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BJP’s Binary Lens On Nationalism / Politics Of Division: Why Autocrats Foster Binary Thinking

BJP’s Binary Lens On Nationalism / Politics Of Division: Why Autocrats Foster Binary Thinking

Pic: 2018 in Mumbai

BJP’s Binary Lens On Nationalism

24/02/2025

Outlook India / by Shweta Desai

BJP’s ultranationalism is a strategy to make up for its absence during the freedom struggle, but the binary discourse on nationalism is being weaponised to make detractors fall in line
… Six months after Modi’s government took office, the term ‘anti-national’ emerged as a popular slur. Often used by BJP leaders and supporters, the phrase wields a strong rhetorical power in shaping the ‘nationalist’ public discourse. The binary label has since served as a weapon to silence critics, discredit dissent and marginalise opposition, reinforcing a divisive political narrative.
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Politics Of Division: Why Autocrats Foster Binary Thinking

21/02/2025

Outlook India / by Anand Teltumbde

Autocratic and fascist regimes consolidate power by reducing complex socio-political realities into rigid binary oppositions. Instead of addressing systemic economic inequalities, they redirect public anger toward scapegoats – immigrants, minorities and dissenting voices.
… A deadly consequence of this binary-driven autocratic politics is the erosion of democratic institutions. The judiciary, independent media and civil society organisations are labelled as enemies of the state if they challenge the ruling regime.
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Also read:
▪ India: Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee on the deterioration of civic space (CIVICUS / Jul 2024)
▪ To Think of Modi 3.0 as Less Dangerous Would Be a Misreading (The Wire | Anand Teltumbde | June 12, 2024)
▪ Police Linked to Hacking Campaign to Frame Indian Activists (Wired.com / June 2022)
▪ Narendra Modi’s Government Is Using False Charges of Terrorism to Repress Its Opponents (Jacobinmag / April 2022)

US Court Finds Israel’s NSO Group, Which Sells Pegasus Spyware, Liable for WhatsApp Attacks

US Court Finds Israel’s NSO Group, Which Sells Pegasus Spyware, Liable for WhatsApp Attacks

Illustration credits: The Wire

US Court Finds NSO Liable For Hacking Of WhatsApp Using Pegasus Malware

21/12/2024

Live Law / by Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

In a summary judgment, Judge Phyllis Hamilton of the US District Court in Oakland, Northern District of California has found Israeli-mercenary’s surveillance firm NSO Group Technologies (also known as Q Cyber Technologies) liable for the hacking of Meta’s Whatsapp through its state-of-the-art military-grade malware Pegasus.
… Journalists, human rights activists, Dalit rights and anti-caste activists accused in the infamous Bhima-Koregaon Elgar Parishad under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, of 1967 were said to be the primary targets of the spyware.
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Poster by #bakeryprasad

US court finds Pegasus spyware maker liable for unauthorised surveillance of 1,400 WhatsApp users

21/12/2024

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The NSO Group violated federal legislation against unauthorised access to computers, networks and other digital information, said the court.
A district court in the United States on Friday held Israeli cyber intelligence company NSO Group liable for unauthorised surveillance of 1,400 users of the messaging application WhatsApp using its spyware Pegasus in 2019, reported Reuters.
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US Court Finds Israel’s NSO Group, Which Sells Pegasus Spyware, Liable for WhatsApp Attacks

21/12/2024

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

The judge noted that the NSO Group repeatedly failed to produce “relevant discovery and failed to obey court orders regarding such discovery.”
New Delhi: A US district court has found Israel’s NSO Group – which sells the Pegasus spyware – liable in a 2019 lawsuit brought by the messaging app WhatsApp, citing breaches in 1,400 devices.
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Pegasus: 300 of 1,400 users from India, why ruling may re-open tapping debate

