Senior advocates and rights activists raise concerns over the draconian application of UAPA, arbitrary arrests, and denial of constitutional rights.
If the present government comes back to power, “we will see the use of terrorism legislation in a manner that we’ve never seen before” said senior advocate of the Supreme Court, Colin Gonsalves, the founder of the Human Rights Law Network. “We’re at a very tenuous period of our history, a very dangerous period,” he added. Read more
Draconian Laws Promoting Authoritarian Rule Should Be Repealed
Draconian Laws Promoting Authoritarian Rule Should Be Repealed
19/05/2024
Peoples Democracy / by G Ramakrishnan CPI(M)
… After BJP came to power in 2014, the situation in our country has gone from bad to worse. The situation now is akin to an undeclared emergency. The last ten years of the Modi government have seen unprecedented attack on democracy and democratic rights. The lawless laws, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), National Security Act (NSA), Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the central Agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED), CBI and Income Tax department have been used to target the leaders of the opposition parties and those who criticise and oppose the policies of the Modi government at the centre. Read more
GN Saibaba’s acquittal: Rights activists seeks compensation and reinstatement in DU
11/03/2024
The News Minute / by TNM Staff
The Committee for Defence and Release of GN Saibaba appealed to the Supreme Court to reject the appeal filed by the Maharashtra government against his release.
… They also asked the government to repeal the draconian UAPA law. “All charges against intellectuals and activists who have been similarly falsely detained under the UAPA in particular, such as those charged in the Bhima-Koregaon case, or those arrested during the anti-CAA/NRC struggle, should be dropped and they should be immediately released. Read more
How These Lawyers Worked Tirelessly To Free Saibaba
08/03/2024
Rediff.com / by Jyoti Punwani
‘We were sure our appeal would succeed. We knew we could break down the evidence and show it was hollow.’ It took an army of lawyers.
Behind the successful battle to prove the innocence of Professor G N Saibaba and his co-accused, went years of preparation. The backbone of that preparation was the work put in by a group of lawyers, all of whom had been juniors to Advocate Surendra Gadling. Read more
‘UAPA must be scrapped’: Indira Jaising
07/03/2024
Frontline / by Jyoti Punwani
Senior lawyer discusses what the acquittal of Prof. G.N. Saibaba and his fellow accused means for the country.
… The judgment quotes the Supreme Court’s order granting bail to Vernon Gonsalves, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. Will this judgment in turn be helpful in the Bhima Koregaon case, especially with regard to the way police collect and present electronic evidence?
Yes, on electronic evidence, this judgment is a precedent. It lays down that not taking the hash value renders the evidence of no real value. This is also what happened in the Bhima Koregaon case. Read more
Calling UAPA ‘undemocratic’, the human rights activist says the State is leaning towards implementing more oppressive and repressive laws
“A person suffers in jail for three to four years and then gets acquitted after the prosecution fails to prove his guilt. This is happening in many cases now. About 97 percent of the arrests were made without any evidence, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) cases,” said G. Haragopal, human rights activists and retired professor from the University of Hyderabad. Read more
Counterview / by National Campaign to Defend Democracy
…
The National Campaign to Defend Democracy which is a coalition of over 100 organisations working on human rights issues would like bring to your attention the situation of five years of unjust incarceration under false and fabricated evidence of some of India’s finest intellectuals, thinkers, activists and lawyers.
This injustice which goes by the name of the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Conspiracy case – started its nightmarish journey five years ago. Even as of today, 16 noted academics, intellectuals, lawyers, writers, poets, activists, stand charged with conspiring to overthrow the elected government, indulging in terrorist acts, sedition etc., although the evidence the back these tall claims of high treason is still absent. Read full statement
Speakers at a media conference, organised by the civil rights network Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), even as discussing “suppression of democratic voices” using suppressive laws in the light of the Tadwai case, where 152 activists of Andhra-Telangana were named under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), have demanded repeal of the “draconian” law. Read more
Remembering Father Stan and demand justice for the BK-16!
05/07/2023
By People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) / fb Videos
Announcement
Join us to remember Father Stan Swamy, and demand justice for his institutional murder.
We will have family members and friends of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, speak about the experience of the prison conditions and this unjust prolonged arrest.
We will also be joined by political leaders, international human rights organisations and lawyers, to help take the campaign forward to defend democracy! Repeal UAPA!
Release all political prisoners!
The tributes to Father Stan by his associates and his co-accused (which were read out) provided a clue to why his death continues to touch so many.
“We don’t want this to be forgotten or forgiven.” — senior advocate Mihir Desai.
“Do not forget, do not forgive.” This theme ran through the Zoom meeting organised by the National Campaign to Defend Democracy, a coalition of human rights groups, on the second anniversary of Father Stan Swamy’s death. Read more
Ashirvad and PUCL Karnataka – Remembering Father Stan Swamy
by PUCL India / @PUCLindia (July 4, 2023):
The National Campaign to Defend Democracy, a coalition of over 150 organisations, is hosting a discussion tomorrow at 9 PM to remember Father Stan Swamy & talk about the stories of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.
Let’s demand immediate bail and release of all the BK16!
by Jesuit conference of South Asia / @JCSADelhi
On the occasion of the 2nd Death Anniversary of Stan Swamy, you are invited to join a panel discussion on civic literacy and political participation.
#StanSwamy
Human rights activists to hold Sankalp Sabhas on July 5
04/07/2023
The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee
Activists in Jharkhand have decided to take a pledge to continue their fight for jal, jungle and jameen, along with a demand for punishment to those responsible for ‘murder’ of Stan Swamy.
