Browsed by
Category: Background

UAPA and the many victims of the Republic of India

UAPA and the many victims of the Republic of India

AskIndiaWhy / by AskIndiaWhy

January 26 is India’s Republic Day, when the government will conduct an elaborate parade under the vanity of national pride as the world’s largest democracy — supposedly guaranteeing liberty, equality and freedom of speech. 
India’s Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) was established in 1967 with the purpose of centralising political power to prevent “unlawful activities” and upkeeping the integrity of India’s sovereign democratic status.
Read more

Also watch/read:
● Video: International Solidarity Statement, 73rd Republic Day of India (InSAF / Jan 2022)
● On R-Day, Diaspora Groups Call for Release of Anti-CAA Protestors Charged Under UAPA (The Wire / Jan 2022)

Pegasus Spyware: Fresh plea in Supreme Court seeks probe into 2017 India-Israel defence deal

Pegasus Spyware: Fresh plea in Supreme Court seeks probe into 2017 India-Israel defence deal

Pegasus case: Fresh plea in Supreme Court seeks probe into 2017 India-Israel defence deal

20/01/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The applicant has said the reported agreement with Israel was not approved by Parliament.
Advocate ML Sharma has filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking an investigation after The New York Times on January 28 said that the Narendra Modi-led government had purchased the Pegasus spyware from Israel in 2017, Live Law reported on Sunday.
Read more

Pegasus Spyware: Supreme Court Urged To Take Cognisance Of New York Times Report Alleging Pegasus Purchase By Indian Government

30/01/2022

Live Law / by Srishti Ojha

While referring to the recent New York Times report that in July 2017 Modi government purchased Pegasus from an Israeli firm, Advocate ML Sharma has moved the Supreme Court of India seeking probe into the alleged Pegasus purchase.
Sharma, who is also one of the petitioners in the Pegasus case before the Supreme Court, has filed an application seeking directions to register F.I.R for investigation to recover public money paid for the impugned deal.
Read more

India Bought Pegasus as Part of Larger $2 Billion Deal with Israel in 2017, Claims ‘NYT’ Report

28/01/2022

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

The media report notes that Pegasus was the ‘centrepiece’ of a 2017 deal between India and Israel.
India bought controversial spyware tool Pegasus in 2017 as part of a larger arms deal with Israel, according to a new report published by The New York Times.
Read more

Also read:
● Bhima Koregaon accused and their counsel write to SC’s Pegasus technical committee alleging snooping (The Leaflet/ Jan 2022)
● Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)

India’s government unleashing controversial UAPA as means of silencing civil rights activists

India’s government unleashing controversial UAPA as means of silencing civil rights activists

Daily Maverick / By Anandaroop Sen

In this interview, Anandaroop Sen, a senior lecturer in history at the University of Cape Town, talks to Kavita Srivastava, the President of the Rajasthan Chapter of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties and one of India’s most respected activists, about the clampdown and what it represents for the future of human rights in India.

Anandaroop Sen (AS): Could you begin by giving the context in which the 16 Indian academics, activists, lawyers, popularly known as the Bhima Koregaon 16 (BK 16) have been imprisoned by the Narendra Modi-led BJP government for the last three years.
Read more

UAPA And The Authoritarian Tendencies Of A Democratic Government

UAPA And The Authoritarian Tendencies Of A Democratic Government

Youthkiawaaz / by Salim Usman

The Modi government has, over the years, used the UAPA to counter any narrative that goes against their views and uses the law to arbitrarily arrest those who have spoken against them.
The unprecedented rise in countries exhibiting authoritarian tendencies throughout the world in the past few years, and the large number of human rights violations committed by state actors, is a matter of concern not just for the particular country’s political, social and economic circles but also for the international political community.
… perhaps the starkest example of the weaponisation of the UAPA was its use against those accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case.
Read more

CJP demands action against Milind Ekbote, main accused in the Bhima Koregaon riots

CJP demands action against Milind Ekbote, main accused in the Bhima Koregaon riots

CJP / by CJP Team

The plea highlights the many cases of rioting and hate crimes pending against Ekbote.
JP has sent a plea to the Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil seeking stringent action against Milind Ekbote, a repeat hate offender and main accused in the Bhima Koregaon riots of January 2018. On January 12, 2022, Ekbote was granted bail in a case of hate speech by a Sessions Court in Pune despite being a repeated offender in hate crimes.
Read more
Read CJP plea

Also read:
● “Sambhaji Bhide & Milind Ekbote instigated the Bhima Koregaon Violence,” an accused deposes as witness before Inquiry Commission (LawBeat / Oct 2021)
● India’s Hindu Nationalist Project Relies on Brutal Repression (Jacobinmag / April 2021)

PEGASUS SNOOPING: Bhima Koregaon’s Accused Write To SC’s Technical Committee

PEGASUS SNOOPING: Bhima Koregaon’s Accused Write To SC’s Technical Committee

PEGASUS SNOOPING: Bhima Koregaon’s Accused Write To SC’s Technical Committee

19/01/2022

Law Street Journal / by Komal Kinger

Pegasus is a type of spyware created by the Israeli cyberarms firm NSO Group that can be installed secretly on mobile phones (and other divices) running most versions of iOS and Android.
Read more