22/12/2024

The Indian Express / by Soumyarendra Barik

The decision came in a case filed by Meta-owned WhatsApp against the NSO Group, with the judge in the case, Phyllis Hamilton, holding that the Israeli spyware maker was liable for targeting the devices of 1,400 WhatsApp users
For the first time, a court in the US has held Israel’s NSO Group liable for its intrusive spyware Pegasus, which could set up a measure of accountability for the company that it has, for long, allegedly downplayed.
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Also read:
▪ India: Damning new forensic investigation reveals repeated use of Pegasus spyware to target high-profile journalists (Amnesty.org / Dec 2023)
▪ Police Linked to Hacking Campaign to Frame Indian Activists (Wired.com / June 2022)
▪ Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)

Urban Naxal Bogey: Move for Harsher Bill to Curb Civil Rights?

Urban Naxal Bogey: Move for Harsher Bill to Curb Civil Rights?

The Wire / P. Raman

The government will find it difficult to run roughshod on sensitive issues such as this because of a rejuvenated Opposition and the need for allies’ consent.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacks “urban Naxals”, it surprises many. For it was just this August – less than four months ago – that home minister Amit Shah had declared that the war on Naxalites was nearing its end and left-wing extremism in the country would be wiped out by March 2026.
If the war is in the mopping-up stage, why has Modi intensified his rant? Consider his relentless attacks on extremists and their presumed urban supporters in recent months.
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Also read:
▪ A New Bill Shows Maharashtra Wants to Become a Police State Before Combatting Left-Wing Extremism (The Wire/ Jul 2024)
▪ What is Maharashtra’s new Bill to curb ‘Naxalism in urban areas’? (The Indian Express / Jul 2024)
▪ Maharashtra: Activists, Lawyers Added to ‘Union War Book’, Listed as ‘Enemies of the State’ (The Wire / Jul 2021)
▪ From ‘tukde tukde gang’ to ‘urban Naxal’: How media trials enable the government to stifle dissent (Scroll.in / Sep 2018)
▪ From Anti-National to Urban Naxal: The Trajectory of Dissent in India – How the term Urban Naxal came to being (Newsclick / Sep 2018)

Iconoclast: Path breaking biography of BR Ambedkar projects his human essence

Iconoclast: Path breaking biography of BR Ambedkar projects his human essence

Sabrangindia / by Harsh Thakor 

In this review, the writer examines how Dr Anand Teltumbde, the distinguished academic and human rights defender eradicates the hyperbole that turns Ambedkar into a demi-god.
In Iconoclast, Dr Anand Teltumbde, a distinguished authority on the Dalit movement, presents an illustrative biography of Dr B.R. Ambedkar. Without doubt, a path breaking work. The author brilliantly traces his crystallisation into one of the icons of the last century or dissects events that shaped Bhima Rao’s evolution to Babasahaeb into making Dalits recognize Ambedkar as their leader.
… Teltumbde concludes that had he lived today, Bhimrao Ambedkar would undoubtedly been a serious threat to this regime and would likely have found himself imprisoned under draconian laws like UAPA, possibly even as the co-accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case.
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▪ Iconoclast. A Reflective Biography of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar
by Anand Teltumbde

Publisher: ‎Penguin Viking
Language: ‎English
Hardcover: 700 pages
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Also read:
▪ Scholar says Dr Ambedkar was great but we need to question him, not worship him (Countercurrents / Nov 2024)
▪ Anand Teltumbde – “Ambedkar challenged Gandhi’s Mahatmahood” (Hindustan Times / Oct 2024)

Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud: The New Right liberal

Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud: The New Right liberal

Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud: The New Right liberal

05/11/2024

The Leaflet / by Indira Jaising

Does the outgoing Chief Justice of India represent the emergence of a New Right in India, one that is modern and yet able to rely on a norm above the Constitution to perform the judicial function, writes Indira Jaising.
… It was during this period that pre-trial jail and not bail became the norm of the Supreme Court of India. The accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, granted bail by the Bombay High Court, had their bail Orders stayed by the Supreme Court of India by a Bench of which Justice Trivedi was a member. Many withdrew their petitions for bail rather than have them dismissed by the Supreme Court.
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I Have Always Granted Bail From A To Z, From Arnab To Zubair: CJI DY Chandrachud

