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Author: Rani

On the trail of Sambhaji Bhide: Ahead of Bhima Koregaon riots’ 3rd anniversary

On the trail of Sambhaji Bhide: Ahead of Bhima Koregaon riots’ 3rd anniversary

Firstpost / by Parth MN

Tracing the Hindutva leader’s rise.
… Every year on 1 January, tens of thousands of Dalit-Bahujan pilgrims gather at the war memorial of Bhima Koregoan, about 40 km from Pune. It commemorates the historic battle won by the British Army, which had a significant contingent of Dalit soldiers, against the Peshwas. For the Dalit community, the battle signifies their fight against untouchability. Therefore, in 2018, at the 200th anniversary of the event, the crowd at Bhima Koregaon war memorial was larger than usual. However, the gathering was assaulted allegedly by upper caste mobs belonging to right-wing groups.
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Why is India denying prisoners spectacles and straws?

Why is India denying prisoners spectacles and straws?

BBC News / by Geeta Pandey

Life in prison is expected to be tough.
But in recent weeks, jail authorities in India have been called out for being especially cruel to prisoners, particularly the government’s critics who are described as “human rights defenders” by international rights groups.
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Section 144 to be invoked near Koregaon-Bhima war memorial ahead of January 1

Section 144 to be invoked near Koregaon-Bhima war memorial ahead of January 1

Section 144 to be invoked near Koregaon-Bhima war memorial ahead of January 1

25/12/2020

The New Indian Express / by pti

Section 144 will be in force from the midnight of December 30 to January 2, 2021, and people from outside have been prohibited from entering the villages around the war memorial.
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Pune Police deny permission for Elgar Parishad event, cite coronavirus, law and order situation

24/12/2020

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Retired judge BG Kolse Patil said the organisers will move the High Court against the decision.
The police in Maharashtra’s Pune city on Wednesday refused to give permission to retired judge BG Kolse Patil to organise Elgar Parishad conclave on December 31, PTI reported.
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Organizer of 2017 Elgar Parishad denied permission for event

22/12/2020

Outlook India / by Outlook News Scroll

Pune police has denied permission for an event that retired judge B G Kolse-Patil, one of the organisers of the December 2017 Elgar Parishad, had planned to hold in the city, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Kolse-Patil had sought to organize a cultural event at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch on December 31.
“We have denied permission in view of the COVID-19 restrictions and law and order situation,” said city police commissioner Amitabh Gupta.
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How Does an 83-Year-Old Jesuit End Up in Prison? / Video: In Conversation with Fr Stan Swamy

How Does an 83-Year-Old Jesuit End Up in Prison? / Video: In Conversation with Fr Stan Swamy

Solidarity poster & Crib in Mumbai

Christmas message: Where are we heading to?

25/12/2020

The Telegraph / by Fr J Felix Raj, SJ

It is now a global festival that has transcended the perimeters of religion and symbolises different sentiments – love, friendship, hope, benevolence, forgiveness and amity.
This Christmas, I remember my fellow Jesuit, Fr. Stan Swamy. December 25 is his 79th day in jail. I wonder how he is celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ at Taloja.
As a true Jesuit, I am confident that he is reaching out to the fellow prisoners and sharing with them the joy of the newborn divine Baby Jesus, and if the jail authorities do not ask him to appeal to the court for permission, he would distribute some sweets and wish them all a Feliz Navidad.
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How Does an 83-Year-Old Jesuit End Up in Prison?

24/12/2020

The New York Times / by Nikhil Kumar

Father Stan Swamy spent decades fighting for the rights of India’s marginalized people. In October, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government imprisoned him under antiterrorism laws…
Before he was arrested in October under India’s antiterrorism laws, Father Swamy spent decades championing the welfare of the Indigenous tribespeople who account for around a quarter of the population in Jharkhand, one the country’s most resource-rich yet impoverished states.
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In Conversation with Father Stan Swamy

24/12/2020

Countercurrents / by Vidhya Bhusan Rawat

None would ever have imagined that an octogenarian Stan Swamy would face such a harsh treatment for his committed work for the Adivasis of Jharkhand. When the governments of the world over honor activists who work in tiring circumstances and devote their time to areas far away from their places than we must realise that it is not for money or fame but for pure committment and convictions. Father Stan Swamy was born in Trichy and as a Tamilian Christian he had enormous opportunities for him but he dedicated over thirty years of his life to the service of Adivasis in Jharkhand.
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Video: In Conversation with Father Stan Swamy

en | 34 min | 2017

This conversation was recorded about three years back at the Ranchi office of Father Stan Swamy when I visited Jharkhand. Hailing from Trichy district in Tamilnadu, Father worked tirelessly for the Adivasis in different parts of the country. He was also associated with Indian Social Institute, Banglore but his love was Jharkhand where he dedicated his entire life since 1990s.
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Prison life, a great leveller: Stan Swamy shares a poem from jail

