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Category: Repression

Arrests in Bhima Koregaon case frame a transformation in India’s polity and police force

Arrests in Bhima Koregaon case frame a transformation in India’s polity and police force


Watch music video: Wake Up Call

The Indian Express / by Christophe Jaffrelot

The current usage of the expression “urban Naxal” owes much to Bollywood film director Vivek Agnihotri, who defines an “urban Naxal as an intellectual, influencer or activist who is an invisible enemy of India”. The idea of such a conspiracy was propagated, however, by the Sangh Parivar.
In October, Stan Swamy, an 83-year old Jesuit priest, was sent to judicial custody in the Bhima Koregaon case. His is the latest arrest in a case that illustrates a significant transformation in India’s polity and the country’s police force.
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NIA is acting as another ‘caged parrot’ like CB

NIA is acting as another ‘caged parrot’ like CB

National Herald / by Arun Srivastava/IPA

The NIA, constituted by an Act of Parliament, is also being used by the Modi government to serve its political interest.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which in recent times has suffered a severe crisis of credibility and faith in the eyes of the people has suffered yet another shattering blow with the Maharashtra government withdrawing general consent for operations within its territory…
The NIA can take up a case dealing with its scheduled offences in India without the consent of the state government in question.
But unfortunately, the NIA is also being used by the Modi government to serve its political interest. The Bhima Koregaon case is worth mentioning.
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Reading Anand Teltumbde in the wake of Hathras

Reading Anand Teltumbde in the wake of Hathras

Scroll.in / by Rahul Govind

In his books, the writer – now in jail – demonstrates how caste atrocities are the result of deep-rooted societal structures.
In grappling with the horrors of Hathras, the absence of Anand Teltumbde’s voice resounds. In the writings of Teltumbde, who is currently incarcerated in Taloja prison in the Bhima Koregaon case, the horrific singularity of caste atrocities are distilled as a precipitate of a long-enduring history and deep-rooted societal structures. Few public intellectuals in independent India have shown as much insight and courage in chronicling the cunning and cruelty of state and society.
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Stan Swamy’s Crime Is His Solidarity with the Marginalised

Stan Swamy’s Crime Is His Solidarity with the Marginalised

The Leaflet / by Annie Domini

In light of the state’s attack on eminent activists who fight for the right of marginalised and oppressed, those who express solidarity must raise their voices loudly and actively writes Annie Domini.
If you look at the body politic of the country without saffron-tinted glasses, if you truly see, you will find a very very sick organism indeed. An organism that’s cannibalising on its own heart, brain and lungs to feed a massive belly of unrestrained State power.
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On trail for thoughts – What is stopping the Elgaar Parishad activists from getting bail?

On trail for thoughts – What is stopping the Elgaar Parishad activists from getting bail?

Millenium Post / by Abhinay Lakshman

With three chargesheet now filed against them, what is stopping the Elgaar Parishad activists from getting bail? With evidence of their “provocative” speeches vague and questions being raised on the veracity of other evidence, is this what being tried for one’s thoughts feels like?
Some of the country’s pioneering rights activists, professors, lawyers and human rights advocates have been languishing in jail for years now by precisely this modus operandi – and their trial is yet to even begin.
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A citizen objects – On the arrests of men and women of conscience

A citizen objects – On the arrests of men and women of conscience

The Telegraph / by Shiv Visvanathan

My father was a brilliant metallurgist who worked for the Tatas. We lived in Jamshedpur and would go for long walks. He loved the forests around the city. I remember one evening as we walked, the Tata ‘mountains’ poured out their slag — molten and incandescent — as if the Tatas made sunsets. Then, a few minutes later, the Dalma hills lit up as the tribals burnt an area for jhum cultivation. Both were brilliant sights and my father watched entranced. He then said, almost cryptically, “Both have to survive. Justice is balance between the two.” For my father, Tata’s validity lay in the continuity of the tribe. It was a vision of a different world.
When I heard of the Jesuit Father, Stan Swamy, I sensed here was a man who understood that vision, grasped why the tribes and the tribal way of life had to survive.
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Jyoti Jagtap – The Young Woman Who Would Not Cry

Jyoti Jagtap – The Young Woman Who Would Not Cry

Article 14 / by Jyoti Punwani

Jyoti Jagtap sang against Hindutva, casteism, inequality. In September, unafraid and resolute, she became the third member of a cultural troupe to be arrested in the Bhima-Koregaon case and its youngest accused. Like 15 others, she faces charges of sedition and waging war against the government of India.
“You can counsel the other inmates in jail. That way your time inside won’t be wasted.”
With these words, Rupali Jadhav bid farewell to her Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) colleague Jyoti Jagtap in the Pune office of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on 8 September 2020.
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Report and Videos of the PUCL Press Conference: The Bhima Koregaon Conspiracy Case

Report and Videos of the PUCL Press Conference: The Bhima Koregaon Conspiracy Case

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

By People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)

Report of the Virtual Press Conference held on 21st October, 2020 organised by the PUCL

Opposition Leaders, Civil Society denounce arrest of Stan Swamy and other activists in Bhima Koregaon case;
Call for repeal of UAPA!

► The videos of speeches of speakers are available here
► The documents are available here

Introduction
PUCL organised a virtual Press Conference on 21st October, 2020 to condemn the illegal arrest of Fr. Stan Swamy of Jharkhand and 15 other activists in the Bhima Koregaon case. The Press Conference was to create a platform for different civil society groups and political parties to jointly condemn the brazen abuse of UAPA by the Central Government against dissenters and demand repeal of draconian anti-human rights laws like UAPA and anti-sedition law. The following is a summary of the speeches made by different speakers.
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UN High Commissioner Bachelet dismayed at restrictions on NGOs and arrests of activists in India

UN High Commissioner Bachelet dismayed at restrictions on NGOs and arrests of activists in India

By United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner

News Release
GENEVA: – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday appealed to the Government of India to safeguard the rights of human rights defenders and NGOs, and their ability to carry out their crucial work on behalf of the many groups they represent…
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Suppressing Dissent / Who is Really the Enemy of the People?

Suppressing Dissent / Who is Really the Enemy of the People?

Suppressing Dissent

20/10/2020

Medium.com / by Arun Simon

Dissent is rarely welcomed in any society. As power increases, appreciation of dissent decreases. Innumerable examples can be seen with dictators or absolute powers. It is also possible in religion, culture, and other domains… My country India, with all its high democratic values, is no different. The officially declared emergency(1975) may be the worst period in that line. But there are many unofficial competitors for the same today. The recent arrest of many social activists (latest in that line being Fr. Stan Swamy, a tribal activist) under a draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with many contemporary events raises serious questions.
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Who is Really the Enemy of the People?

20/10/2020

NewsClick / by Suhit K Sen

India will have to look to forces within the country to steer back towards political processes that incorporate opposition, dissent and diversity.
Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist, was arrested in Ranchi on 9 October. The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which carried out the arrest, claimed he was a member of the CPI (Maoist) organisation. It appears that anyone who works for Dalit rights, or is not in full agreement with the toxic ideology of the Sangh parivar, must be a Maoist.
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