05/11/2024

Live Law / by Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

Speaking at yesterday’s discussion organised by The Indian Express, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud answered many pressing issues and controversies including whether the Supreme Court stands true to the ‘bail is the rule, jail an exception’ principle.
Set to demit the office on November 10, CJI was asked by Apurva Vishwanath, The Indian Express, what institutional processes and mechanisms are required to prevent cases such as that of G.N. Saibaba and Stan Swamy, who have languished as undertrial prisoners for years in jail.
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Also read:
▪ Contrary To SC’s Rules Of Assignment, At Least 8 Politically Sensitive Cases Moved To One Judge In 4 Months (article 14 / Dec 2023)
▪ As Bhima Koregaon case completes its fourth anniversary, State reprisal is writ large in its twists and turns (The Leaflet / June 2022)
▪ #BhimaKoregaonVerdict: Between the majority and the minority judgments of the Supreme Court (The Leaflet / Oct 2018)

Mahayuti govt compelled to appropriate INDIA alliance Constitution driven call?

Mahayuti govt compelled to appropriate INDIA alliance Constitution driven call?

Booklet: “Salaakhon Mein Qaid Avaazein” (Access PDF)

Sabrangindia / by Tanya Arora

As the Maharashtra Assembly elections approach, with the announcement due any day now, the Shinde government has rolled s out last-minute welfare measures! And its “alliance partner,” the BJP has today issued appropriate-ory advertisements, with deputy chief minister Devendra Phadnavis prostrating before a statue of Dr BR Ambedkar; this while the state regime continues to undermine constitutional values while exploiting Dr. Ambedkar’s legacy to secure votes from marginalised communities
… One also cannot forget the infamous Bhima Koregaon case, which is another chilling example of how dissent, especially from Dalit and Adivasi rights activists, has been criminalised in Maharashtra. The case stems from the January 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence, where clashes broke out after Dalits gathered to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon, a symbolic event marking Dalit pride and resistance.
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Also read:
▪ A New Bill Shows Maharashtra Wants to Become a Police State Before Combatting Left-Wing Extremism (The Wire / Jul 2024)
▪ What is Maharashtra’s new Bill to curb ‘Naxalism in urban areas’? (The Indian Express / Jul 2024)
▪ Maharashtra: Activists, Lawyers Added to ‘Union War Book’, Listed as ‘Enemies of the State’ (The Wire / Jul 2021)

Echoes of Authoritarianism: Modi’s Assault on Democratic Values

Echoes of Authoritarianism: Modi’s Assault on Democratic Values

Modern Diplomacy / by Summra Hamid

In the landscape of contemporary Indian politics, a significant transformation is underway, one that merits urgent attention and reflection. The current prime minister of India, Narendra Modi’s leadership, once seen as a beacon of hope and reform, has increasingly started resembling authoritarianism, jeopardizing the foundational tenets of democracy. This opinion piece digs into the dangers posed by Modi’s regime and the implications for the Indian society as a whole.
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Also read:
▪ India: Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee on the deterioration of civic space (CIVICUS / Jul 2024)
▪ AI Report: India’s exploitation of terrorism financing assessments to target the civil society (Amnesty.org / Sep 2023)
▪ Narendra Modi’s Government Is Using False Charges of Terrorism to Repress Its Opponents (Jacobinmag / April 2022)
▪ Maharashtra: Activists, Lawyers Added to ‘Union War Book’, Listed as ‘Enemies of the State’ (The Wire / Jul 2021)

Activists mark four years in jail under India’s UAPA without trial or bail

Activists mark four years in jail under India’s UAPA without trial or bail

Credits: @FreeUmarKhalid1

Activists mark four years in jail under India’s UAPA without trial or bail

20/09/2024

Peoples Dispatch / by Peoples Dispatch

Umar Khalid and more than a dozen activoists have spent four years in prison under India’s controversial Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), with no trial or bail. The cases are widely seen as politically motivated efforts to suppress dissent
… The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called for the scrapping of the UAPA, claiming it has been used by the Narendra Modi led-BJP government to silence the opposition and to put its critics behind bars in cases such as Bhima Koregaon and Delhi riots.
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Umar Khalid’s Father Lambasts Misuse of Laws to Silence Dissent