Prison life, a great leveller: Stan Swamy shares a poem from jail

Sabrang India / by Sabrangindia

Jesuit Priest Father Stan Swamy (83) writes he’s pained to see so many young inmates in Taloja Jail, shares a christmas message of compassion.
Jesuit Priest Father Stan Swamy, the 83-year-old human rights defender, who is lodged in Taloja Jail, has written a short poem in his latest communication from jail. As he prepares to spend Christmas in jail, instead with his beloved tribal community and his colleagues back home in Ranchi, Swamy shares thoughts on equality, compassion, and even of oneness with nature, that is perhaps what most inmates hold on to as they await justice.
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Bhima Koregaon anniversary: Govt urges Covid caution, plans for another Elgaar Parishad

Bhima Koregaon anniversary: Govt urges Covid caution, plans for another Elgaar Parishad

Bhima Koregaon anniversary: As govt urges Covid caution, plans for another Elgaar Parishad

22/12/2020

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

Why is the Bhima Koregaon anniversary significant, what are the plans to observe it this year, and what happened during its 200th anniversary in 2018, which saw the arrests of activists and intellectuals?
As yet another anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon approaches, the Maharashtra government has urged for low-key celebrations, citing the coronavirus pandemic.
However, preparations for the anniversary are on in full swing, with Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad announcing he will visit Jaystambh – the battle war memorial – and the group Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Din Prerna Abhiyaan saying they will organise another Elgaar Parishad this year.
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Pune meet discusses plan to hold another Elgaar Parishad event

22/12/2020

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

“We are now organising Elgaar Parishad at the Ganesh Kala Krida Manch. We have already booked the premises and process is on for seeking permission from the police for holding the conference,” said Justice (retd) B G Kolse Patil, a former High Court judge who was a key person at the meeting.
Activists and retired officers held a state-level meeting under the banner of ‘Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Din Prerna Abhiyaan’ in Pune to plan another ‘Elgaar Parishad’ event on December 31, ahead of the anniversary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon on January 1.
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COVID-19 in Maharashtra: Home Department urges people for a low key programmes at Bhima Koregaon

22/12/2020

The Free Press Journal / by Sanjay Jog

The Home Department, on Tuesday, appealed to the Ambedkarite Dalits not to gather in large numbers at the Bhima Koregaon war memorial to pay their respect at the Vijay Sthamb (victory pillar) on January 1 in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The department wants people to observe the day at low key on the lines of Ganapati, Navratri and Eid, amongst others. The programme should be symbolic.
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Varavara Rao to remain in hospital; Bombay HC to hear poet’s bail plea on Jan 7

Varavara Rao to remain in hospital; Bombay HC to hear poet’s bail plea on Jan 7

P Varavara Rao to stay at Nanavati Hospital till January 7: Bombay HC

22/12/2020

Hindustan Times / by K A Y Dodhiya

The Bombay high court (HC) has directed the state government and National Investigation Agency (NIA) to let Telugu poet and accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case, P Varavara Rao stay in Nanavati Hospital till the next hearing on January 7, 2021.
The court, while taking note of the 82-year-old’s current health status asked the hospital to submit the latest health report before the next hearing, and also announced that it would hear the pleas on the next date of hearing as the same was pending for some time now.
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Varavara Rao to remain in Nanavati hospital; Bombay HC to hear ailing poet’s bail plea on Jan 7

21/12/2020

The Leaflet / by The Leaflet

The Bombay High Court Monday directed the Nanavati hospital to submit a fresh report to the Court indicating the health status of Dr. PV Varavara Rao, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.
A division bench of Justices SS Shinde and MS Karnik also ordered Dr. Rao’s continued treatment at Nanavati hospital till the next date of hearing i.e. January 7, 2021.
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Varavara Rao to remain in Nanavati Hospital till January 7 as Bombay HC adjourns his bail plea

21/12/2020

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The Bombay High Court on Monday extended Telugu poet and activist Varavara Rao’s stay at Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai till January 7, 2021, reported Bar and Bench. Rao, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, has been at the private medical facility since mid-November.
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Shifting burden of proof

Shifting burden of proof

Orissa Post / by Aakar Patel

Uttar Pradesh´s law banning interfaith marriages also carries forward another innovative feature of India´s legal system in these present times. This is the shifting of burden of proof from the State to the accused. The `innocent until proven guilty´ maxim that under pins all law has been stood on its head and it is for the individual to prove their innocence to the State, which assumes that they are guilty…
Once the State has branded you a terrorist then UAPA requires you to prove your innocence even to secure bail.
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