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Category: Profiles

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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One of the Accused in the Bhima Koregaon case: A profile of Mahesh Raut

One of the Accused in the Bhima Koregaon case: A profile of Mahesh Raut

The Polis Project / by The Polis Project and maara

Mahesh Raut is a land rights activist working with Gram Sabhas in the mining areas of Gadhchiroli. He is a former Prime Minister Rural Development (PMRD) Fellow. As part of his work, he visited local villages and interacted with local communities. In addition to being one of the conveners of Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vilas Andolan, a national organization that fights the displacement of marginalized communities, Raut is also a member of Bharat Jan Andolan, a human rights NGO.
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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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Note on life and work of Fr. Stan Swamy & the case / His arrest is an insult to justice

Note on life and work of Fr. Stan Swamy & the case / His arrest is an insult to justice

Life and work of Fr. Stan Swamy and the Bhima Koregaon case

20/10/2020

Indian Cultural Forum / by Frazer Mascarenhas

Fr. Stan Swamy was arrested by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) on 8th October in Ranchi and he was sent to Taloja jail after being charged in a false and fabricated conspiracy case related to the Bhima Koregaon incident that took place on 1st January, 2018. Here is a brief note on the life and work of Fr. Stan Swamy and the Bhima Koregaon case.
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India’s arrest of an 83-year-old priest on terrorism charges is an insult to justice

18/10/2020

The Guardian / by Mari Marcel Thekaekara

Father Stan Swamy, who was helping indigenous people fight mining corporates, is far from a violent Maoist.
A frail, ailing 83-year-old Jesuit priest, Father Stan Swamy, has become the oldest person to be accused of terrorism in India. He is incarcerated in a Mumbai jail after his arrest last week.
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If teaching Marx and Ambedkar is a criminal activity: A profile of K. Satyanarayana

If teaching Marx and Ambedkar is a criminal activity: A profile of K. Satyanarayana


Solidarity poster Sep, 2020

The Polis Project / by The Polis Project and maraa

In collaboration with maraa, The Polis Project launched Profiles of Dissent – a new series centered on remarkable voices of dissent and courage in India and their personal and political histories, as a way to reclaim our public spaces. These are prominent writers, poets, activists, and human rights defenders who have been in prison, held under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The profile features K. Satyanarayana who has been implicated in the connection with Bhima Koregaon investigation in relation to his father-in-law Varavara Rao.
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The BK 16

The BK 16


All the people who are the focus of this blog have been accused of being associated with what has come to be known as the “Bhima-Koregaon” or “Elgar Parishad” case.
To mark the bi-centenary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon in 2018, more than 200 Dalit, Bahujan, Ambedkarite and other organisations came together. The coalition organised the hugely successful and massively attended event, ‘Elgar Parishad’ (loud declaration committee), on December 31, 2017 in Shaniwarwada in Pune, once the seat of Peshwai power. This event, as per the organisers, was organised to expose the Navi Peshwai — an era of increasing repression on movements, alienation of minorities, increasing caste atrocities, anti-poor development policies and more.

Charges against the Activists

● That they had made inflammatory speeches at the Elgar Parishad.
● That they are acting on behalf of, or are members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoists).
● That they were plotting to assassinate the Prime Minister.

Lack of Evidence

As it turns out, most of those arrested were not even at the Elgar Parishad event, the charges about the links to Maoists entirely shown to be based on fabricated evidence and so far the charges about the assassination plot had not even a single piece of evidence produced.

The Case of the Reliance Workers Satyanarayan Karrela, Babushankar Vanguri, 
Shankar Gunde, Ravi Marampelli and Saidulu Singapanga

The BK16: Who is …?

Who is Varavara Rao?
All posts related to Varavara Rao
Who is Sudha Bharadwaj?
All posts related to Sudha Bharadwaj
Who is Sudhir Dhawale?
All posts related to Sudhir Dhawale
Who is Arun Ferreira?
All posts related to Arun Ferreira
Who is Surendra Gadling?
All posts related to Surendra Gadling
Who is Vernon Gonsalves?
All posts related to Vernon Gonsalves
Who is Mahesh Raut?
All posts related to Mahesh Raut
Who is Shoma Sen?
All posts related to Shoma Sen
Who is Rona Wilson?
All posts related to Rona Wilson
Who is Gautam Navlakha?
All posts related to Gautam Navlakha
Who is Anand Teltumbde?
All posts related to Anand Teltumbde
Who is Hany Babu?
All posts related to Hany Babu
Who are the Kabir Kala Manch artistes Jyoti Jagtap, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor?
All posts related to Kabir Kala Manch
Who is Stan Swamy?
All posts related to Stan Swamy

The BK 16

The BK 16


All the people who are the focus of this blog have been accused of being associated with what has come to be known as the “Bhima-Koregaon” or “Elgar Parishad” case.
To mark the bi-centenary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon in 2018, more than 200 Dalit, Bahujan, Ambedkarite and other organisations came together. The coalition organised the hugely successful and massively attended event, ‘Elgar Parishad’ (loud declaration committee), on December 31, 2017 in Shaniwarwada in Pune, once the seat of Peshwai power. This event, as per the organisers, was organised to expose the Navi Peshwai — an era of increasing repression on movements, alienation of minorities, increasing caste atrocities, anti-poor development policies and more.

