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Ahead of Koregaon Bhima battle anniversary, administration issues prohibitory order

Ahead of Koregaon Bhima battle anniversary, administration issues prohibitory order

Ahead of Koregaon Bhima battle anniversary, Pune district administration issues prohibitory order

30/12/2021

Devdiscourse / by pti

On January 1 every year, Dalits, mainly from the Mahar community, visit the Jaystambh, a victory pillar at Perne village raised by the British in memory of the soldiers who fought bravely against the Peshwas in the Battle of Koregaon Bhima. As per the prohibitory orders issued by the collector, posting of content that can spread rumors, create hatred in communities, posting misleading information on social media platforms, has been prohibited.
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An Indian village braces for a New Year’s tribute to the downtrodden

26/12/2021

Los Angeles Times / by Parth M.N. & David Pierson

Each New Year’s Day, tens of thousands of people travel to a village in western India called Koregaon Bhima to visit a war memorial that has become a sacred monument to the country’s downtrodden castes.
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Also read:
● India’s Hindu Nationalist Project Relies on Brutal Repression (Jacobinmag / April 2021)
● Let’s Remember the Lesson of Bhima Koregaon: Down with the New Peshwai (Sanhati│by Sudhir Dhawale│March 2018)

IPS officer Rashmi Shukla to appear before Koregaon Bhima inquiry panel

IPS officer Rashmi Shukla to appear before Koregaon Bhima inquiry panel

IPS officer Rashmi Shukla to appear before Koregaon Bhima inquiry panel

28/12/2021

The Times of India / by Vishwas Kothari

Senior IPS officer and then Pune police commissioner Rashmi Shukla is scheduled for deposition before the Koregaon Bhima inquiry panel during the hearing to be held in the city from January 18 to 22 next year.
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Also read:
● Bhima Koregaon: The Mystery of Fadnavis’ Terms of Reference (Rediff.com / Dec 2021)

Koregaon Bhima: Commission of Inquiry gets another extension of 6 months

Koregaon Bhima: Commission of Inquiry gets another extension of 6 months

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

The two-member commission, headed by retired high court justice J N Patel with former chief secretary Sumit Malik as the other member, was constituted by the state government on February 9, 2018, to inquire into the “exact sequence” of events that led to violence on the 200th anniversary of Battle of Koregaon Bhima on January 1 that year.
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Also read:
● Bhima Koregaon: The Mystery of Fadnavis’ Terms of Reference (Rediff.com / Dec 2021)
● Casting a Veil – What we miss by ignoring Maratha caste politics in the Bhima Koregaon case (The Caravan / Dec 2020)
● Let’s Remember the Lesson of Bhima Koregaon: Down with the New Peshwai (Sanhati / March 2018)

SC Judgment Review 2021 / Bail Under UAPA: Court in Review

SC Judgment Review 2021 / Bail Under UAPA: Court in Review

SC Judgment Review 2021: Terror

24/12/2021

Supreme Court Observer / by Gauri Kashyap

We discuss two judgments where the Court engaged with bail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA).
In 2021, the Supreme Court issued 865 judgments. In a series of posts, we conduct a thematic review of the most important judgments of the year. Here, we discuss two judgments where the Court engaged with bail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA).
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Bail Under UAPA: Court in Review

13/12/2021

Supreme Court Observer / by Ayushi Saraogi

Section 43D(5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 lays down stringent provisions for the grant of bail.
In the aftermath of the Bombay terror attacks, the Union government enacted the UAPA Amendment Act, 2008. The Amendment introduced Section 43D (5), which required a Court to deny bail if there were reasonable grounds to believe that the case against the accused was prima facie true. The provision made bail difficult to secure, since it required the Court to assess guilt only by looking at the charge sheet prepared by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The accused cannot provide any evidence outside the chargesheet in their defense.
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Also read:
● 4,690 UAPA arrests between 2018-21; only 3.1% convictions (The Federal / Dec 2021)
● UAPA: Lawyers Challenge Sections Defining ‘Unlawful Activities’ as Vague (Gauri Lankesh News / Nov 2021)
● Bhima Koregaon Case: Trying Without a Trial Is the Intent of Draconian UAPA Law (The Wire / July 2021)

Indian anti-terror law snags more than terrorists / 4,690 UAPA arrests; 3.1% convictions

Indian anti-terror law snags more than terrorists / 4,690 UAPA arrests; 3.1% convictions

Indian anti-terror law snags more than terrorists

22/12/2021

Yahoo News / by Sarita Santoshini

Pendyala Pavana is no stranger to the world of social activism and government repression. Ever since she was a child she has seen her father, a revolutionary poet and activist, subjected to repeated criminal charges, accused of everything under the sun, including murder.
Twenty-four times he has been charged; 24 times he has been found not guilty. Still, Ms. Pavana is shocked by the way her father, Varavara Rao, is being treated in his latest ordeal. “It’s quite against natural justice, and his rights are completely denied,” she says.
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4,690 UAPA arrests between 2018-21; only 3.1% convictions

