The Leaflet / by Nivedhitha K
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019 has been passed by the Parliament despite searing opposition to the inclusion of new provisions in the existing law. The Bill drew flak on two accounts. One, the new changes undermine human rights. Secondly, the amendments undermine the structure of Indian federalism.
Read more
sabrangindia.in / by Sabrangindia
Just a week after the amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019 was notified giving the Central Government power unilateral to designate an individual as “terrorist”, a Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court praying that it be declared unconstitutional.
Read more
en | 26:22 min | 2019
By The Polis Project
Suchitra Vijayan speaks to lawyer Darshna Mitra about the UAPA act, its long and violent history of weaponizing National security concerns to crush dissent, and what the recent amendments mean for the future of India as a constitutional republic.
Watch video
en | 8:21 min | 2019
The Wire / By Beyond The Headlines with Siddharth Varadarajan
The new Bill will allow the NIA to wreak havoc on India’s federal system. But what’s most dangerous is the amendment that will allow the government to declare not just organisations as terrorists – but individuals as well.
Watch video
Mumbai Mirror / by Invitation Chitranshul Sinha
The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA) was enacted by the Indira Gandhi government as a statute to prevent, curb and punish any ‘unlawful activity’. Such activities were, loosely speaking, seditious activities or such other activities against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India.
Read more
Amnesty International India / by Amnesty International India
The Central government’s claim in the Lok Sabha that the proposed amendments to the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) complies with international standards is false. The proposed amendments will allow the government to designate an individual as a terrorist. This amendment violates international human rights law and opens the floodgate to harassment of human rights defenders and activists, said Amnesty International India.
Read more
Prominent political, social leaders and human rights defenders condemned the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019 that seeks to tag individuals as ‘terrorist’. The bill was introduced amid strong protest from the opposition benches in the Lok Sabha as the Opposition MPs termed the bill as draconian as in the name of fighting terror fundamental rights of an individual cannot be ignored.
Read more
The Wire / By Mahtab Alam
Numerous people, especially from marginalised communities, have had to spend time in jail despite being innocent. Despite this, political parties are unwilling to tackle the issue of wrongful prosecution.
Read more
Kractivist.org / Statement by Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy
India has witnessed a drastic rise in attacks on human rights activists, journalists, lawyers, farmers, adivasis, RTI activists, students, academicians, workers, protestors etc. opposing anti-people policies of the government and protesting human rights violations. The constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of speech and expression, association and assembly are under severe threat. Several people across the country have been criminalized in false and fabricated cases.
Read full statement
Thozhilalar Koodam / By Thozhilalar Koodam
In January 2018, 5 electricity workers from Bombay were arrested on fabricated charges under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). After the police failed two deadlines for filing a chargesheet against them, and the prosecution did not even notify them of the extensions to their imprisonment, the High Court of Maharashtra ordered the sessions court to grant them bail on procedural reasons. This order was served in December 2018, 11 months after their arrests. But the sessions court has imposed conditions on bail that the workers have been unable to meet, thus leaving them in Jail for over two months since the bail was granted.
Read more