Background – Page 14 – free them all

When reading books is criminalised: Examining UAPA, sedition cases in India

25/07/2023 Asha

The News Minute / by Prajwal Bhat, edited by Vidya Sigamany

Among other things, books read by students and activists are increasingly part of chargesheets in sedition and terror cases.
In Franz Kafka’s novel The Trial, the protagonist is prosecuted by an unknown authority that drags him through opaque legal proceedings where the nature of his crime is not revealed, to him or the reader. Such legal bureaucracies that are seemingly far-fetched are not too dissimilar to the trials of students, activists, and academics in India who are charged with sedition or under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Perhaps the account that is most reminiscent of Kafka’s novel is Sagar Abraham-Gonsalves describing the police ransacking their home and confiscating books, computers, and hard drives before arresting Sagar’s father, activist Vernon Gonsalves, in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case.
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Also read:

● Report: UAPA – CRIMINALISING DISSENT AND STATE TERROR (PUCL / Sep 2022)
Download report
● Will SC’s Sedition Order Mean Relief for Delhi Riots, Bhima Koregaon Accused? (The Quint / May 2022)
● Explainer: How the Sedition Law Has Been Used in the Modi Era (The Wire / Mai 2022)

Telangana turns into experimental theatre to misuse suppressive laws: CASR meet

24/07/2023 Asha

Counterview / by Our Representative

Speakers at a media conference, organised by the civil rights network Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), even as discussing “suppression of democratic voices” using suppressive laws in the light of the Tadwai case, where 152 activists of Andhra-Telangana were named under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), have demanded repeal of the “draconian” law.
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Also read:
● Blatant use of UAPA by Telangana Police to suppress dissenting voices (Countercurrents / June 2023)
● Telangana Govt to ‘Drop’ UAPA Case Against Prof Haragopal, Sudha Bharadwaj, 150 Others (The Wire / June 2023)
● The Govt is out to silence Dissenters through Arrests: Justice Hosbet Suresh (Sabrangindia / Oct 2018)

Will India care for human rights by releasing undertrial activists ahead of G20 summit?

21/07/2023 Asha

Counterview / by Bharat Dogra

India has a very rich tradition of opposing wrongly arrested persons, going back to the days of the freedom movement…
Hence, ahead of the Independence Day, it would be a much appreciated gesture on the part of the government if it releases several dissenting activists, including distinguished scholars and lawyers, who are widely believed to have been wrongfully arrested or implicated in wrong cases. To give one often discussed example of what is widely believed to be a case of wrongful arrests, we may mention here the Elgar Parishad case.
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Also read:
● The Burgeoning Share of Undertrial Prisoners in India’s Jails (The Wire / Oct 2022)
● Punished without trial: How India’s political prisoners are being denied basic rights in jail (Scroll.in / Aug 2022)
● Even after Stan Swamy’s death, the fight to get justice for Jharkhand undertrials is still alive (Scroll.in / Dec 2021)

Prakash Ambedkar to file affidavit before Koregaon Bhima inquiry commission, seek cross-examination of Fadnavis

18/07/2023 Asha

Koregaon Bhima case: VBA leader to submit affidavit on July 24

18/07/2023

Hindustan Times / by Nadeem Inamdar

The then assistant commissioner of police Shivaji Pawar, who was the investigating officer of the case till it was transferred to the National Investigating Agency (NIA).
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) founder Prakash Ambedkar reiterated his demand for cross-examination deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis during his Monday appearance before the Koregaon Bhima Enquiry Commission. He also stated that he planned to file an affidavit by July 24.
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Prakash Ambedkar to file affidavit before Koregaon Bhima inquiry commission by July 24, seek cross-examination of Fadnavis

18/07/2023

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis was Maharashtra’s chief minister when violence was reported in Pune’s Koregaon Bhima area on January 1, 2018.
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar said Monday that he would file an affidavit before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry by July 24 seeking a cross-examination of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Ambedkar appeared before the commission during its hearing in Pune on Monday and reiterated his call to Fadnavis and former chief secretary Sumit Mallick to depose before it.
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Also Read:
● Top Investigating Officer Admits Elgar Parishad Event ‘Had No Role’ in Bhima Koregaon Violence (The Wire / Dec 27, 2022)
● Let’s Remember the Lesson of Bhima Koregaon: Down with the New Peshwai (Sanhati│ by Sudhir Dhawale │ March 2018)
● Why peoples’ coalitions are uniting against Hindutva — the ‘new Peshwai’ (Dailyo.in │ by Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves │ Jan 30, 2018)

Frivolous conspiracy cases on Jharkhand’s anti-displacement activists: FACAM

12/07/2023 Asha

Bacha Singh, Damodar Turi during protests

Counterview / by Counterview Desk / FACAM

Civil rights group Forum Against Corporatization And Militarization (FACAM), even as condemning the alleged harassment of Jharkhand activists by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), has said that they are being intimidated because they have “opposed corporate loot of people’s resources.”
…
It is a malicious plot of the state machinery to suppress democratic voice against corporate loot and displacement of adivasis
Among Bhima Koregaon political prisoners, most were actively opposing the state-corporate expropriation of people’s resources, displacement and state repression. Father Stan Swamy himself played an instrumental in formation of Visthapan Virodhi Janvikas Andolan (VVJA) and was active in Pathalgadhi Movement to ensure the autonomy and sanctity of gram sabha.
Read full statement

