Browsed by
Category: Repression

Will anti-Naxal drive pave way for mining giants?

Will anti-Naxal drive pave way for mining giants?

The New Indian Express / by Gurbir Singh

Is the government campaign aimed at ‘finishing off’ the extremists, or are the larger goals to open up central India’s mineral and natural resources for exploitation? Or both?
… Over the years, Maoists, NGOs and even priests like Stan Swamy have mobilized these tribal communities to resist corporate expansion. The state forces, on the other hand, have intervened to crush the protests.
Read more


Also read:
Three years after Stan Swamy’s death in custody, activists recall his contributions to Adivasi cause (Scroll.in / Jul 2024)
Jharkhand police to probe into Maoist links with Stan Swamy’s ‘Bagaicha’, 63 other frontal organisations (The New Indian Express / Sep 2023)
Statement against the drone bomb attacks in Chhattisgarh, India (India Matters / April 2023)
DISINHERITING ADIVASIS – THE GADCHIROLI GAME PLAN (KAFILA / June 2018)
The legal face of corporate land grab in Chhattisgarh (India Environmental Portal | by Sudha Bharadwaj | Feb 2018)
Mining In Gadchiroli – Building A Castle Of Injustices (Countercurrents | by Neema Pathak Broome and Mahesh Raut | June 2017)

Elgar Parishad case accused at event that attacked Maharashtra Public Security Bill

Elgar Parishad case accused at event that attacked Maharashtra Public Security Bill

Credits: MR online

Elgar Parishad case accused at event that attacked Maharashtra Public Security Bill, cops to seek bail review

22/05/2025

Times of India / by Soumitra Bose

The Elgar Parishad case accused, who are out on bail, had thronged the Veera Sathidar memorial event at Vidarbha Hindi Sahitya Sammelan on May 13, top security sources told TOI.
Though the event was organised as a memorial for the acclaimed filmmaker, security agency sources stated it turned into a platform for attacking the Maharashtra govt’s efforts to table the proposed Maharashtra Public Security Bill to rein in frontal organisations of alleged urban Maoists.
… Activists like Sudhir Dhawale and former Nagpur University professor Soma Sen, who are out on bail in the Elgar Parishad case, participated in the event
Read more


Actor’s wife, 2 others booked for reciting Pak poet’s poem

21/05/2025

Rediff.com / by pti, edited by Hemant Waje

The recitation of Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s Hum Dekhenge poem at an event in Nagpur has led police to slap charges of endangering India’s unity and integrity, and promoting enmity against three persons, including late actor-activist Veera Sathidar’s wife Pushpa.
… Police said they are also looking into the activities and background of the Samata Kala Manch, whose head, Sudhir Dhawale, is currently out on bail in connection with another case related to alleged inflammatory speeches made during the Elgar Parishad event in Pune in 2017.
Read more


Singing Faiz’s ‘Hum Dekhenge’ is ‘Sedition’: Nagpur Police Book Organisers of Vira Sathidar Memorial

19/05/2025

The Wire / by Sukanyana Shantha

Singing the revolutionary poetry of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, once celebrated as a voice of resistance, now attracts sedition charges in India.
At an event organised last week in memory of actor and activist Vira Sathidar, a group of young cultural activists sang the lyrics of Faiz’s famous Hum Dekhenge.
… In October 2020, when the NIA filed a supplementary chargesheet in the Elgar Parishad case, Sathidar’s name appeared among the so-called “urban Naxals,” a term loosely used by the Devendra Fadnavis-led government to target dissenters. Now, with the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill, the state government seeks to formalise the term “urban Naxal” within the legal framework.
Read more


Also read:
Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale released: Seven years of injustice by a state that punishes dissent [read order] (Sabrangindia / Jan 2025)
Former professor Shoma Sen released from prison (Scroll.in / Apr 2024)
A New Bill Shows Maharashtra Wants to Become a Police State Before Combatting Left-Wing Extremism (The Wire / Jul 2024)
What is Maharashtra’s new Bill to curb ‘Naxalism in urban areas’? (The Indian Express / Jul 2024)
Maharashtra: Activists, Lawyers Added to ‘Union War Book’, Listed as ‘Enemies of the State’ (The Wire / Jul 2021)

