Background – Page 51 – free them all

On the trail of Sambhaji Bhide: Ahead of Bhima Koregaon riots’ 3rd anniversary

26/12/2020 Rani

Firstpost / by Parth MN

Tracing the Hindutva leader’s rise.
… Every year on 1 January, tens of thousands of Dalit-Bahujan pilgrims gather at the war memorial of Bhima Koregoan, about 40 km from Pune. It commemorates the historic battle won by the British Army, which had a significant contingent of Dalit soldiers, against the Peshwas. For the Dalit community, the battle signifies their fight against untouchability. Therefore, in 2018, at the 200th anniversary of the event, the crowd at Bhima Koregaon war memorial was larger than usual. However, the gathering was assaulted allegedly by upper caste mobs belonging to right-wing groups.
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The Dissenting and Defiant Citizen Is Indian of the Year / The Cost of Voicing Dissent

26/12/2020 Maya

The Dissenting and Defiant Citizen Is Indian of the Year

26/12/2020

The Wire / by Sidharth Bhatia

Whether at Shaheen Bagh or on the highways outside Delhi, Indians are standing up for dignity and rights for all.
In an environment where dissidence is considered an act of rebellion, even sedition, where people are thrown into jail for standing up for rights, and where even a cartoon or a joke can get the politicians riled up, some Indians have let it be known that they will not get cowed down. Especially when it comes to matters of dignity and livelihood.
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The cost of voicing dissent: UAPA against G.N. Saibaba, Gautam Navlakha, Father Stan Swamy and others

26/12/2020

Countercurrents / by Kunal Pant

… UAPA has been disproportionately targeted against minorities (Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis), activists, human rights defenders and political opponents… UAPA has been disproportionately targeted against minorities (Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis), activists, human rights defenders and political opponents… Cases in point are Sudhir Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, and Rona Wilson – all Dalit activists – allegedly for being associated with the “Elgar Parishad.” (Bhima Koregaon).
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A Lookback At Arrests Made Under The UAPA

25/12/2020

Mumbai Live / by Mumbai Live Team

As 2020 nears towards the end, we look back at three of the arrests that have been made under the anti-terror law by the name Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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Section 144 to be invoked near Koregaon-Bhima war memorial ahead of January 1

25/12/2020 Rani

Section 144 to be invoked near Koregaon-Bhima war memorial ahead of January 1

25/12/2020

The New Indian Express / by pti

Section 144 will be in force from the midnight of December 30 to January 2, 2021, and people from outside have been prohibited from entering the villages around the war memorial.
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Pune Police deny permission for Elgar Parishad event, cite coronavirus, law and order situation

24/12/2020

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Retired judge BG Kolse Patil said the organisers will move the High Court against the decision.
The police in Maharashtra’s Pune city on Wednesday refused to give permission to retired judge BG Kolse Patil to organise Elgar Parishad conclave on December 31, PTI reported.
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Organizer of 2017 Elgar Parishad denied permission for event

22/12/2020

Outlook India / by Outlook News Scroll

Pune police has denied permission for an event that retired judge B G Kolse-Patil, one of the organisers of the December 2017 Elgar Parishad, had planned to hold in the city, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Kolse-Patil had sought to organize a cultural event at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch on December 31.
“We have denied permission in view of the COVID-19 restrictions and law and order situation,” said city police commissioner Amitabh Gupta.
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Bhima Koregaon anniversary: Govt urges Covid caution, plans for another Elgaar Parishad

22/12/2020 Rani

Bhima Koregaon anniversary: As govt urges Covid caution, plans for another Elgaar Parishad

22/12/2020

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

Why is the Bhima Koregaon anniversary significant, what are the plans to observe it this year, and what happened during its 200th anniversary in 2018, which saw the arrests of activists and intellectuals?
As yet another anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon approaches, the Maharashtra government has urged for low-key celebrations, citing the coronavirus pandemic.
However, preparations for the anniversary are on in full swing, with Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad announcing he will visit Jaystambh – the battle war memorial – and the group Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Din Prerna Abhiyaan saying they will organise another Elgaar Parishad this year.
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Pune meet discusses plan to hold another Elgaar Parishad event

