died waiting for justice (by Shoma Sen)

The sad saga of Kanchan Nannaware who died waiting for justice (by Shoma Sen)

The Leaflet / by Shoma Sen

While the High Court of Bombay granted medical bail to Varavara Rao who is now free for the next six months to be with his family and take care of his health, Kanchan has not been so lucky. Shoma Sen, an undertrial in the Bhima Koregaon case understands what it means as she is also battling with several ailments. Here, she explains how the husband of Kanchan’ Nannaware, her co-accused who was in the male section of the same Yerwada Jail was not consulted nor was his consent taken before her surgery. It ultimately proved fatal:
While the Elgar Parishad case received wide and detailed media coverage and many columnists, shocked by the Kafkaesque absurdities of this case were analysing and commenting on it, a political prisoner in Pune Women’s Central Jail was suffering immense hardship due to ill health, till she finally passed away in early February.
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Video: The case against the Bhima Koregaon political prisoners

Video: The case against the Bhima Koregaon political prisoners


en | 5:07min | 2021

By The Polis Project

Sixteen individuals across India have been arrested since 6 June 2018 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). They are human rights defenders working for the democratic rights of India’s poorest and most oppressed: Dalits, Adivasis, indigenous people, and women. All of them have been outspoken critics of Hindutva.
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March 8: Solidarity with Shoma, Sudha & Jyoti & Other Women Human Rights Defenders

March 8: Solidarity with Shoma, Sudha & Jyoti & Other Women Human Rights Defenders

by Smashboard

This International Women’s Day, back our right to peaceful protest! Stand with these brave women attacked & arrested on trumped up charges in India – only for defending democracy.

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by Gabbar:
On the International Women’s day let’s remember human rights activists Sudha Bharadwaj, professor and activist Shoma Sen and Jyoti Jagtap, who along with 13 others are behind bars in the fake Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case +++

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Rally against state violence against women in India held in Surrey

07/03/2021

Countercurrents / by Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI)


On the eve of International Women’s Day, South Asian activists came together to raise their voices against gendered repression in the world’s so called largest democracy.
Organized by the Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI) on Sunday, March 7, the rally was held outside the Indian Visa and Passport Application Center in Surrey (Canada).
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The Contribution Of Dalit Women Shahir In Maharashtra’s Anti-Caste Movement

The Contribution Of Dalit Women Shahir In Maharashtra’s Anti-Caste Movement

Feminism India / by Guest Writer

… Shahirs talk about caste discrimination and Brahminism, they talk about Shivaji Maharaj and Mahatma Phule’s thoughts. They also talk about how Babasaheb fought against casteism and spread the awareness in the masses about the messages that Babasaheb wanted to convey to them. Shahiri troupes are important part of contemporary movement of Dalit women…
Sheetal Sathe in her interview to the Marathi news channel talks about her journey in the movement.
When she was in college, she came in contact with activists from Kabir Kala Manch and music for which she have had a liking towards since childhood.
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Supreme Court seeks response from NIA on plea for default bail by Gautam Navlakha

Supreme Court seeks response from NIA on plea for default bail by Gautam Navlakha

Supreme Court seeks response from National Investigation Agency on plea for default bail by Gautam Navlakha

03/03/2021

Bar & Bench / by Dbayan Roy

Navlakha has sought default bail on the ground that the NIA failed to file its chargesheet within the prescribed upper-limit of 90 days as per Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the response of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the bail plea by Bhima Koregaon accused Gautam Navlakha.
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Supreme Court Issues Notice On Gautam Navlakha’s Plea Against Bombay High Court Judgment Denying Him Default Bail

03/03/2021

Live Law / by Radhika Roy

Supreme Court bench headed by Justice UU Lalit on Wednesday issued notice on a petition filed by activist and Journalist Gautam Navlakha challenging Bombay High Court’s recent order rejecting his bail application in the Bhima Koregaon (Elgar Parishad – Maoist links) case.
A three-judge Bench of Justices UU Lalit, Indira Banerjee and KM Joseph was hearing the plea against the Judgment of Bombay High Court which refused to interfere in his criminal appeal filed against an order of the special court, which rejected his application for default bail in June, last year. He is in prison since his surrender on April, 14 2020.
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Supreme Court To Hear Gautam Navlakha’s Plea Against Bombay High Court’s Order Denying Him Bail On March 3

01/03/2021

Live Law / by Srishti Ojha

Activist and Journalist Gautam Navlakha who is an accused in the Elgar Parishad – Maoist links case has moved the Supreme Court challenging Bombay High Court’s recent order rejecting his bail application. A three-judge Bench of Justices UU Lalit, Indira Banerjee and KM Joseph is scheduled to hear his plea on Wednesday, 3rd March 2021.
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Gautam Navlakha moves Supreme Court against rejection of default bail by Bombay High Court