‘Maoist’ from Pune, known as ‘laptop’, arrested 15 yrs after he went missing

‘Maoist’ from Pune, known as ‘laptop’, arrested 15 yrs after he went missing

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

Prashant Jalinder Kamble, an expert with computers, was arrested in Pune
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) nabbed a Pune resident, who was reported “missing” 15 years ago, for allegedly being an active member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).
… A graduate from a college in Pune, he was allegedly associated with the city-based cultural outfit Kabir Kala Manch (KKM), which according to the police is a “frontal organisation of Maoists”.
Read more


Also read:
Poetic License: Outside of Village Periphery – Artists in Kabir Kala Manch struggle to earn a living due to censorship (Outlook / Aug 2024)
How Kabir Kala Manch, the anti-caste cultural troupe, challenges the hierarchical social order (Scroll.in / Jul 2024)
Maharashtra: Top Cop Accuses Decades-Old Cultural, Rights Orgs of Working as ‘Naxal Fronts’ (The Wire / Feb 2022)
Maharashtra: Activists, Lawyers Added to ‘Union War Book’, Listed as ‘Enemies of the State’ (The Wire / Jul 2021)
Video: Dafachya Talavar (Songs of Defiance) – A short documentary on Kabir Kala Manch | Hindi, Marthi (subtitles: English) | 24:01min | 2022

Rationality seems upside down: ‘Intellectuals’ who endorse state violence!

Rationality seems upside down: ‘Intellectuals’ who endorse state violence!

South First / by N Venugopal

The rationality that the Telugu society cultivated 50 years ago—rejecting state oppression and embracing humanistic values—now seems to have been turned upside down.
When an ordinary citizen commits murder, it is a punishable offense. But if the government itself, through the home minister, announcing deadlines for killing people, is that not a crime? And when so-called intellectuals clap and cheer for these murders, is that not a crime too?
Read more


Also read:
▪ Condemn the NIA’s raid in Andhra-Telangana to suppress democratic voices critical of war of corporate plunder ( Countercurrents / Oct 2023)
▪ AI Report: India’s exploitation of terrorism financing assessments to target the civil society (Amnesty.org / Sep 2023)
The cost of protesting against mining in Gadchiroli (Scroll.in | by Nolina Minj | Sep 27, 2023)
▪ How Varavara Rao shaped Telangana’s sociopolitics: N Venugopal Rao interview (The Federal / Aug 2023)
Statement against the drone bomb attacks in Chhattisgarh, India (India Matters / April 2023)

NIA had no role in denying Stan Swamy sipper: Former chief blames Uddhav govt

NIA had no role in denying Stan Swamy sipper: Former chief blames Uddhav govt

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Swamy, who was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, had filed bail pleas citing medical grounds which were rejected multiple times. While incarcerated, his health deteriorated and he died on July 5, 2021.
A day after TMC MP Saket Gokhale alleged that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) “denied even a straw” to Father Stan Swamy while he was in jail, former NIA Director General Y C Modi in a statement on Thursday dismissed the allegation and said that the central agency had no role in denying Stan Swamy a sipper.
Read more


Also read:
SC takes up the cause of disabled prisoners on the basis of a plea invoking Saibaba, Stan Swamy (The Hindu / March 2025)
Some personal reflections on prison medical care (The Leaflet | Vernon Gonsalves | Apr 2024)
Indian court again refuses to hear Stan Swamy case (UCA News / Sep 2024)
Caged birds and prison songs: In chorus, Stan Swamy and the Bhima Koregaon accused kept hope alive (Scroll.in | by Vernon Gonsalves | Jul 2023)
How the system broke Stan Swamy: A cell mate recalls the activist’s last days in prison (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Aug 2021)

The Erosion Of Judicial Independence / Eternal Adjournments Undermine Constitutional Values

The Erosion Of Judicial Independence / Eternal Adjournments Undermine Constitutional Values

Graphic: Jul 2021

The Erosion Of Judicial Independence: Is India’s Judiciary An Extension Of Hindutva?

