Background – Page 17 – free them all

Prakash Ambedkar deposes before Koregaon Bhima panel

31/08/2023 Asha

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

In his affidavit filed before the commission on July 24, Ambedkar had sought an inquiry into the alleged intelligence failure regarding the Koregaon Bhima violence
Dalit leader and president of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) Prakash Ambedkar deposed as a witness before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday.
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Also Read:
● Bhima Koregaon Violence: Four Different Theories, but No Justice in Sight (The Wire / Jan 2022)
● India’s Hindu Nationalist Project Relies on Brutal Repression (Jacobinmag / April 2021)
● Saffron Conspiracy in Bhima Koregaon? – Fact finding report by Rashtra Seva Dal unearths insidious scheme to target Dalits (CJP / Jan 2018)

Koregaon Bhima Commission: Cross examination of IPS officer Nangare Patil concludes

28/08/2023 Asha

Imprisoned Voices. Booklet.

The Indian Express by Chandan Haygunde

During cross-examination by Jamadar, Nangare Patil said he had not visited the Jaystambh prior to January 1, 2018. As per Nangare Patil’s affidavit, there were inputs that some “Dalit Sanghatna” wanted to demolish Jamadar’s house located adjacent to the Jaystambh on January 1, 2018.
The cross-examination of Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Vishwas Nangare Patil, who appeared before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry as a witness, concluded Saturday.
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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)
● Witness Before Probe Panel Accuses Sambhaji Bhide & Milind Ekbote Of Instigating Bhima Koregaon Riots (Live Law / Oct 2021)
● 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)

The remedy of bail: From securing liberty to ‘digital jail’

21/08/2023 Asha

The Leaflet / by Ibad Mushtaq and Akansksha Bishtibad

In the pursuit of justice, the delicate balance between individual rights and societal interests often comes under scrutiny. In the case of Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, their bail conditions, including the demanding round-the-clock location monitoring, have ignited a crucial debate that such stringent surveillance not only infringes upon their fundamental rights to life, liberty and dignity, but also undermines the essence of bail itself— to restore freedom.
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Also read:
● NIA in a quandary as bail condition for mobile phone tethering turns out to be a tug (The Leaflet / Aug 2023)
● PUDR welcomes the release on bail of Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira today, but protests onerous bail conditions (PUDR / Aug 5, 2023)

Can Fr Stan Swamy’s PIL be the blueprint for justice to thousands of undertrials lodged under UAPA?

18/08/2023 Asha

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

Can the judgment which granted bail to Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira form the basis for implementation of the same principles for granting bail to other accused in the Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad case as well as to the other 500 detenues in Jharkhand who are still at the pre- or post-trial stage?
… A public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the late Father Stan Swamy in 2017 in the Jharkhand High Court may serve as a path in the direction of ending incarceration of the disturbingly large number of those held in custody without a trial.
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Also watch/read:
● Video: Vernon v. State of Maharashtra: A Breakthrough in Bail Jurisprudence under the UAPA? (PUCL India / Aug 2023)
● Even after Stan Swamy’s death, the fight to get justice for Jharkhand undertrials is still alive (Scroll.in / Dec 2021)
● In Jharkhand, Scheduled Tribes Still Battle Flimsy Criminal Cases Filed With Little Evidence (IndiaSpend / Oct 2021)
● Public interest litigation filed by Stan Swamy and Xavier Soreng in 2017 (CJP / 2017)
● A study of Undertrials in Jharkhand (Sanhati / by Bagaicha Research Team / Feb 2016)

Probe the role of right-wing activists in Bhima Koregaon violence: Prakash Ambedkar

27/07/2023 Asha

Probe the role of orthodox Hindu bodies, their agents in govt in Bhima Koregaon violence: Prakash Ambedkar

27/07/2023

Hindustan Times / by HT Correspondent

Ambedkar filed an affidavit on Monday, July 24, before the commission of inquiry set up to investigate the violent incidents of January 1 and January 3, 2018, a day after the Elgar Parishad was organised in Pune’s Shaniwarwada.
Nearly five years after the Bhima Koregaon violence in which one person was killed and several others were injured, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar called for an investigation to determine the role of orthodox Hindu bodies and their agents in administration to fuel the caste-based violence.
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Prakash Ambedkar Files Affidavit After 5 Years

26/07/2023

Rediff.com / by Jyoti Punwani

Either this affidavit was prepared a long time back, or, Ambedkar has not been following the Commission’s hearings.
He was the main political leader to be associated with the Elgar Parishad, held in Pune’s historic Shaniwarwada on December 31, 2017, on the eve of the 200th anniversary of the historic battle of Bhima Koregaon.
The next day, after violence broke out near Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018, it was he who led the call for a state-wide protest bandh on January 3, which was heeded by all Dalit groups.
Yet, it took Prakash Ambedkar five years to file his affidavit before the commission of inquiry set up to investigate the violent incidents of January 1 and January 3, 2018.
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VBA chief Prakash Ambedkar raises issue of ‘intelligence failure’ in affidavit before Koregaon-Bhima Commission

25/07/2023

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Speaking to the media, Prakash Ambedkar said an inquiry should be done to find the level at which intelligence failure had happened so that the “loopholes” are known.
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar called for an investigation to determine if the director general (DG) of the intelligence department had any prior information about untoward incidents happening in the Koregaon-Bhima area of Pune on January 1, 2018.
Prakash Ambedkar made this suggestion Monday in his affidavit filed before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry in Pune.
Read more

Also Read:
● Top Investigating Officer Admits Elgar Parishad Event ‘Had No Role’ in Bhima Koregaon Violence (The Wire / Dec 27, 2022)
● India’s Hindu Nationalist Project Relies on Brutal Repression (Jacobinmag / April 2021)
● Saffron Conspiracy in Bhima Koregaon? – Fact finding report by Rashtra Seva Dal unearths insidious scheme to target Dalits (CJP / Jan 2018)

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.
Read more

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)