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Category: Prison conditions

Are prisoners entitled to make phone calls? Bombay HC asks prison authorities in Navlakha’s plea

Are prisoners entitled to make phone calls? Bombay HC asks prison authorities in Navlakha’s plea

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Why can telephone conversations not be reintroduced, might reduce footfall in prison, the division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and NR Borkar mused.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked Maharashtra prison authorities to clear their stand on whether Bhima Koregaon violence accused Gautam Navlakha is entitled to make telephonic and/or video conference calls from prison.
Read more

Update by Bar & Bench (Jul 13, 2022)
+++ Bombay High Court adjourns hearing on the application filed by Bhima Koregaon accused Gautam Navlakha seeking access to telephonic facilities in prison by a week +++

Also read:
● ‘Emotional Torture’: Why Don’t Indian Jails Give Inmates a Right to Phone Calls? (The Quint / Nov 2021)
● Kin of jailed activists write to authorities to not discontinue telephone calls (Sabrangindia / Oct 2021)

‘You are immortalised in our hearts’: A cellmate’s letter to Stan Swamy on his death anniversary / Protest Fast by 11 Co-Accused

‘You are immortalised in our hearts’: A cellmate’s letter to Stan Swamy on his death anniversary / Protest Fast by 11 Co-Accused

‘You are immortalised in our hearts’: A cellmate’s letter to Stan Swamy on his death anniversary

05/07/2022

Scroll.in / by Vernon Gonsalves

The Jesuit priest, who had been arrested in the Bhima Koregoan case, died in custody on July 5, 2021, at the age of 84.

Dear Stan,
It’s now around a year to the day they said you went away. But it doesn’t seem as if you’ve gone. Guys like you can hardly just go away. Not from me at least, not from many many more you worked with and amongst. Actually you haven’t gone, in fact you’ve come. You’ve come to the lakhs who’ve come to know you over the last year and you’ll continue coming, down the ages, to millions more. You can’t go away, you won’t go away.
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On Father Stan Swamy’s Death Anniversary, Elgar Parishad Activists Observe Protest Fast in Prison

05/07/2022

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

Activists and lawyers have accused the jail administration of inhuman treatment towards and lack of adequate medical care for the priest and other accused in the case.
On July 5, last year, 84-year-old Jharkhand-based tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy died in judicial custody in Mumbai.
Swamy was the 16th and last person to be arrested in the highly controversial Elgar Parishad case. He, like his co-accused in the case, suffered from prolonged and serious health complications while in custody. Swamy passed away after testing positive for COVID-19. His co-prisoners and lawyers have blamed the state for not allowing adequate medical help to reach him on time.
A year later, protesting against alleged state apathy and lack of accountability, 11 of his co-prisoners have decided to observe a day-long fast on the day of Swamy’s passing.
Read more

Eleven activists accused in Elgar Parishad case observe day-long fast in Taloja prison on 1st death anniversary of Stan Swamy

05/07/2022

Midday.com / by pti

The protesting activists alleged that the death of Father Stan Swamy (83) was “brutal assassination by the prison administration, the NIA, and the government.” Swamy’s co-accused and activist Sudhir Dhawale, in a letter written to the Taloja prison superintendent and the case lawyers, claimed there has been no change in the jail condition, including general apathy among the prison administration and lack of medical facilities, which were among the several causes that led to Swamy’s death.
Read more

Also read
● How the system broke Stan Swamy: A cell mate recalls the activist’s last days in prison (Scroll.in / Aug 2021)

Taloja jail cites security threat for refusing mosquito nets / Net of contention

Taloja jail cites security threat for refusing mosquito nets / Net of contention

Taloja jail cites security threat for refusing mosquito nets

16/06/2022

Hindustan Times / by Charul Shah

Gautam Navlakha, Sagar Gorkhe and others lodged in Taloja jail had approached the special court for a direction to provide mosquito nets.
Citing security threats, the Taloja jail prison authorities have objected to the use of mosquito nets in prison in the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court. The authorities filed a reply to the plea filed by the accused booked in connection with the Elgar Parishad Bhima Koregaon case.
Read more

Net of contention: Courts to decide on pleas by ‘mosquito-infested’ Taloja inmates this week

13/06/2022

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

In May, jail authorities conducted a search of belongings of inmates and seized mosquito nets being used by them. The reason cited by the officials was that the nets have a long string which the prisoners could use to harm themselves or others.
The move caused discord among prisoners who said that there was a mosquito menace in the jail and that the nets were their primary form of protection against diseases. One inmate, Sagar Gorkhe, booked in the Elgaar Parishad case, even approached the Kharghar police alleging that the jail authorities had conducted “theft” by seizing his mosquito net, which cost him Rs 620. A number of inmates have approached trial courts seeking the nets.
Read more

