‘Provincial Convention against Repression’ in Barnala, Punjab
22/01/2025
Countercurrents / by Harsh Thakor
The Democratic Front against Operation Green Hunt, Punjab, organised a ‘Provincial Convention against Repression’ at Tarksheel Bhawan in Barnala on January 19th. The convention, convened by Buta Sing, Parminder Singh and AK Maleri and by prominent tribal rights activist and researcher Bela Bhattia, as well as Narvsharan Kaur; garnered leaders, intellectuals, and activists of diverse spheres discuss issues concerning tribal rights and state repression and unite at a common platform.
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Narvsharan … also delved into the conspiracy launched by the pro-Hindutva state, in the Bhima Koregaon case. She addressed how the Hindutva brigade plagued the rights of all sections of society, and stripped civilians of basic human rights in Manipur and Kashmir. Read more
Convention demands protection of tribal rights, repeal of repressive laws
22/01/2025
The Tribune / by Tribune Correspondent
The Democratic Front against Operation Green Hunt, Punjab, organised a ‘Provincial Convention against Repression’ at Tarksheel Bhawan in Barnala recently. The convention, presided over by prominent tribal rights activist and researcher Bela Bhattia, brought together various leaders, intellectuals, and activists.
The Democratic Front against Operation Green Hunt, Punjab, organised a ‘Provincial Convention against Repression’ at Tarksheel Bhawan in Barnala recently. The convention, presided over by prominent tribal rights activist and researcher Bela Bhattia, brought together various leaders, intellectuals, and activists to discuss issues concerning tribal rights and state repression. Read more
Senior Supreme Court advocate Colin Gonsalves on Monday highlighted the need to understand the interpretation of murder and terrorism. Speaking on ‘The Rise of Fascism and Question of Law and Judiciary’ at the second day of the International Seminar on Fascism organised by Arvind Memorial Trust at Bagh Lingampally, Gonsalves highlighted various examples of resistance emerging from courts when fascist power rules supreme.
… “Activists like Sudha Bharadwaj, imprisoned for an unverified letter written by some mysterious third party linking her to Naxalites, and tribal advocate Soni Sori, who exposed atrocities against Adivasis, embody resistance against state overreach,” he said. Read more
By the end of the 1990s, both capital and a willing state had eviscerated the labour movement. The death blow will be dealt in the 2020s.
The 1990s marked a watershed in the attitude of the Indian state towards labour, with the ushering in of “liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation” (LPG) policies.
The early years of the LPG era saw sensational murders of trade unionists. The theatre activist Safdar Hashmi and members of his troupe, Jan Natya Manch, were brutally attacked with iron rods by the henchmen of a Congress corporator as they performed a street play that campaigned for minimum wages in Jhandapur village in Sahibabad Industrial Area on January 1, 1989. Read more
Dear Leaders of the Christian Community in India,
Greetings of peace, love, joy and hope- to each one of you, as you prepare to celebrate my birth once again!
I have just come across an invitation, that some of you are planning to celebrate my birthday on 23 December 2024, in Delhi. A great idea indeed – congrats!! My birth as the Saviour of the world must be celebrated!
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For my birthday, you are organising in my name, INVITE as Chief Guest…the Human Rights Defender/ s. Umar Khalid, Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira and others. Read more
… On November 22 this year, the deportee from the Maoist heartland, Himanshu Kumar, now 60, completed a nearly 2,000-kilometre cycle march through western India…
The destination for the cycle march was a choice that emerged from a strong conviction. One of Kumar’s intentions was to prick the nation’s conscience over the languishing predicament, since early 2018, of “the 16 best minds of the country.” Of them, seven men and one woman still remain behind bars – the former in Taloja Central Jail and the latter in Byculla Women’s Jail. Read more
Video: Himanshu Kumar’s cycle march and advocacy against opression
hindi (english subtitles) | 40:06 | 2024
In this interview, senior reporter Prashant Rahi talks to Himanshu about his cycle march and history and future plans of advocacy against oppression. Watch video
Marking Human Rights Day, Students Gather At Jantar Mantar To Demand The Release Of Political Prisoners
11/12/2024
Outlook / Apeksha Priyadarshini
Led by the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union, the students came together to demand the release of various political prisoners—many of them students—who have been incarcerated for more than four years. Read more
Why There Is No Better Person to Translate Kazi Nazrul Islam Than Varavara Rao
This is not a mere work of translation; this is the confluence of two great poets who defied the oppressive states of their respective times.
The following is the foreword to Varavara Rao’s translation of Kazi Nazrul Islam’s Bengali poems into Telugu, Vidrohi. It has been edited for style, grammar and clarity. The volume is being published by the Hyderabad Book Trust.