22/12/2021

The Federal / by The Federal

Authorities arrested 4,690 people across India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) between 2018 and 2021, but only 149 detainees have so far been convicted, according to figures provided by the government.
That means only 3.1 per cent of the arrests under the draconian law in the past three years have ended in convictions.
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Organisers undecided on third edition of Elgar Parishad / Bhim Army chief to address rally on 1 Jan

Organisers undecided on third edition of Elgar Parishad / Bhim Army chief to address rally on 1 Jan

Organisers undecided on third edition of Elgar Parishad

20/12/2021

The Hindu / by Nadeem Inamdar

The Elgar Parishad organisers are undecided about holding another edition of the conclave, for them getting bail for artistes is top priority.
The Elgar Parishad organisers are undecided about holding another edition of the conclave, for them getting bail for artistes is top priority. The second edition of the Elgar Parishad was held at GaneshKala Krida manch on Jan 1, last year wherein academics, activists and writers from dalit, muslim and other social organisations addressed the thinly attended event.
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Anniversary of Bhima Koregaon; Bhim Army chief to address rally on 1 Jan

20/12/2021

Maktoobmedia / by Maktoob Staff

Azad Samaj Party has announced that its chief and Bhim Army supremo Chandrashekhar Azad will be visiting the ‘Jaystambh’ in Pune on January 1 to mark the anniversary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon.
“This is the 200th year of the erection of Jaystambh. On this occasion, our party chief Chandrashekhar Azad and state president Rahul Pradhan would be visiting the Jaystambh on January 1,” Abhijit Gaikwad, Pune unit president of Azad Samaj Party said.
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Bhima Koregaon: The Mystery of Fadnavis’ Terms of Reference

Bhima Koregaon: The Mystery of Fadnavis’ Terms of Reference

Rediff.com / by Jyoti Punwani

No report of the violence was sent by Mumbai’s police commissioner to the government.
Why was the violence then considered serious enough to be included in the Terms of Reference? Was it a balancing act to counter the accusations that were then being made against Hindutva leaders Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote?
Jyoti Punwani reports from the Bhima Koregaon Commission hearing.
Read more

Also read:
● India’s Hindu Nationalist Project Relies on Brutal Repression (Jacobinmag / April 2021)
● Casting a Veil – What we miss by ignoring Maratha caste politics in the Bhima Koregaon case (The Caravan / Dec 2020)
● Let’s Remember the Lesson of Bhima Koregaon: Down with the New Peshwai (Sanhati / March 2018)

There is no room for fake encounters, says NHRC chief Arun Mishra

There is no room for fake encounters, says NHRC chief Arun Mishra

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The head of the country’s statutory human rights body said that speedy justice was key to rule of law.
National Human Rights Commission chief Arun Mishra on Friday said that suspects in cases should not be jailed without trial and that there was no room for fake encounters. Mishra, a former Supreme Court judge, added that justice was the source of a peaceful society…
As recently as on Wednesday, South African non-profit organisation Civicus put India on a list of countries with “repressed” democratic values. The report had flagged the use of draconian anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against activists arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, repression of the farmers’ protest and the imposition of curfews in Jammu and Kashmir.
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Also read:
● In Jharkhand, Scheduled Tribes Still Battle Flimsy Criminal Cases Filed With Little Evidence (Indiaspend / Oct 2021)
● The ‘Encounter Raj’ mindset: Stop mocking those who stand for human rights. Demonising them endangers every citizen (Times of India / July 2020)
● Chhattisgarh: Story of another ‘encounter’ (The Indian Express / Dec 2019)
● Press Release Of The Joint Fact Finding in Gadchiroli by CDRO, IAPL and WSS (WSS / May 2018)

India among countries classified as ‘repressed’ in global report / 293 journalists imprisoned globally

India among countries classified as ‘repressed’ in global report / 293 journalists imprisoned globally

India among countries classified as ‘repressed’ in global civil ratings report

09/12/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

India features on the list of nations with “repressed” democratic values in a report released by South African non-profit organization Civicus ahead of the United States summit on democracy scheduled to start from December 9…
In India, the report noted, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA, was abused by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to keep several people “in pre-trial detention on baseless charges and deny them bail”.
The report mentioned the detentions made under UAPA in the Bhima Koregaon case, including those of activists Sudha Bharadwaj and Stan Swamy.
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Record number of 293 journalists imprisoned globally in 2021, says report

09/12/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The data published by the Committee to Protect Journalists also said 24 journalists were killed this year till December 1 for their work….
The Committee to Protect Journalists report also showed that seven journalists were behind bars in India. These include Siddique Kappan, Manan Gulzar Dar, Aasif Sultan, Rajeev Sharma, Tanveer Warsi, and Bhima Koregaon case accused Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde.
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Even after Stan Swamy’s death, the fight to get justice for Jharkhand undertrials is still alive

Even after Stan Swamy’s death, the fight to get justice for Jharkhand undertrials is still alive

Scroll.in / by Riddhi Dastidar, IndiaSpend.com

While the fight has faltered, Swamy’s friends and colleagues are taking forward the work he had lived and died for.
“Until his last breath, Stan had hope in the judiciary,” recalled Sheela*, a Delhi-based lawyer who asked to be anonymous for fear of being targeted. “He was waiting for the July 3 hearing where his interim bail plea was to be taken up. I think when that did not happen, he finally lost hope.”
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