Also read:
● As Sagar Gorkhe announces fast unto death, Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court seeking mosquito net (The Leaflet / May 2022)

And Ma can’t sing with Sagar

And Ma can’t sing with Sagar

Midday / by Ajaz Ashraf

Sagar Gorkhe, termed Maoist twice and sent to jail, where he fights for the rights of the inmates, continues writing songs—of hope: “From wounds shall burst out vines/Learning how to blossom again”
agar Gorkhe, a Dalit accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case, was on the fourth day of his hunger strike at Mumbai’s Taloja Central Jail when his mother Surekha learnt about it, via a WhatsApp forward on her daughter’s mobile. Surekha stopped taking food. Her family and members of the Kabir Kala Manch, a cultural troupe to which Sagar belongs, tried to coax her into eating. 
Read more

Also read:
● And he waits for Shoma Sen (Midday.com / May 2022)
● And she waits for Gautam Navlakha (Midday.com / May 2022)

Maharashtra MLC met Sagar Gorkhe in jail / On 7th day of his hunger strike Sagar Gorkhe called it off

Maharashtra MLC met Sagar Gorkhe in jail / On 7th day of his hunger strike Sagar Gorkhe called it off

Bhima Koregaon accused calls off hunger strike

28/05/2022

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

Sagar Gorkhe began “fast unto death” on May 20 alleging harassment by jail authorities.
Bhima Koregaon accused Sagar Gorkhe called off his hunger strike on Friday after Member of Legislative Council Kapil Patil met him at Taloja Central Jail.
Read more

Maharashtra MLC to meet Bhima Koregaon accused Sagar Gorkhe in jail

27/05/2022

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

He has been on an indefinite hunger strike alleging harassment by jail authorities.
Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) Kapil Patil will visit the Taloja Central Jail to meet Bhima Koregaon accused Sagar Gorkhe, who is on an indefinite hunger strike alleging harassment by jail authorities.
Read more

Also read:
● Hunger Strike unto death against the harassment from Taloja Central Jail’s apathetic administration (By Sagar Gorkhe / May 20)

The dangerous Machchhardani (mosquito net) – Statement by Ramesh Gaichor

The dangerous Machchhardani (mosquito net) – Statement by Ramesh Gaichor

by PantherAjay (May 27)

Jailed Shahir Sagar Gorkhe is not the only under trail prisoner who has been continually harassed and whose ‘Machchhardani’ stolen by the insolent jail administration. This is an attempt to condemn the unlawful treatment meted against the under trial prisoners and to safeguard their rights. Following is the account of a similar incident that was faced by another imprisoned writer and poet Ramesh Gaichor translated from the original written in Marathi.
#Machhardani #Freebk16 #gautammawlakha #Sagar #Ramesh

Statement by Ramesh Gaichor

Also read/ watch:
● As Sagar Gorkhe announces fast unto death, Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court seeking mosquito net (The Leaflet / May 2022)

Video Statement by Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor (Sep 5, 2020)


hindi/ english subtitles | 2:20min | 2020

Kabir Kala Manch activists Sagar Gorkhe & Ramesh Gaichor have alleged that they’re being forced by the NIA to give confessional statements, claiming they are a part of Maoist organization. The two refused, and were arrested in The Bhima Koregaon case.
Their statement was recorded on Sep 5, 2020.
Watch their statement

● Kabir Kala Manch: A History of Revolutionary Singing and State Repression (ritimo / April 2022)
● Video: Dafachya Talavar (Songs of Defiance) | Hindi, Marthi (subtitles: English) | 24:01min | 2022

Hunger Strike unto death against the harassment from Taloja Central Jail’s apathetic administration

Hunger Strike unto death against the harassment from Taloja Central Jail’s apathetic administration

By Sagar Tatyaram Gorakhe

To,

Honourable Home Minister,

State of Maharashtra,
Home Department, Mantralaya
Mumbai
Hunger Strike unto death against the harassment from Taloja Central Jail’s apathetic administration.

