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Category: Persecution

Anand Teltumbde & Vernon Gonsalves Move HC As They Came In Contact With VV Rao

Anand Teltumbde & Vernon Gonsalves Move HC As They Came In Contact With VV Rao

Live Law / by Nitish Kashyap

Vernon Gonsalves and Anand Teltumbde, both accused in the Bhima Koregaon case and lodged at Taloja jail, have filed a writ petition before the Bombay High Court on Friday seeking directions to the State to be tested for Covid-19 as they came in close contact with co-accused Varavara Rao who was admitted to the Hospital after testing positive for the virus.
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VERNON GONSALVES, ANAND TELTUMBDE ASK TO BE TESTED FOR COVID-19

17/07/2020

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

The jailed activists move Bombay High Court saying they were in close contact with poet Varavara Rao who recently tested positive.
In wake of 79-year-old activist poet Varavara Rao testing positive for Covid-19, two of his fellow inmates from Taloja Central Prison; activists Vernon Gonsalves and Anand Teltumbde have now moved Bombay High Court requesting that they too be tested as they were in close proximity of Rao.
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+++ Update July 17 by The Real Anand Teltumbde: Mr. VV Raos case though listed today could not be heard due to lack of time. This now moves to Monday +++

N Venugopal, Mr. VV Rao’s nephew writes:

Click to enlarge
NHRC orders: Provide Vara Vara Rao best possible medical treatment

NHRC orders: Provide Vara Vara Rao best possible medical treatment

By National Human Rights Commission

NHRC passes order directing the state government to provide VV Rao best possible medical treatment at super speciality private hospital without further delay at state costs.

Click to enlarge NHRC order

NHRC Asks Maharashtra Govt To Give Best Possible Treatment To Varavara Rao In A Reputed Private Super Speciality Hospital

Live Law / by Nitish Kashyap

Taking note of the difficulties faced by jailed Telugu poet Varavara Rao, who tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, the National Human Rights Commission on Friday observed that it was necessary that the Maharashtra Government should give him “the best possible treatment in a reputed super specialty private hospital without any further delay”.
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When the State Fears a Poet: Varsha speaks up for her uncle

When the State Fears a Poet: Varsha speaks up for her uncle

Boston Review / by Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla

On Saturday, I checked my phone and saw that we’d heard from my uncle, currently a political prisoner in India. “I’m alright,” he said. But he wasn’t alright. His voice was weak and feeble, and his words, disjointed, slipped into Hindi instead of his beloved Telugu. For over six decades, Varavara Rao, the revolutionary poet, captivated generations with his critical poetry and prose. That he was anything less than articulate, let alone incoherent, was a gut punch. The goal of Narendra Modi’s administration has been to silence those like my uncle. Had they succeeded?
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Special court extends Navlakha, Teltumbde, detention by 90 days

Special court extends Navlakha, Teltumbde, detention by 90 days

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

The NIA, probing the case, can now file a chargesheet against the two men in 180 days since their arrest on April 14.
Observing that due to the lockdown, the investigating officer in the Elgaar Parishad case could not “investigate the matter effectively”, a special court has extended the detention of academic Dr Anand Teltumbde and activist Gautam Navlakha by another 90 days. The NIA, probing the case, can now file a chargesheet against the two men in 180 days since their arrest on April 14.
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DU professor Hany Babu on being summoned by NIA

DU professor Hany Babu on being summoned by NIA

Edex / by Johanna Deeksha

Ten months ago, the professor’s house was searched by the Maharashtra police and he lost a lot of his academic work, books and research material. It’s trauma that he is simply not past yet.
Two days ago, Delhi University professor Hany Babu was visited at his house by two men who said they were from the local office of the National Investigation Agency. They served him a notice and asked him to appear on July 15 at the NIA’s Mumbai office.
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The extra-judicial punishment of jailing ailing activists during COVID-19

The extra-judicial punishment of jailing ailing activists during COVID-19

The Leaflet / by Indira Jaising

The Supreme Court of India has repeatedly held that imprisonment does not deprive a prisoner of other fundamental rights that can be exercised consistently with detention. This logic should apply with more force to undertrials and doubly during a pandemic.
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CRYING FOR JUSTICE – IMPLICATIONS FOR KEEPING POLITICAL PRISONERS LOCKED DURING A PANDEMIC

The Leaflet / by Megha Katheria

From the senior activists and lawyers to younger activists like Safoora Zargar, the state has walked at turtle space in granting bail or even protecting the health of the political prisoners during a pandemic. The state of our prisons and the necessity to decongest them is well known. The author explores the democratic and constitutional implications on keeping political prisoners, with comorbidities, locked during a pandemic.
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Varavara Rao is in hospital today, but the risk to his life is not over: Family

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

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

Teltumbde files bail plea; Rao seeks early hearing of petition

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

Chained Muse: Notes from Prison by Varavara Rao/ How To Read A Letter From Jail

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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