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Category: Persecution

NIA raids human rights activist’s Srinagar residence / Statement by PUCL

NIA raids human rights activist’s Srinagar residence / Statement by PUCL


Drawing by Arun Ferreira

Release Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez

24/11/2021

Countercurrents / by PUCL

Press Statement
PUCL calls for the immediate release of Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez, who was arrested on 22nd November 2021, by the National Investigating Agency under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and Indian Penal Code…
PUCL firmly believes that the present action is one more attempt on part of the present establishment to silence peaceful, non violent dissenters. In the context of what has happened in recent times concerning cases of Bhima Koregaon, Delhi riots, Tripura violence, farmers protest, the tool kit case, Siddique Kappan case and various others across the country, Khurram’s arrest is one more instance of a brutalizing state machinery being used against human rights defenders.
Read full statement

NIA raids human rights activist’s Srinagar residence over terror links

23/11/2021

Deccan Herald / by Zulfikar Majid, DHNS

The probe agency sleuths carried out searches at Khurram Parvez’s residence in Sonwar and office at Amira Kadal.
In an early morning swoop, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Monday carried out searches at the residence and office of human rights activist Khurram Parvez in Srinagar, in connection with a terror funding probe…
The NIA has reportedly found links between Parvez and charge-sheeted activist Gautam Navlakha, who was arrested by the probe agency last year.
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by Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur HRDs (Nov 22):
I’m hearing disturbing reports that Khurram Parvez was arrested today in Kashmir & is at risk of being charged by authorities in #India with terrorism-related crimes. He’s not a terrorist, he’s a Human Rights Defender

Anand Teltumbde Seeks Temporary Bail To Visit Mother After Brother’s Encounter Killing

Anand Teltumbde Seeks Temporary Bail To Visit Mother After Brother’s Encounter Killing

Anand Teltumbde Seeks Temporary Bail To Visit Mother After Brother’s Encounter Killing

23/11/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

Anand Teltumbde, Dalit scholar and accused in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad case has sought the special NIA court’s permission for temporary bail to visit his 90-year-old mother for 15 days following brother – Milind’s – death in an encounter.
A telephone conversation earlier permitted by the court did not materialise.
Milind, an alleged Maoist leader was killed in an encounter by security personnel in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district along with 26 others.
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Anand Teltumbde moves NIA Court for interim bail after death of brother Milind Teltumbde

23/11/2021

Bar & Bench by Neha Joshi

Milind Teltumbde was among the 26 killed in a recent gun-battle encounter that took place on November 13 this year at Korchi in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra.
Accused in Bhima Koregaon case, Anand Teltumbde has moved a Mumbai court seeking interim bail to visit his mother and family, after the recent death of his brother, Milind Teltumbde, who was also a wanted-accused in the 2018 case.
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‘Urban Naxals’, Sharad Pawar’s U-Turn and What it Means for Efforts to Ensure Justice for Activists

‘Urban Naxals’, Sharad Pawar’s U-Turn and What it Means for Efforts to Ensure Justice for Activists

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

When the MVA government came to power in Maharashtra, it vehemently criticised the Fadnavis government’s handling of the Elgar Parishad case. Two years later, Sharad Pawar is sounding a lot more like Fadnavis.
In 2018, the Maharashtra police, under the Devendra Fadnavis-led Bharatiya Janata Party government, arrested several rights activists, lawyers and academics for their alleged involvement in the Elgar Parishad case.
This series of arrests, made from different parts of the country, made way for the dramatic discourse on the presence of “urban Naxals” in the country. 
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Bombay High Court Asks Varavara Rao To File Fresh Petition; Extends Time To Surrender Till Dec 2

Bombay High Court Asks Varavara Rao To File Fresh Petition; Extends Time To Surrender Till Dec 2

Bombay HC Asks Varavara Rao To File Fresh Petition for Extension Of Medical Bail; Extends Time To Surrender Till Dec