22/12/2020

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

“We are now organising Elgaar Parishad at the Ganesh Kala Krida Manch. We have already booked the premises and process is on for seeking permission from the police for holding the conference,” said Justice (retd) B G Kolse Patil, a former High Court judge who was a key person at the meeting.
Activists and retired officers held a state-level meeting under the banner of ‘Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Din Prerna Abhiyaan’ in Pune to plan another ‘Elgaar Parishad’ event on December 31, ahead of the anniversary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon on January 1.
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COVID-19 in Maharashtra: Home Department urges people for a low key programmes at Bhima Koregaon

22/12/2020

The Free Press Journal / by Sanjay Jog

The Home Department, on Tuesday, appealed to the Ambedkarite Dalits not to gather in large numbers at the Bhima Koregaon war memorial to pay their respect at the Vijay Sthamb (victory pillar) on January 1 in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The department wants people to observe the day at low key on the lines of Ganapati, Navratri and Eid, amongst others. The programme should be symbolic.
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Shifting burden of proof

20/12/2020 Rani

Orissa Post / by Aakar Patel

Uttar Pradesh´s law banning interfaith marriages also carries forward another innovative feature of India´s legal system in these present times. This is the shifting of burden of proof from the State to the accused. The `innocent until proven guilty´ maxim that under pins all law has been stood on its head and it is for the individual to prove their innocence to the State, which assumes that they are guilty…
Once the State has branded you a terrorist then UAPA requires you to prove your innocence even to secure bail.
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Academic freedom is under attack in Modi’s India

18/12/2020 Rani

Aljazeera / by Aman Abhishek

The ongoing unlawful imprisonment of Professor Anand Teltumbde and numerous other dissident scholars is a clear reflection of the bleak state of academic freedom in India.
Last year I had the opportunity to listen to the prominent Indian intellectual and author, Anand Teltumbde, speak at an academic conference in Delhi. At one point in his speech, he got teary-eyed and told the audience that he has lost all hope because India’s transformation into a “Hindu nation” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears complete.
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Varavara Rao in Prison: Maoists and Other Enemies of the Indian State

18/12/2020 Rani

VERSO / by Aditya Bahl

Aditya Bahl protests against the continued imprisonment of the Marxist poet, Varavara Rao, and examines how the current cycle of rightwing repression is part of a much longer political history, shaped by the changing relationship between the Indian state and capitalism.
In Captive Imagination, a collection of essays written in the prison during the late 1980s, Varavara Rao, the Telugu poet and a leading Maoist ideologue in India, narrates a rather uncanny state of affairs.
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For those dividing Indians to rule them, adivasis are clearly not farmers / Video: Protesting farmers

16/12/2020 Maya

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

The Wire / by Nandini Sundar

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) decided to mark December 10, International Human Rights Day, by remembering several prominent activists arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), especially those arrested in the name of Bhima Koregaon, and the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act…
Mahesh Raut, one of the youngest of those arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, is a graduate of TISS and was a PM Rural Development Fellow in Gadchiroli.
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Video: Protesting Farmers Demand Release of Arrested Intellectuals and Activists

hindi | 11:30min | 2020

The Wire / by Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta

Why do farmers wish to broaden the scope of their protest?
Farmers protesting at the border on International Human Rights Day demanded the release of all activists who have been arrested. The Wire‘s Political Affairs Editor Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta spoke to the farmers to find out why they wished to broaden the scope of their protest.
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When saints are in prison: Custody as a form of torture

12/12/2020 Rani

The Quint / by Kaleeswaram Raj

Incarceration is not mere curtailment of freedom. It is a diminution of human dignity. And today, one is forced to think that individual dignity in India is in deep crisis.
It is amazing to watch the Supreme Court building that symbolises a wonderful architectural tradition. It is more so when one looks at the flock of birds that fly over the court’s tomb, epitomising universal liberty, a theme that the Constitution tried to imbibe. It contains provisions for certain fundamental rights even for non-citizens. Article 21 promises right to life and personal liberty to ‘any person’. The court has interpreted life to always mean dignified life.
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Organisers of Elgar Parishad say accused are denied basic human rights

11/12/2020 Rani

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

On Human Rights Day, retired judges say intellectuals have been implicated for speaking against the government.
It is close to three years that intellectuals, activists and lawyers were arrested in the Bhima Koregaon violence case. Retired judges, who organised the Elghar Parishad event, say, “All those accused in the case are not connected with it but they have been implicated because they have spoken against the government. They are denied basic human rights.”
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