Background – Page 49 – free them all

Elgar Parishad tomorrow after 3 yrs — arrests, controversies and significance of the event

29/01/2021 Rani

The Print / by Revathi Krishnan

The Elgar Parishad, which commemorates the battle of Bhima Koregaon, was last held in Pune between 31 December 2017 and 1 January 2018.
Three years after it led to violence and the arrests of a number of activists, the Elgar Parishad event is to be held at Pune on 30 January this year.
The Pune Police has granted permission for the event, which commemorates the Battle of Bhima Koregaon. The Elgar Parishad was last held between 31 December 2017 and 1 January 2018.
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Police grants permission to Elgar Parishad to be held on January 30

23/01/2021 Rani

Free Press Journal / by FPJ Web Desk

Pune police have granted permission to the Elgar Parishad which is slated to be held on January 30, reported Maharashtra Times.
As per the Facebook post on January 22, the event will be held at the Ganesh Krida Kala Manch in Pune’s Swargate area. “Organizers of Elgar have met Pune Commissioner of Police IPS Amitabh Gupta and Pune Police has given permission for the Elgar Parishad 2021,” reads the post.
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Videos: Persecution by Prosecution – PUCL and 100 Organisations demand: Repeal UAPA / Session Reports

22/01/2021 Maya

en | 2h 17min | 2021

The Leaflet / by People’s Union for Civil Liberties

PUCL India and over hundred organisations present:

Repeal UAPA – Persecution by Prosecution

Also watch:
► Why is the state afraid of Sudha Bharadwaj? (en + hindi | 2h 53min | Jan 2021)
► 100 Days of the incarceration of Fr. Stan Swamy (en + hindi | 3h | Jan 2021)

Session Report: Under UAPA, anything can be an offence based on flimsy evidence

22/01/2021

The Leaflet / by Megha Katheria

Bringing together lawyers, activists, and victims of UAPA, the second day of PUCL’s national consultation on repealing UAPA was packed with heart-wrenching stories of abuse and torture by the law. This underpinned the passionate launch of the campaign to repeal UAPA by PUCL and 100 other organisations. It is similar to the cohesive action by human rights organisations against TADA in 1990s and POTA in the early 2000s.
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Session Report: PUCL and 100 Organisations demand the repeal of the UAPA

21/01/2021

The Leaflet / by Parvathi Sjiv

In a session packed with human stories of abuse and misuse of law where activists and commoners were abused, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) began a three-day session on January 20th with over 100 other organisations comprising advocates, activists and others who spoke about the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
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Elgaar Parishad’s Jan 30 event: Arundhati Roy, ex-IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan among main speakers

19/01/2021 Rani

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

‘Bhima Koregaon Shourya Din Prerna Abhiyan’ has released a pamphlet for the coming Elgaar Parishad, which mentions its main speakers as Arundhati Roy, Kannan Gopinathan along with Rohith’s brother Raja Vemula.
Author Arundhati Roy and former IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan, who resigned from the services in protest against abrogation of Article 370, are among key speakers at the Elgaar Parishad event being organised in Pune on January 30 by ‘Bhima Koregaon Shourya Din Prerna Abhiyan’.
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Also read: WHY IS ELGAR PARISHAD BEING REVIVED ? ELGAR PARISHAD ON JAN 30

Pegasus Snooping – Why Users No Longer Believe WhatsApp and Mobile Phones Are Secure

17/01/2021 Rani

The Leaflet / by Nihalsing B Rathod

… When news broke that renowned Indian activists and lawyers had become victims of Pegasus, a chill went over all of us. It was an intensely strange experience to learn that we were being snooped on. Some time passed before we could understand what had really happened.
All of us were, in one way or another, connected with the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case.
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Why is Elgar Parishad being revived ? Elgar Parishad on Jan 30

16/01/2021 Rani

Dalit Camera / by By Elgar Parishad

The purpose behind organising the Elgar Parishad this year is no different from why we organised it in 2017, under the guidance of Justice PB Sawant and Justice Kolse Patil. The situation is the same; in fact it is worsening everyday.
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Podcast: Bhima Koregoan violence – Three years on, Activists remain arrested and justice remain awaited

