The Leaflet / by Nihalsing B Rathod
Lawyers who defended activists in the Bhima Koregaon case risked being branded anti-national, but they believed that they were innocent and it was necessary to uphold the rule of law and constitutional values, says Nihalsing B Rathod.
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Groundxero / by Partho Sarothi Ray
The large scale destruction of lives and livelihoods in 2020 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in India and its inept handling by the government has been accompanied by another sort of destruction, much more deliberate and calculated. It is the destruction of the democratic rights organizations (DROs) of India, as part of a vicious plan of the BJP government to irreparably shrink the democratic space for a future that we can only tremble to think about.
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en / hindi | 6min | 2021
By National Alliance of People’s Movements
As we enter a new year, 2021, full of challenges and possibilities, we look back and remember many of our comrades and follow-travellers who remain incarcerated and persecuted. Their only ‘crime’: trying to make this country a better place, with rights and justice for all of us, especially for those marginalized and oppressed.
To that spirit of resistance and resilience, we dedicate this video and our energies over the coming year. Stand with all those persecuted, jailed and vilified for standing with the human rights of others.
#FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners #EndStateRepression
In solidarity,
National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
30/12/2020
The Indian Express / by Express News Service
The order issued this year states that there is possibility that actions of these persons, if they come to Jaystambh area, “may provoke sentiments of the Dalit community and lead to disturbance in law and order”.
The Pune district administration has barred Hindutva activist Milind Ekbote, some Elgaar Parishad organisers, including Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) members, some Dalit activists and several other local residents from Koregaon Bhima area from entering or being present in the limits of the district for over three days around the 203rd anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon Bhima, which falls on January 1.
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29/12/2020
Outlook / by pti
Ahead of the 203rd anniversary of the battle of Koregaon Bhima on January 1, the Pune district administration as well as several organizations haveappealed people not to congregate at the war memorial near Perne.
The appeal was made in view of the COVID-19 situation.
Members of the Bhima Koregaon Vijay Stambh Shauryadin Coordination Committee on Tuesday urged people to offer their tributes by staying at home instead of visiting the Jay Stambh (victory pillar).
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Counterview / by Surabhi Agarwal, Sandeep Pandey, Kushagra Kumar
Writer, poet, artist, perennial protestor and Dalit leader Sudhir Dhawale, arrested and jailed in mid-2018, remains incarcerated under charges of the controversial Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and assorted Indian Penal Codes. He has been accused of instigating violence at Bhima Koregaon event on January 1, 2018.
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27/12/2020
The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha
The year, which kicked off with countrywide protests and riots in the capital, saw personal liberties take a big hit with anti-terror and defamation laws being used routinely to silence dissenters and human rights defenders.
Disproportionate application of draconian laws, divisive media reporting and jail terms for students and activists were some of the main highlights of 2020. Almost every month this year, several activists and academics have been either arrested or booked under counter-terrorism law, sedition and other laws, for merely expressing their discontent against the current dispensation.
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28/12/2020
mid-day / by mid-day online correspondent
The coronavirus induced lockdown in 2020 made virtual court proceedings the new normal in India. The Bombay High Court and other special courts in Mumbai passed some historical judgments virtually this year. Here is a quick rewind.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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