Human rights activists in Jharkhand have decided to take a pledge to continue their fight for jal (water), jungle (forest) and jameen (land), along with a demand for punishment to those responsible for the “murder” of Stan Swamy, on July 5 which marks the third death anniversary of the Jesuit priest. Read more
The Challenge to Live Fr. Stan Swamy’s Legacy Today!
04/07/2023
Countercurrents.org / by Cedric Prakash
… Given the grim realities which throttle the nation today, one person whose physical presence is greatly missed today is that of Jesuit Father Stan Swamy. Two years ago on 5 July 2021, he said ‘good-bye’ to us, having completed his pilgrimage here on earth. He was arrested on 8 October 2020 on fabricated charges, incarcerated in the Taloja jail where he suffered very much. His terrible and untimely death is regarded by many as ‘institutional murder’. He has still not been declared ‘innocent’ by the courts. However, Stan (as he was called by all very lovingly) the man, mission and message -lives on in the hearts and lives of thousands everywhere. He has left us with a rich legacy and challenges us to live that legacy today. Read more
Also read/watch:
Video: Testimony of Stan Swamy, two days before his arrest on 8 October 2020.
I am not a Silent Spectator – Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolarable, Justice so out of reach
An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection
Indian Social Institute, Bangalore | by Stan Swamy | August 2021
Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages Access a free PDF copy of the book here
Blatant use of UAPA by Telangana Police to suppress dissenting voices / Arbitrary FIRs
Blatant use of UAPA by Telangana Police to suppress dissenting voices
21/06/2023
Countercurrents.org / by Campaign Against State Repression (CASR)
The draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act has once again been invoked, this time in Tadwai, Telangana against an astonishing number of 152 activists and intellectuals, which includes retired Prof. G. Haragopal, Prof. Gaddam Laxman and Prof. Padmaja Shaw. What is more ridiculous and serious at the same time is that Late Justice H. Suresh also finds mention in the accused list. The FIR has come to light only after People’s Democratic Movement president Chandramouli applied for bail and FIRs filed against him were retrieved by the police where the names of the 152 activists mentioned above were also included. Read full statement
Dead judge, 151 others in Telangana police FIR
21/06/2023
TOI / by Srinath Vudali
Former Bombay HC judge H Suresh, who died in 2020, and another dead man were among 152 people that Telangana police had charged last year under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for their alleged Maoist links.
Following a backlash from civil rights outfits , who pointed out that two of the accused had died long before the case was registered, the Telangana government directed police to drop six prominent people from the FIR. Read more
Arbitrary FIRs on Social Activists
19/06/2023
Statement by National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
click to enlarge
Dead wrong
21/06/2023
TOI / by TOI Editorials
Telangana charging the deceased with UAPA brings to life how the most severe laws are casually misused by govts:
The Telangana case in which police charged two people dead for two years under the anti-terror law UAPA is a classic example of the casual misuse of one of India’s most stringent laws. The data is damning. Analysis of NCRB data by various experts show the conviction rate of people charged under UAPA is below 3%. Read more
Five years behind bars for five activists – Without bail, without charges being framed, without justice!
06/06/2023
By Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)
Five years behind bars for five activists
Without bail, without charges being framed, without justice!
Release all 15-surviving accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.
June 6, 2023 will mark five years that five activists are behind bars. They include Mahesh Raut, an anti-displacement campaigner, Rona Wilson, a political prisoners’ campaigner, Shoma Sen, a feminist activist and professor, Sudhir Dhawale, a Dalit rights activist and Surendra Gadling, a lawyer who takes people’s rights cases pro-bono. Read full statement
Five Years Since The First Arrests In Bhima-Koregaon Case
06/06/2023
Countercurrents.org / by Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO)
6th June 2018. The nation’s conscience suffered yet another attack by the arrests of leading intellectuals and democratic rights activists by the Pune police in connection with the so-called Bhima-Koregaon (BK) case. These arrests snowballed into a series of arrests in subsequent months. Five years have passed, and barring a few activists out on bail, the arrested persons are still languishing in jail without a charge sheet being filed. Through this statement, the CDRO once again tries to remember the incidents leading to these arrests and subsequent events; so that people can unite in a struggle for the release of the BK-16 and the repeal of draconian laws. Read full statement
Five years of Bhima Koregaon arrests: CDRO marks ‘black day’
06/06/2023
The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala
It was on this day in 2018 that five activists were first arrested by the Pune police in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad Maoist links and criminal conspiracy case. To mark this day, and by means of highlighting the plight of the arrested persons, the Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation and People’s Union for Democratic Rights have issued press statements demanding the immediate release of all the persons behind bars in connection with the case. Read more
CASR: Release activists incarcerated in Bhima Koregaon Case
07/06/2023
Countercurrents.org / by Campaign Against State Repression
June 6th became a day of one of the most audacious attack by the Brahmanical Hindutva Fascist state on the Democratic rights and political activists and began new era of rampant use of UAPA and conspiracy cases, which was, although known to the working class, the peasantry and the oppressed, have been largely unknown to the Urban democratic movement. June 6th, 2018 marks the first arrest in the infamous Bhima Koregaon ‘Conspiracy’ case, after series of raids in April 2018. The police arrested Sudhir Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen and Mahesh Raut. Read full statement
Five years after arrest, Bhima Koregaon case accused yet to get copies of proof against them
05/06/2023
The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal
Special Public Prosecutor rubbished the allegation and said most of the material have been shared with them
It has been six years since Sudhir Dhawale, an activist; Surendra Gadling, a criminal lawyer practising in Nagpur; Shoma Sen, professor and Head of Department, English at Nagpur University; activists Rona Wilson and Mahesh Raut were arrested in the caste-based violence that broke out at Bhima Koregaon in Pune in 2017. Read more