11/03/2025

Eurasiareview / by Debashis Chakrabarti

Once the last bastion against executive overreach, India’s judiciary today stands accused of capitulating to the ideological project of Hindutva—an ethno-nationalist vision that seeks to establish India as a Hindu-first nation.
… While BJP-affiliated individuals find themselves exonerated, critics of the regime face relentless judicial harassment. Activists, journalists, and intellectuals have been imprisoned under draconian laws like the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and sedition charges, with little to no judicial relief. The arrests of intellectuals like Anand Teltumbde, Sudha Bharadwaj, and Umar Khalid reflect how the judiciary has become a willing accomplice in the state’s crackdown on dissent.
Read more


Eternal adjournments, impractical riders mar precious Constitutional values

10/03/2025

DT Next / by Justice K Chandru Retd

The case of Umar Khalid, a JNU student who was arrested in connection with the March 2020 Delhi riots, is more disconcerting. This month marks the fifth anniversary of the police filing a conspiracy case, but it is not even close to being tried.
… A classic example is the case of Bhima Koregaon (BK-16) – which became BK-15 after Fr Stan Swamy’s death. Though more than seven years have passed since the arrest of the accused, many are yet to get bail from the special court or the High Court.
Read more


Also read:
Bail for Bhima Koregaon accused highlights extraordinary delay in trial (Scroll.in / Jan 2025)
Year after being granted bail, Mahesh Raut remains in jail as stay extended (The Indian Express / Sep 2024)
Why the SC Judgment Granting Bail to Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira Is So Significant (The Wire / Jul 2023)
The terror of an anti-terror law in India: A short story of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (The Polis Project / Feb 2023)
Inconsistencies in Bail Orders Mean Individual Liberty Is the Outcome of Judicial Lottery (The Wire / Oct 2022)

India’s Forgotten Country: How State Power & Capitalism Fuel The Totalitarian Temptation

India’s Forgotten Country: How State Power & Capitalism Fuel The Totalitarian Temptation

Credits: Penguin

Article 14 / by Ashoka Mody

In this guest article, economist and writer ASHOKA MODY connects the dots from writer, activist and human rights lawyer Bela Bhatia’s account of her activism to state coercion, corporate interests and the erosion of Indian democracy.
… Bhatia had long campaigned for tribal rights and was frequently at the forefront of protests against police atrocities. By this time, she was likely already under surveillance through the Pegasus spyware—a glaring invasion of her privacy, as she later described to The Telegraph. 
However, September 2019 was an especially dangerous moment to challenge India’s law enforcement. Starting in January 2018, after a violent clash between Dalits and Hindutva supporters in Bhima Koregaon (a historic village near Pune), Indian authorities had arrested about a dozen activists under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967. 
Read more


Also read:
▪ AI Report: India’s exploitation of terrorism financing assessments to target the civil society (Amnesty.org / Sep 2023)
Statement against the drone bomb attacks in Chhattisgarh, India (India Matters / April 2023)
Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)
They were Accused of plotting to overthrow the Modi government – The evidence was planted, a new report says (Washington Post / Feb 2021)

BJP’s Binary Lens On Nationalism / Politics Of Division: Why Autocrats Foster Binary Thinking

BJP’s Binary Lens On Nationalism / Politics Of Division: Why Autocrats Foster Binary Thinking