12/01/2021 Rani

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

By On Record

Three years after the caste violence in Bhima Koregoan, 16 human right activists have been arrested under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in connection with the case. Multiple conspiracy theories have been laid out by the police but it may be long before they are proved and the guilty is punished.
Professor Apoorvanand from Delhi University and Harish Vasudevan, an advocate practicing at Kerala High court share their insights for the story.
Listen to podcast (11:00min)

Mumbai Police ‘Arrests’ Harshali Potdar for Sharing a Facebook Post, Releases Her in Few Hours

12/01/2021 Rani

Mumbai Police ‘Arrests’ Activist for Sharing a Facebook Post, Releases Her in Few Hours

12/01/2021

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Harshali Potdar, a rights activist, is also named as a prime accused in the ongoing Elgar Parishad investigation.
A week after a Mumbai sessions court rejected a pre-arrest plea filed by rights activist Harshali Potdar, the MRA police on Monday, January 11, picked her up from a café in South Mumbai only to release her after five hours.
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Activist Harshali Potdar denied anticipatory bail

07/01/2021

The Free Press Journal / by Bhavna Uchil

A sessions court on Wednesday rejected the anticipatory bail application of activist Harshali Potdar, one of the organisers of the Elgaar Parishad conclave, in a case registered against her in MRA Marg Police Station for sharing an allegedly communal social media post.
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Dalit group demands action against Sambhaji Bhide / Casting a Veil

11/01/2021 Rani

Dalit group demands action against Sambhaji Bhide

11/01/2021

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

One person was killed and several others left injured in the violence at Koregaon Bhima on January 1, 2018, when lakhs of Dalits, mainly from the Ambedkarite Mahar community, gathered at the Jaystambh in Perne village for the 200th commemoration of Battle of Koregaon Bhima.
Members of the Republican Yuva Morcha on Monday demanded action against Hindutva leader Sambhaji Bhide in the Koregaon Bhima violence case.
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Proposal to Chargesheet Hindutva Leaders in Bhima Koregaon Violence

02/01/2021

Gauri Lankesh News / by Savitha Ganesh

Hindutva leaders, Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide are named accused in the chargesheet.
The Maharashtra Government has received a proposal from the police to receive sanction for filing the official chargesheet relating to the violence that took place at Bhima Koregaon on January 1st, 2018. Hindutva leaders, Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide are named accused in the chargesheet. The decision to sanction the charge sheet is yet to be made.
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Govt gets proposal seeking sanction to file chargesheet in case accusing Hindutva leaders

02/01/2021

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

State government has received a proposal from the police seeking sanction for filing the chargesheet in the case related to Koregaon Bhima violence of January 1, 2018, in which Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide are named as accused.
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Casting a Veil

31/12/2020

The Caravan / by Pramod Mandade, Fridaus Soni

What we miss by ignoring Maratha caste politics in the Bhima Koregaon case
Three years ago on 1 January 2018, an annual gathering of largely Dalit visitors to the memorial of Bhima Koregaon, near Pune, was attacked by mobs led by Hindu-nationalist organisations. For several weeks, these organisations had been trying to rouse the area’s Maratha population against the Dalit Buddhist community. A day after the violence, Anita Sawale, an anti-caste activist who was present at the gathering, filed a first-information report identifying the mobs as followers of the Hindutva leaders Manohar Bhide – who calls himself Sambhaji Bhide – and Milind Ekbote.
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Stories of Dissent – The BK16

05/01/2021 Rani

By The London Story

Born in America, Sudha Bhardwaj is a human rights lawyer practising in the Chhattisgarh High Court. She renounced her American citizenship at the age of 18, in order to join the Indian civil liberties movement. Bhardwaj has lived in Chhattisgarh, a state with a large tribal population, for more than 29 years of her life. She has been helping tribals against the illegal acquisition of their land by the government and private companies.
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