20/09/2024

Clarion / by Team Clarion

Calls for judicial accountability as Umar Khalid and others languish in jail without bail or proper trial
Anti-terror laws are being systematically used to silence the dissenting voices in the country, the father of incarcerated JNU student and activist, Umar Khalid, has said.
“Laws like UAPA, TADA, and POTA were meant to combat terrorism, but they have been weaponised against ordinary citizens and activists,” Khalid’s father, Dr Qasim Rasool Ilyas, said. He was addressing an event ‘Curtailed Freedoms: A Travesty of Justice’ hosted by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) and Concerned Citizens Delhi at the Constitution Club of India here earlier this week.
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Also read:
▪ Four Years of Injustice: Free Umar Khalid and All Political Prisoners (Hindus for Human Rights / Sep 2024)
▪ Inconsistencies in Bail Orders Mean Individual Liberty Is the Outcome of Judicial Lottery (The Wire / Oct 2022)

‘How Long Can the Moon Be Caged?’: An investigation of how the state can stifle dissent brutally

‘How Long Can the Moon Be Caged?’: An investigation of how the state can stifle dissent brutally

Scroll.in / by Shevlin Sebastian

Suchitra Vijayan and Francesca Recchia also write about those who are battling to uphold individual and human rights.
…
Vijayan and Recchia talk at length about the notorious Bhima Koregaon case, where 16 activists, teachers, intellectuals, university professors, writers, and lawyers were arrested and charged with arms smuggling, for allegedly helping Maoists, and for hatching a plan to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi, apart from waging war against the state – Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudhir Dhawale, Mahesh Raut, Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha, Hany Babu, Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, Jyoti Jagtap, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, and Father Stan Swamy (who died tragically while imprisoned).
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How Long Can the Moon Be Caged? Voices of Indian Political Prisoners

Authors: Suchitra Vijayan and Francesca Recchia
Publishing Date: Aug 2023
Publisher: Pluto Press
Pages: 247
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Also read:
▪ Process as Punishment – Recent books that bear witness to the BK-16’s incarceration (The Caravan / Jul 2024)
▪ Bhima Koregaon: Challenging Caste. Brahminism’s wrath against dreamers of equality

Author: Ajaz Ashraf  
Publisher: AuthorsUpFront
Publishing Date: June 2024
Pages: 496
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▪ The Incarcerations: Bhima Koregaon And The Search For Democracy In India

Author: Alpa Shah
Publishing Date: March 2024
Publisher: Harper Collins Publisher
Pages: 672
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Video: UnPanel – Future of Dissent | Dr. Anand Teltumbde @ #PrivacySupreme

Video: UnPanel – Future of Dissent | Dr. Anand Teltumbde @ #PrivacySupreme

The Wire / by The Wire

In this UnPanel session, Dr. Anand Teltumbde joined us remotely for Future of Dissent to answer the question of what does it mean to dissent in digital India? We explore how core democratic virtues like protests, dissent, and rights advocacy have become prone to targeted surveillance and privacy intrusions by the State. Read more about Privacy Supreme 2024 here.


en | 23:21min | 2024
Watch video

Also read:
▪ How the State uses ‘national security’ to spellbind the process of justice (The Leaflet / Jul 2024)
▪ A New Bill Shows Maharashtra Wants to Become a Police State Before Combatting Left-Wing Extremism (The Wire 7 Jul 2024)
▪ AI Report: India’s exploitation of terrorism financing assessments to target the civil society (Amnesty.org / Sep 2023)
▪ Maharashtra: Activists, Lawyers Added to ‘Union War Book’, Listed as ‘Enemies of the State’ (The Wire / Jul 2021)