01/03/2021

Bar & Bench

Gautam Navlakha, accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence, has approached the Supreme Court against the rejection of his plea for default bail by Bombay High Court…
Navlakha has sought bail on the ground that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) failed to file its chargesheet within the prescribed upper-limit of 90 days as per Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
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Varavara Rao granted interim bail in Surajgar arson case [read order]

Varavara Rao granted interim bail in Surajgar arson case [read order]

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

Rao’s lawyers cited Bombay High Court’s judgement granting bail on medical grounds while securing bail in this case.
The Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court has granted temporary bail to 82-year-old Telugu poet Varavara Rao for 4 weeks, following the Principal bench order granting him bail on medical grounds.
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Allegations of planting evidence in Bhima Koregaon case must be investigated

Allegations of planting evidence in Bhima Koregaon case must be investigated

The Indian Express / by Julio Ribeiro

This is a fit case where the courts should intervene to ensure justice. If the charge of planting evidence is proved, then it is incumbent on the NIA to investigate and ascertain the identity of the culprit.
Boston is an American city that is known to numerous Indians. A degree from MIT is much sought after. A few years ago, my wife and I spent a few days there as my nephew, my sister’s son, was residing in that city. Police martyr Hemant Karkare’s daughter resides there now.
Soon, Boston will be known to policemen in India for something quite different.
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From FIR to Malware Claims: A Timeline of the Bhima Koregaon Case

From FIR to Malware Claims: A Timeline of the Bhima Koregaon Case

The Quint / by Vakasha Sachdev

When exactly did the Bhima Koregaon case, as it has come to be known, begin?
Was it on the day the first set of activists were arrested, back in June 2018? Was it the day when malware was allegedly planted on the computers of at least one of the accused, two years before that? Or do we have to go all the way back to the Battle of Bhima Koregaon itself to understand what’s really going on with this case?
Here’s a complete timeline of this controversial case: from its origins in a dodgy FIR, to the moment the Supreme Court could have nipped all this in the bud; and from the filing of 3 charge sheets, to the 16 arrests made under its vague and dubious mandate.
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The Making Of Sharjeel Usmani and His Speech At Elgar Parishad

The Making Of Sharjeel Usmani and His Speech At Elgar Parishad

The Wire / by Betwa Sharma

The 23-year-old former student of AMU is facing charges of sedition for his speech. He says he is fighting for his “fair share in Indian society”.
When Sharjeel Usmani was invited to speak at the Elgar Parishad event on January 30 in Pune, the 23-year-old did not think twice before saying yes. He was undeterred by the fact that over a dozen activists and thinkers had been jailed since the event was first held on December 31, 2017, to mark 200 years of the historic battle in which the Mahar regiment of Dalit soldiers defeated the Brahmin Peshwas. He was undeterred by the fact that he had already been charged for attempt to murder, rioting and promoting communal disharmony, following the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), and spent two months in jail last year.
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Also read: The Making Of Sharjeel Usmani and His Speech At Elgar Parishad (Feb 2021)

Frame Up Of Indian Political Prisoners Revealed – New edition of Colors of the Cage

Frame Up Of Indian Political Prisoners Revealed – New edition of Colors of the Cage

By Common Notions

Colors of the Cage: Memoirs of an Indian Prison
by Arun Ferreira
foreword by Naresh Fernandes
introduction by Siddhartha Deb
February 2021

As Common Notions publishes the new edition of Colors of the Cage (2021) by political prisoner and human rights activist Arun Ferreira, news is breaking that makes it abundantly clear that, just like his earlier arrests, his current detention is based on falsehood and political repression …
In May 2007, Arun Ferreira was picked up at a railway station in western India, detained by the court, and condemned to prison for an expanding list of crimes: criminal conspiracy, murder, possession of arms, and rioting, among others added during his detention. In one of the most notorious prisons in India, he was constantly abused and tortured. Over the next several years as he began to write Colors of the Cage, each of the ten cases slapped against him fell apart. At long last, acquitted of all charges, he prepared to reunite with his family.
Ferreira refused to surrender hope and continued to fight for his freedom. He succeeded and walked out of the prison in 2014 and then used his prison experience to become a lawyer for other political activists. In 2018, he was arrested once again in what is shaping up to be a major frame up. His next hearing is February 28th.
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Also watch: Video: Arun Ferreira speaks about Life in an Indian Prison (en | 12:51 min | 2014)