Also read
● Narendra Modi’s Government Is Using False Charges of Terrorism to Repress Its Opponents (Jacobinmag / April 2022)
● This Organisation In Jharkhand Is Holding The State Accountable (Youthkiawaaz / April 2022)
● NIA Opposes Stan Swamy’s Bail; Calls PUCL, Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan ‘Maoist Fronts’ (The Wire / Jan 2021)

Rona Wilson writes about Five Years of Incarceration – and the Audacity of Hope

05/07/2023 Asha

The Wire / by Rona Wilson

Father Stan Swamy died on this day two years ago, while incarcerated in the Elgar Parishad case. His co-accused Rona Wilson writes about continuing oppression in the country – and where he finds hope.
To have spent more than five years in prison, for alleged offences under the most draconian acts of the Indian Penal Code, fully aware that the only ‘crime’ of you and your co-defendants is speaking truth to power, is an experience that is surreal. To live such a quotidian life in prison is a dystopia that stares at you. Yet you have little choice in prison but to engage with this audacity. It is through words that you confront this dystopia, name it.
Through words we name the world we confront/inhabit, and make sense of our existence.
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Karnataka High Court advocate says ‘legal system is under attack from fascism’

26/06/2023 Asha

The Hindu / by Nellore Sravani

The legal system is under attack from fascism, and there is a need to recognise the pattern in which this is being done and fight it, says Clifton D’Rozario, an advocate from the Karnataka High Court.
Speaking at a seminar on ‘Protection of Constitutional Values – Role of State Lawyers’, organised by the All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice (AILAJ) in Vijayawada on June 25 (Sunday), Mr. Rozario, who is the general secretary of AILAJ, said the Babri Masjid case, the Justice Loya case, the Bhima Koregaon case point out to this pattern, where the judiciary seemed hesitant to go against the government.
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Six (of Many) Reasons Why PM Modi’s Words on Democracy in the White House Ring Hollow

24/06/2023 Asha

#ModiNotWelcome /
Modi Visit Protests and other Actions (kractivist.org)

The Wire / by Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta

There is a world of gap between what the prime minister preaches at global events and what his government practices. Although Modi has denied promoting any form of discrimination under his rule, it is evident that he is blatantly misleading the world.
…
Here are a few instances which contradict the Prime Minister’s assertions in the White House.

The Elgar Parishad case
Five years have passed but most of the 16 arrested activists, all renowned for their life-long advocacy of civil liberties and opposition to any form of discrimination against people living on the margins, are still in jail.
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Who are the acclaimed ‘BK-16’? / HRDs and families await justice, five years down

22/06/2023 Asha

HRDs and families await justice, five years down

22/06/2023

cjp / by Sabah Maharaj

Faulty investigation and severe loopholes in investigation, surrounds the controversial BK-16 case. International outcry has not helped move the trial five years down even while the targeted languish, families await the return of their loved ones
In June 2021, European Union parliamentarians, Nobel Laureates, renowned academics, and internationally known figures wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, the then Chief Justice of India as well as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, and other authorities in India, demanding to the release of political prisoners arrested with relation to the Elgar Parishad and Bhima Koregaon incident.
Amidst contested accusations of an anti-India conspiracy, militancy, and violence, five long years have passed since the BK-16 have been imprisoned without trial.
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Who are the acclaimed ‘BK-16’?

22/06/2023

cjp / by CJP Team

Five years have passed, and human rights defenders (HRDs) and their families continue to await justice.

Surendra Gadling
Status: Detained without trial
Charges:Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) since June 2018
Location: Taloja Central Prison, Mumbai
Gadling is a human rights lawyer and a Dalit activist. Over time, Gadling established himself as a keen advocate and a key figure in cases related to extrajudicial killings, police misconduct, false accusations, and injustices against Dalits and Adivasis in the region…
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Also read:
● Five years behind bars for five activists – Without bail, without charges being framed, without justice! – Various statements

Koregaon Bhima inquiry commission to shift base to Pune, not given Mumbai office by Maha govt

17/06/2023 Asha

Graphic by Arun Ferreira & Vernon Gonsalves

Bhima Koregaon Commission To Shift Base To Pune

17/06/2023

Rediff.com / by Jyoti Punwani

This is just another instance of the indifference with which the Commission has been treated by the government.
… None of the public witnesses have spoken of any link between the violence and the speeches made at the Elgar Parishad, held a day earlier on December 31, 2017 in Pune. This public meeting was organised by two retired judges and a range of Dalit organizations, to mark the 200th anniversary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon.
However, this alleged link forms the basis of the Bhima Koregaon case, in which 16 intellectuals have been made accused and spent years in jail.
The ongoing depositions of policemen are therefore crucial to the task of the Commission.
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Bhima Koregaon commission to work only from Pune now