Persecution – Page 94 – free them all

Varavara Rao is in hospital today, but the risk to his life is not over: Family

14/07/2020 Rani

Sabrang / by Sabrangindia

Rao’s s bail hearing is due on July 17, his family fears that police may get Rao certified ‘stable/normal’ and present this report to HC.
Noted Poet and activist Varavara Rao (79) was urgently shifted to JJ Hospital from Taloja Jail on Monday afternoon as his condition began worsening. However his family is still worried about the fact that the police may pressurise the hospital to discharge him once he stabilises and send him to jail.
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VARAVARA RAO TAKEN TO JJ HOSPITAL IN MUMBAI

13/07/2020

The News Minute / by TNM Staff

Earlier in the day, the decision to deny temporary medical bail to the revolutionary poet and Left ideologue was challenged by his lawyers.
Varavara Rao, the 81-year-old poet and activist lodged at the Taloja Jail in Maharashtra over his alleged role in the Bhima Koregaon violence in 2018, was taken to the JJ Hospital in Mumbai on Monday.
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Teltumbde files bail plea; Rao seeks early hearing of petition

14/07/2020 Rani

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

Professor Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, filed an application before the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Monday, the 91st day of his arrest, seeking to be released on default bail. Mr. Teltumbde has filed for bail for the first time…
Meanwhile, poet and activist Varavara Rao (81), another accused in the case, moved the Bombay High Court on Monday seeking that his interim bail application, which was listed on July 17, be heard on Tuesday.
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Chained Muse: Notes from Prison by Varavara Rao/ How To Read A Letter From Jail

13/07/2020 Rani

The Wire / by Varavara Rao

In November 2019, when the Bhima Koregaon accused were still housed in Yerawada Central Prison and their case had not yet been transferred to the NIA, the Telugu poet penned some thoughts about his experience there, and the carceral nature of the state.
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HOW TO READ A LETTER FROM JAIL

ARUN FERREIRA’S PRISON MEMOIR, 2014

08/06/2020

Bloomberg Quint / by Priya Ramani

“Read it not once, but many times,” says Mohammad Aamir Khan explaining the process clearly over the phone. “Each word has a story. Try to feel the pain behind each word.”
Khan, 39, should know. After he was “kidnapped” one night (he never uses the word arrested because he was snatched from the street, tortured, made to sign blank sheets of paper, and then produced in a court only a week later), Khan spent 14 years in prison, incarcerated for serious crimes he never committed, before being acquitted in 2012.
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Varavara Rao Challenges Spl Court Order Rejecting Bail On Medical Grounds Before Bombay HC

13/07/2020 Rani

Live Law / by Nitish Kashyap

Varavara Rao, the 81-year-old poet and literary critic from Telangana, accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, challenged the order passed by a special court on June 26 rejecting temporary bail sought on medical grounds, before the Bombay High Court … Advocate R Sathyanarayanan moved an urgent praecipe on Sunday seeking hearing in Rao’s petition on Tuesday citing urgency, instead of its scheduled hearing on Friday.
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Mumbai Special Court Rejects Gautam Navlakha’s Plea For Default Bail

12/07/2020 Rani

Live Law / by Nitish Kashyap

In a Sunday hearing, a special court in Mumbai denied default bail to activist Gautam Navlakha who is currently lodged at Taloja jail. Court also allowed NIA’s application seeking custody of Navlakha for ten days in order to question him in the Bhima Koregaon case …
Moreover, Judge Kothalikar accepted NIA’s plea seeking extension of 90 to 180 days to file chargesheet against Navlakha and Dr. Anand Teltumbde, also accused of being a part of the maoist movement and inciting the caste based violence that took place on the 200th anniversary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon through speeches at the Elgar Parishad conclave a day earlier on December 31, 2017.
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Bhima Koregaon inmates can barely communicate, worried about their health: Families

12/07/2020 Rani

The Caravan / by Nileena MS

On the evening of 11 July, the 81-year-old poet Varavara Rao called his wife, Hemalatha, from the overcrowded Taloja Central Prison in Maharashtra, sounding incoherent and delirious, according to a press release circulated by his family …
Families and lawyers of others who have been imprisoned in connection to the Bhima Koregaon case have pointed out they are barely able to communicate with the inmates during the pandemic. At least four of the 11 undertrial prisoners have pre-existing medical conditions that make them vulnerable to the novel coronavirus.
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Press Note from Vara Vara Rao’s Family

12/07/2020 Rani

VV Rao’s daughter Pavana and wife Hemalatha in May 2020

By Vara Vara Rao’s Family

DON’T KILL VARA VARA RAO IN JAIL !!
We, the family members of Varavara Rao, world-renowned Telugu revolutionary poet and public intellectual, who is incarcerated in Navi Mumbai’s Taloja Jail, are very much worried about his deteriorating health. His health condition has been scary for over six weeks now, ever since he was shifted in an unconscious state to JJ Hospital from Taloja Jail on May 28, 2020. Even as he was discharged from the hospital and sent back to jail three days later, there has been no improvement in his health and he is still in need of emergency heathcare. …

NIA asked for extention to investigate charges against Dr. Anand Teltumbde

12/07/2020 Rani

By The Real Anand Teltumbde / @TeltumbdeA

Varavara Rao health condition deteriorates, Family Alleges Severe Negligence by Authorities

11/07/2020 Rani

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

Rao, who has been in jail for close to two years, has been unwell since the lockdown and his family claim that he is suffering from memory loss.
Mumbai: The health of 78- year-old political activist, poet and writer Varavara Rao, who has been in jail for close to two years, has worsened. His family has alleged that the prison department has been blocking information on his condition from reaching them.
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VARAVARA RAO NEEDS MEDICAL HELP: FAMILY

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

81-year-old famous poet not receiving any treatment inside jail, they say.
Varavara Rao, 81-year-old famous poet incarcerated at the Taloja jail, called his family after eight days on Saturday and spoke about his parents’ death, said his daughter Pavana …
Mr. Rao’s appeal against rejecting his bail is slated to be heard by the Bombay High Court on July 17.
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HC Directs NIA & State To Inform About Conditions In Byculla Jail Where Sudha Bharadwaj Is Lodged

10/07/2020 Rani

Live Law / by Nitish Kashyap

The Bombay High Court on Friday while hearing an appeal filed by lawyer and tribal rights activist Sudha Bharadwaj directed the National Investigation Agency and state government to take instructions regarding the prevailing conditions in Byculla jail and the social distancing measures being implemented in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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HC SEEKS DETAILS OF JAIL WHERE SUDHA BHARADWAJ IS LODGED

Hindustan Times / by KAY Dohiya

On Friday, while hearing the application of Bharadwaj, the bench of Justice SS Shinde and Justice Madhav Jamdar was informed by senior advocate Yug Choudhary that the conditions in Byculla women’s prison were deplorable due to congestion and as Bharadwaj suffered from co-morbidities there was a threat to her well-being and hence should be granted interim bail… The court directed the prison authorities and state to submit an affidavit regarding enlisting the condition of inmates in Byculla women’s prison and posted the matter for hearing on July 17.
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