Charges against the Activists

● That they had made inflammatory speeches at the Elgar Parishad.
● That they are acting on behalf of, or are members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoists).
● That they were plotting to assassinate the Prime Minister.

Lack of Evidence

As it turns out, most of those arrested were not even at the Elgar Parishad event, the charges about the links to Maoists entirely shown to be based on fabricated evidence and so far the charges about the assassination plot had not even a single piece of evidence produced.

The Case of the Reliance Workers Satyanarayan Karrela, Babushankar Vanguri, 
Shankar Gunde, Ravi Marampelli and Saidulu Singapanga

The BK16: Who is …?

Who is Varavara Rao?
All posts related to Varavara Rao
Who is Sudha Bharadwaj?
All posts related to Sudha Bharadwaj
Who is Sudhir Dhawale?
All posts related to Sudhir Dhawale
Who is Arun Ferreira?
All posts related to Arun Ferreira
Who is Surendra Gadling?
All posts related to Surendra Gadling
Who is Vernon Gonsalves?
All posts related to Vernon Gonsalves
Who is Mahesh Raut?
All posts related to Mahesh Raut
Who is Shoma Sen?
All posts related to Shoma Sen
Who is Rona Wilson?
All posts related to Rona Wilson
Who is Gautam Navlakha?
All posts related to Gautam Navlakha
Who is Anand Teltumbde?
All posts related to Anand Teltumbde
Who is Hany Babu?
All posts related to Hany Babu
Who are the Kabir Kala Manch artistes Jyoti Jagtap, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor?
All posts related to Jyoti Jagtap, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor
Who is Stan Swamy?
All posts related to Stan Swamy

Jailed activist Stan Swamy has spent half a century making Adivasi struggles his own

Jailed activist Stan Swamy has spent half a century making Adivasi struggles his own

Pic: National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations (NCHRO)

Jailed activist Stan Swamy has spent half a century making Adivasi struggles his own

15/10/2020

Scroll.in / by John Dayal

The Jesuit priest has sought to interpret his vocation and training in Ignatius Loyola’s philosophy in the service of the most deprived, the most threatened.
In one of those coincidences, 83-year-old Stan Swamy was arrested by India’s high-profile National Investigation Agency about the same time that another octogenarian, Francis, was declaring that all men and women in the world are brothers and sisters, with responsibility to each other and to the earth on which they all live, its resources, its environment, its climate.
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Stan Swamy: The oldest person to be accused of terrorism in India

13/10/2020

BBC News / by Soutik Biswas

On Thursday evening, detectives from India’s National Investigation Agency arrived in an SUV at a red and white building on the outskirts of Ranchi in India’s eastern state of Jharkhand.
There they picked up Father Stan Swamy, an ailing 83-year-old activist and Jesuit priest. They seized his mobile phone and asked him to pack a bag. They then drove him to the airport and boarded a flight to Mumbai, where Father Swamy was remanded to judicial custody until 23 October.
He is now the oldest person to be accused of terrorism in India.
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A new website launched by Friends of Sudha Bharadwaj

A new website launched by Friends of Sudha Bharadwaj

By Friends of Sudha Bharadwaj

Sudha Bharadwaj is a trade-unionist, activist and lawyer who has lived and worked in Chhattisgarh for over three decades. On the 28 th of August 2018, along with other lawyers, writers and activists, Sudha was arrested under wrongful charges in the Bhima Koregaon case and put in jail under the draconian UAPA law. Part of the vibrant labour movement that began in the iron ore mines of Dalli Rajhara as a young activist, Sudha was urged by workers to study law and fight for them in the courtroom.
Visit website

The battle to protect Adivasis’ right to the land: A profile of Father Stan Swamy

The battle to protect Adivasis’ right to the land: A profile of Father Stan Swamy


Pic: Ranchi Oct, 9

The Polis Project & maraa

Fr. Stan Swamy is an indigenous people’s rights defender. He is the founder of Vistapan Virodhi Janvikash Andolan (VVJA), an all India platform for different movements that are campaigning against human rights violations caused by the displacement of Adivasis, Dalits, and farmers from their lands.
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