Elgar Parishad Accused, Their Lawyers Write to SC’s Committee on Pegasus Spyware Targeting

10/01/2022

The Wire / Sukanya Shantha

On January 3, the committee issued a public notice urging people to contact them in case they have reasons to believe that their phones were compromised using the malware.
Several human rights defenders and academics implicated in the Elgar Parishad case and their lawyers have sent their representation to the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Committee alleging that their phones were infected by the vicious Pegasus malware.
Read more

Bhima Koregaon accused and their counsel write to SC’s Pegasus technical committee alleging snooping

08/01/2022

The Leaflet / by The Leaflet

On January 3, the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Committee (TC) to investigate the snooping allegations using Pegasus spyware had issued a public notice urging citizens to contact it if they felt that their mobile device had been infected…
The Leaflet learns that at least four accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, and their counsel, Nihalsing B. Rathod, have written to the committee separately alleging that their mobile devices had been infected with the Pegasus malware.
Read more

Also read:
● Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)

India: Dangerous Backsliding on Rights – Activists, Critics Targeted

India: Dangerous Backsliding on Rights – Activists, Critics Targeted

By Human Rights Watch

Activists, Critics Targeted: Growing Attacks on Muslims, Groups at Risk
Indian authorities intensified their crackdown on activists, journalists, and other critics of the government using politically motivated prosecutions in 2021, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2022. Tens of thousands of people died during a surge in Covid-19 cases, with the government failing to provide adequate health care to those in need.
Read more
Read full India chapter

Repeat hate offender Milind Ekbote once again rewarded with bail

Repeat hate offender Milind Ekbote once again rewarded with bail

Sabrangindia.in / by Sabrangindia

He has been charged with rioting, disturbing peace, but was granted bail despite his previous track record of allegedly inciting hate and violence.
Milind Ekbote, of the Samast Hindu Aghadi organisation and one of the main accused in the Bhima Koregaon riots case, is now involved in a case of making hate speech and has been granted ad-interim bail by a Pune Court.
Read more

Also read:
● “Sambhaji Bhide & Milind Ekbote instigated the Bhima Koregaon Violence,” an accused deposes as witness before Inquiry Commission (LawBeat / Oct 2021)
● Casting a Veil – What we miss by ignoring Maratha caste politics in the Bhima Koregaon case (The Caravan / Dec 2020)
● Police Watered Down Case Against Milind Ekbote, Says Complainant (The Wire / Oct 2018)

Bhima Koregaon Accused, Their Lawyers Write to SC’s Committee on Pegasus Spyware Targeting

Bhima Koregaon Accused, Their Lawyers Write to SC’s Committee on Pegasus Spyware Targeting

Elgar Parishad Accused, Their Lawyers Write to SC’s Committee on Pegasus Spyware Targeting

10/01/2022

The Wire / Sukanya Shantha

On January 3, the committee issued a public notice urging people to contact them in case they have reasons to believe that their phones were compromised using the malware.
Several human rights defenders and academics implicated in the Elgar Parishad case and their lawyers have sent their representation to the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Committee alleging that their phones were infected by the vicious Pegasus malware.
Read more

Bhima Koregaon accused and their counsel write to SC’s Pegasus technical committee alleging snooping

08/01/2022

The Leaflet / by The Leaflet

On January 3, the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Committee (TC) to investigate the snooping allegations using Pegasus spyware had issued a public notice urging citizens to contact it if they felt that their mobile device had been infected…
The Leaflet learns that at least four accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, and their counsel, Nihalsing B. Rathod, have written to the committee separately alleging that their mobile devices had been infected with the Pegasus malware.
Read more

Counsel Of Bhima Koregaon Accused Writes To SC-Appointed Technical Committee Suspecting Hacking Of His Device

09/01/2022

Live Law / by Srishti Ojha

A lawyer, who represented several persons implicated in the Bhima Koregaon Elgar Parishad case has written to the Technical Committee appointed by the Supreme Court to probe into the allegations of snooping through Pegasus, suspecting compromise of his mobile device by Pegasus Malware.
Advocate Nihalsing B Rathod, a practicing lawyer based in Nagpur has argued that his phone was intercepted for accessing the privileged communication and legal strategies drawn on behalf of his clients in the Bhima Koregaon Elgar Parishad.
Read more

Bhima Koregaon accused, counsel write to SC appointed Committee alleging phones were compromised

08/01/2022

Bar & Bench / by Abhimanyu Hazarika

Advocate Nihal Singh Rathod has offered to appear before the committee and submit his phone for probe.
A Nagpur-based lawyer on Friday wrote to the Supreme Court appointed Technical Committee probing the Pegasus spyware scandal, stating that he has reasons to believe his phone was hacked and compromised by the spyware.
Read more

Also read:
● Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)