Pic: 2018 in Mumbai

BJP’s Binary Lens On Nationalism

24/02/2025

Outlook India / by Shweta Desai

BJP’s ultranationalism is a strategy to make up for its absence during the freedom struggle, but the binary discourse on nationalism is being weaponised to make detractors fall in line
… Six months after Modi’s government took office, the term ‘anti-national’ emerged as a popular slur. Often used by BJP leaders and supporters, the phrase wields a strong rhetorical power in shaping the ‘nationalist’ public discourse. The binary label has since served as a weapon to silence critics, discredit dissent and marginalise opposition, reinforcing a divisive political narrative.
Read more


Politics Of Division: Why Autocrats Foster Binary Thinking

21/02/2025

Outlook India / by Anand Teltumbde

Autocratic and fascist regimes consolidate power by reducing complex socio-political realities into rigid binary oppositions. Instead of addressing systemic economic inequalities, they redirect public anger toward scapegoats – immigrants, minorities and dissenting voices.
… A deadly consequence of this binary-driven autocratic politics is the erosion of democratic institutions. The judiciary, independent media and civil society organisations are labelled as enemies of the state if they challenge the ruling regime.
Read more


Also read:
India: Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee on the deterioration of civic space (CIVICUS / Jul 2024)
To Think of Modi 3.0 as Less Dangerous Would Be a Misreading (The Wire | Anand Teltumbde | June 12, 2024)
Police Linked to Hacking Campaign to Frame Indian Activists (Wired.com / June 2022)
Narendra Modi’s Government Is Using False Charges of Terrorism to Repress Its Opponents (Jacobinmag / April 2022)

Why Double Standards of Justice in India?

Why Double Standards of Justice in India?

Drawing by Arun Fereirra

Mainstream Weekly / by Sumeet Singh

According to the Indian Constitution, both Central and State governments have a constitutional duty to guarantee the democratic rights of citizens, including their Freedom, Equality, Security, Prosperity, Development, Social justice, and Social protection. Although India claims to be the world’s largest democracy, recent actions by the Central government have raised concerns. 
… Numerous Intellectuals, Lawyers, and Social activists have been detained for years on unproven charges of sedition, often without trial, indicating a failure to uphold constitutional rights to liberty. For the past six years, many prominent Intellectuals, Lawyers, and Social activists in the country have been languishing in jail without trial, under false charges of sedition in the alleged Bhima Koregaon violence case. No charges of sedition have been proven against them to date, yet the Judiciary, under pressure from the Central government, has repeatedly denied them bail. 
Read more


Also read:
‘Provincial Convention against Repression’ in Barnala, Punjab (Countercurrents / Jan 2025)
Fadnavis’ obsession with ‘urban naxals’, and a lawless Beed (National Herald / Dec 2024)
The SC Is Making Bail Easier In Terrorism, Money Laundering Cases – Except When It Ignores Itself (article 14 / Sep 2024)
Maharashtra: Activists, Lawyers Added to ‘Union War Book’, Listed as ‘Enemies of the State’ (The Wire / Jul 2021)

After six years in jail, Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale have been released on bail

After six years in jail, Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale have been released on bail

Poster by #bakeryprasad

Peoples Dispatch / by Abdul Rahman

After spending six years in jail without trial, Indian activists Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawle were finally granted bail.
Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawle, two of the 16 human rights activists arrested in the Bhima Koreagaon case under India’s draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), were released on bail on January 24 after spending nearly six and half years in prison waiting for trial.
… Nevertheless, they were released on stringent bail conditions including regular visits to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) headquarters, surrender of their passports, restrictions on travel outside Mumbai and a surety of 100,000 rupees (USD 1,142).
Read more


Also read:
Sudhir Dhawale interview: ‘The law remains blind to injustice even with the blindfold gone’ (Scroll.in / Feb 2025)
Interview | Sudhir Dhawale’s Work Will Go on (The Wire / Feb 2025)
Rona Wilson interview: ‘My arrest was a warning to others who stand against the abuse of power’ (Scroll.in / Feb 2025)
Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale released: Seven years of injustice by a state that punishes dissent [read order] (Sabrangindia / Jan 2025)