19/11/2021

Live Law / by Livelaw News Network

The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad accused P Varavara Rao to file a fresh petition to extend temporary medical bail granted to him on February 22, 2021 for six months.
The court observed that it could not modify bail conditions imposed by the previous bench, therefore, a new substantive petition would be required. The bench extended Rao’s time to surrender till December 2 in the interim.
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Varavara Rao’s Bail Extended till December 2

19/11/2021

Silverscreen / by Namrata Ganguly

The Bombay High Court has extended the interim bail of Varavara Rao, activist and co-accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, till December 2. This is an extension to his six-month interim bail that was granted in February…
The court will next hear the case on November 29.
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Poet Varavara Rao’s interim medical bail extended till December 2

18/11/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Owing to Rao’s ill health, his counsel had demanded a bail extension of four months.
Poet Varavara Rao, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, need not surrender to the Taloja Jail authorities until December 2, the Bombay High Court said on Thursday, according to PTI.
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Court Allows Anand Teltumbde 5 Mins Telephone Call With Mother After Brother’s Encounter Killing

Court Allows Anand Teltumbde 5 Mins Telephone Call With Mother After Brother’s Encounter Killing

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Special NIA Court has allowed Dalit scholar Anand Teltumbde a telephone call to his mother for five minutes on loud speaker after his brother and alleged Maoist leader Milind Teltumbde’s encounter killing by security personnel in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district.
In his plea to the Special NIA court, Teltumbde said his ninety-year-old mother is in a state of shock and bereavement after Milind’s demise and therefore he may be permitted a telephone call.
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Also read:
● Kin harried as phone calls of undertrials discontinued (The Indian Express / Nov 2021)

Youngest accused Mahesh Raut and Jyoti Jagtap move special court for bail

Youngest accused Mahesh Raut and Jyoti Jagtap move special court for bail

Youngest accused Mahesh Raut and Jyoti Jagtap move special court for bail

17/11/2021

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Mahesh Raut and Jyoti Jagtap, two of the youngest accused in the case from 2018 have approached the Mumbai Sessions Court seeking regular bail.
Two of the youngest accused in the Bhima Koregaon case from 2018, Mahesh Raut (34) and Jyoti Jagtap (32), have approached the Mumbai Sessions Court seeking regular bail. This is Jagtap’s first bail application.
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Special NIA court begins hearing bail applications of the youngest accused

17/11/2021

India Today / by Vidya

A Special NIA court began hearing bail applications of two of the youngest accused in the 2018 Elgar Parishad case on Wednesday.
One of the accused in the case, Mahesh Raut has filed a bail plea which was argued by advocate Vijay Hiremath…
Apart from these two accused, Hany Babu, Ramesh Gaichor and Sagar Gorkhe’s bail pleas will also come up for hearing.
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Unable to pay rent, Varavara Rao to shift to an ashram-like facility behind Shah Rukh Khan’s Mannat

Unable to pay rent, Varavara Rao to shift to an ashram-like facility behind Shah Rukh Khan’s Mannat

India Today / by Vidya

Telugu poet Varavara Rao, an accused in the 2018 Elgar Parishad case, told the special NIA court in Mumbai on Tuesday that he was shifting from a high society flat in Mumbai to an ashram-like facility in Bandra as he was unable to afford rent.
Advocate Niraj Yadav, appearing for Rao, said his client would shift to an ashram-like facility which is right behind actor Shah Rukh Khan’s bungalow, Mannat.
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Kin harried as phone calls of undertrials discontinued

Kin harried as phone calls of undertrials discontinued

‘Emotional Torture’: Why Don’t Indian Jails Give Inmates a Right to Phone Calls?