Subject:

Sir,

I, Sagar Tatyaram Gorakhe, am a Political Prisoner under the Elgar Parishad Bhima Koregao Case, and have been locked up in the Taloja Central Jail since September 2020. It is with extreme distress that I inform you that since the very beginning the prison administration has treated the Bhima Koregao Case accused with utmost prejudice. As a result, the prison has become a torture camp for my co-accused and me. As you must be aware that it was the maltreatment by the prison administration that led to the custodial death of Father Stan Swami last year. Even today our basic human rights are being trampled over every day in the prison. It is because the situation has become absolutely unbearable that I must resort to an agonising hunger strike in protest. …

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When Your Mother Is In Prison…

When Your Mother Is In Prison…

Rediff.com / by Neeta Kolhatkar

‘Just waiting outside the prison gate, thinking that your mother is inside those walls even though you know she is innocent, affects your psyche.’
There were some things Koel Sen never dreamt she would ever do.
But life turned upside down for the film-maker and columnist when her mother Professor Shoma Sen was arrested in March 2018 for her alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon case. Professor Sen was, as a consequence, suspended from her post as head of the English literature department at Nagpur University.
Read more

Also read:
● ‘It is very difficult to see my mother like this’ (Rediff.com / May 2022)

Sagar Gorkhe announces fast unto death, Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court seeking mosquito net

Sagar Gorkhe announces fast unto death, Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court seeking mosquito net


File pic: Sagar Gorkhe

Accused Sagar Gorkhe goes on hunger strike against jail authorities

25/05/2022

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

Accused alleges harassment by jail authorities and denial of basic facilities, Co-accused Gautam Navlakha seeks special court’s permission to use a mosquito net
Sagar Gorkhe, a cultural activist who has been locked up in the Taloja Central Jail since September 2020 as a virtual political prisoner in the Elgar Parishad Bhima Koregaon case, has now gone on hunger strike to protest his inhuman treatment in jail. Gorkhe has written to Maharashtra’s Home Minister, informing him about his decision that he was forced to take due to Taloja Central Jail allegedly harassing him and denying him his basic human rights.
Read more

As Sagar Gorkhe announces fast unto death, Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court seeking mosquito net

25/05/2022

The Leaflet / by Sabah Gurmat

Gorkhe’s letter to Maharashtra Home Minister, Dilip Walse Patil, equates the conditions in Taloja jail to that of a “torture camp”.
SAGAR Gorkhe, an activist and performer with cultural troupe Kabir Kala Manch, accused of inciting violence in the Bhima Koregaon (Elgar Parishad) case, has written to Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil announcing his hunger strike in protest against the conditions at Taloja jail.
Meanwhile, septuagenarian activist and journalist Gautam Navlakha, who is a co-accused lodged in the same prison, approached the National Investigation Agency (‘NIA’) seeking a mosquito net.
Read more

Elgar Parishad accused alleges harassment by Taloja jail officer

25/05/2022

Mid-day.com / by Faizan Khan

Sagar Tatyaram Gorkhe has written to the state home minister Dilip Walse Patil, threatens to go on an indefinite hunger strike if action is not taken immediately.
Sagar Tatyaram Gorkhe, an accused in Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon accused, has written to Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil, alleging harassment by the Taloja Jail superintendent. He has threatened to go on a hunger strike until death.
“It is with extreme distress that I inform you that since the very beginning the prison administration has treated the Bhima Koregaon case accused with utmost prejudice. As a result, the prison has become a torture camp for my co-accused and me. As you must be aware that it was the maltreatment by the prison administration that led to the custodial death of Father Stan Swami last year,” his letter reads.
Read more

Jail officials delaying treatment to all Elgar Parishad case accused: Sagar Gorkhe writes to HM

24/05/2022

Hindustan Times / by HT Correspondent

He has also urged the home minister to immediately stop the scanning of all incoming and outgoing mail by the jail officials.
Sagar Gorkhe, one of the accused in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence case, has written to state home minister Dilip Walse-Patil alleging that Taloja jail authorities are discriminating against several accused in the case and deliberately delaying medical treatment to them even though they are suffering from several serious ailments.
Read more

Video Statement by Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor (Sep 5, 2020)


hindi/ english subtitles | 2:20min | 2020

Kabir Kala Manch activists Sagar Gorkhe & Ramesh Gaichor have alleged that they’re being forced by the NIA to give confessional statements, claiming they are a part of Maoist organization. The two refused, and were arrested in The Bhima Koregaon case.
Their statement was recorded on Sep 5, 2020.
Watch their statement

Also read/watch:
● Kabir Kala Manch: A History of Revolutionary Singing and State Repression (ritimo / April 2022)
● Video: Dafachya Talavar (Songs of Defiance) | Hindi, Marthi (subtitles: English) | 24:01min | 2022

Jail officials took away mosquito net: Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court

Jail officials took away mosquito net: Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court

Hindustan Times / by Charul Shah

Gautam Navlakha, who was arrested on August 28, 2018, from his residence in New Delhi, has been presently lodged in Taloja jail.
Human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, who has been arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence case, has approached the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court seeking a mosquito net, alleging that the net he was using was taken away by the prison authorities.
Read more

Also read:
● PUDR: WHEN THE PROCESS BECOMES THE PUNISHMENT (PUDR / April 2022)