16/11/2021

The Quint / by Vakasha Sachdev

With pandemic restrictions easing, many states are once more taking away the option to call families and lawyers.
Dear Reader,
The Indian criminal justice system is plagued by apathy, indifference and indeed, injustice. This story is The Quint’s effort to ensure that the many everyday tragedies of this system do not remain mere statistics. It’s the story of Archana, who will have to travel for eight hours and wait in line for as long, to meet her imprisoned brother Vinod for 5-7 minutes. Of Sahba, whose partner Gautam is an undertrial in a jail in a different part of the country, who will no longer be allowed to speak to him on the phone.
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Kin harried as phone calls of undertrials discontinued

15/11/2021

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

The prison department has decided to discontinue phone calls and video calls from prisoners after physical mulaqats (meetings) were resumed last month.
It has been a month since Sahba Husain spoke to her partner, Gautam Navlakha, lodged at Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai as an undertrial in the Elgaar Parishad case. Husain is one of the many family members affected by the decision by the Maharashtra prison department to discontinue phone calls and video calls from prisoners after physical mulaqats (meetings) were resumed last month.
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Maoist leader linked to ‘plot to kill PM Modi’ arrested in Jharkhand

Maoist leader linked to ‘plot to kill PM Modi’ arrested in Jharkhand

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

Prashant Bose, wanted in several criminal cases, is the secretary of the CPI (Maoist) eastern regional bureau.
Top CPI (Maoist) leader Prashant Bose alias Kishan Da, who was recently arrested by Jharkhand Police, is one of the many accused named in the Elgaar Parishad case. Bose was named in connection with a “Maoist communication” that allegedly mentioned a plot to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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Also read:
● The unravelling of a conspiracy: were the 16 charged with plotting to kill India’s prime minister framed? (The Guardian / Aug 2021)
● Explainer: Arsenal Report on Surendra Gadling (The Leaflet / Jul 2021)
● They were accused of plotting to overthrow the Modi government. The evidence was planted, a new report says. (Washington Post / Feb 2021)

How the ‘anda cell’ is used to discipline inmates / Do we run to courts for basic human rights? / Video

How the ‘anda cell’ is used to discipline inmates / Do we run to courts for basic human rights? / Video

How the ‘anda cell’ is used to discipline prison inmates

28/10/2021

The Indian Express / by Jinee Lokaneeta

The torturous practice of solitary confinement, whether for 24 hours or a large part of a day, remains a key feature of modern prisons, sometimes by another name. The continued use of an “anda” (egg-shaped) cell or high security cell in the Indian context appears to be, in effect, the use of solitary confinement — defined by many as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or torture — by another name. The news that eminent journalist and human rights activist and scholar implicated in the Bhima Koregaon case, Gautam Navlakha, has been moved to an “anda” circle in Taloja jail on October 12 is just another reminder that imprisonment itself appears inadequate for the state.
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Do we run to courts for basic human rights? asks Navlakha’s partner, says he’s not allowed to call

27/10/2021

The Print / by Bismee Taskin

Sahba Husain says the rights activist has also been denied access to the library, canteen and jail’s green areas ever since he was shifted to the high-security Anda cell.
It was in April last year when human rights activist Gautam Navlakha surrendered before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Bhima Koregaon case.
Since then Navlakha has been in prison — first in Delhi’s Tihar jail and then in the Taloja jail in Mumbai. Earlier this month, the 70-year-old, along with five other accused, was shifted to the high-security ‘Anda cell’ of the Mumbai prison.
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Also watch: Book Launch “Colours of the Cage”


en | 1h 10min | 2014
‘Colours of the Cage’ is the real story of what goes on behind bars – it isn’t like the celluloid or novelistic versions that readers are familiar with. However, it is not just a harrowing account of life in prison but also a memoir of astonishing power – about a man’s stubborn fight for justice and the triumph of the human will.
This video was recorded at the launch of Arun’s book ‘Colours of the Cage’ on the 26th of September, 2014 at the Press Club, Mumbai. Seated on the dais from the left, are journalist-author Naresh Fernandes, author-poet Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira and playwright-director Ramu Ramanathan.
Watch video

Also read:
● Kin of jailed activists write to authorities to not discontinue telephone calls (Sabrangindia / Oct 25, 2021)