In what is called the second freedom movement in Bangladesh against the autocratic Sheikh Hasina government, the state police’s guns aiming at the students and the students singing the poem and songs of Kazi Nazrul Islam is the hair-raising moment for all people who aspire for and dream of freedom. Read more
Different memories: Editorial on a farmer’s fight to put up a memorial for Stan Swamy
30/11/2024
The Telegraph / by The Editorial Board
In the perception of the district authorities, the priest was marked as ‘anti-social,’ because the govt had arrested him in the Bhima-Koregaon case for his alleged link with extremists
Certain figures show up the widely varying perceptions between administrative authorities and the people. The Jesuit priest, Stan Swamy, who died in prison waiting for bail, is a striking example. A farmer from Tamil Nadu, engaged in teaching other farmers about sustainable practices and in cooperative watershed development, had wished to erect a pillar on his private land at his own cost in memory of the priest. He was an admirer of Stan Swamy’s work with tribal communities and considered the priest his mentor. Read more
Madras High Court removes government hurdle to Stan Swamy memorial in Tamil Nadu
28/11/2024
The Telegraph / by M.R. Venkatesh
The court ruled that the petitioner had decided to build the pillar in remembrance of Fr Stan as he was ‘impressed by the work done by him for the welfare of tribals’ and that the construction site was Sethia’s private land.
Madras High Court has allowed a farmer who reveres the life and work of Fr Stan Swamy, the 84-year-old tribal rights defender who died waiting for bail after spending nine months in jail, to erect a pillar in his memory in Tamil Nadu’s Dharmapuri district, overriding the district authorities’ contention that Fr Swamy was related to “Naxals and Maoists”. Read more
‘Father Stan Swamy Has Taken Efforts For Tribal Welfare’: Madras High Court Allows Installation Of His Statute In Private Land
26/11/2024
Live Law / by Upasana Sajeev
The Madras High Court has allowed a man to install a stone pillar containing Father Stan Swamy’s photo on his private land, honoring the work done by the latter for the Tribal persons.
Quashing a notice issued by the State authorities, Justice M Dhandapani remarked that Fr Stan Swamy had taken a lot of efforts for the welfare of the tribal persons. The court also noted that citizens had a right to install statues in their private property and the only restriction was that communal conflicts should not result from such erection. Read more
Madras High Court allows activist to install statue of Stan Swamy despite State opposition
26/11/2024
Bar & Bench / by Ayesha Arvind
The petition was opposed by the State and the district authorities who argued that the proposed memorial was to commemorate the work of a person “related to the Naxals and Maoists.”
The State cannot stop an individual from installing a memorial or a statue on his or her private land, the Madras High Court recently said while permitting a Salem-based activist to construct a memorial in honour of Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist late Stan Swamy. Read more
Madras HC quashes govt notice banning installation of memorial to Stan Swamy
24/11/2024
The News Minute / by Bharathy Singaravel
Contrary to the public stand taken by Chief Minister MK Stalin and his government, Dharmapuri district authorities claimed in court that Stan Swamy “had relations with Naxals and Maoists” and that “tribal villages are a paradise for the convergence and breeding of anti-social elements”.
The Madras High Court has quashed a notice from the tahsildar of Nallampalli in Dharmapuri district that banned an environmentalist from installing a memorial pillar for Stan Swamy on private land. Environmental activist Piyush Manush had been forced to approach the Madras High Court after the Dharmapuri Superintendent of Police (SP), district Collector and the Nallampalli tahsildar banned him from installing the memorial pillar on his own land. Read more
HC nod for statue of Stan Swamy on private land
22/11/2024
Times of India / TNN
Citizens have the right to install statues on their own private property. The only restriction is that such statues should not cause any conflicts between communities or in a way that would hurt the feelings of any segment of the society, Madras high court has said. Read more
Madras HC allows construction of memorial structure for Father Stan Swamy
21/11/2024
The New Indian Express / by R Sivakumar
The judge says that the government authorities can’t stop a person from raising statues on private land.
Holding that government authorities cannot stop a person from raising statues in private land unless it may cause serious issues, the Madras High Court has permitted a Salem-based activist to raise a memorial structure for late Father Stan Swamy who had rendered service for the upliftment of the highly oppressed tribal communities in Central India. Read more
India’s civil space is rated as ‘repressed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. In recent years, the government has misused the draconian anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other laws to keep activists behind bars and fabricate cases against activists and journalists for undertaking their work. The authorities have blocked access to foreign funding for NGOs and human rights defenders, using the restrictive Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).
… There are other human rights defenders who have remained in jail for years under the draconian UAPA and also died in custody.
They include those implicated on baseless charges linked to the Bhima Koraegon violence in 2018 including Surendra Gadling, Hany Babu, Rona Wilson, Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, Sudhir Dhawale, Mahesh Raut and Jyoti Jagtap. Read more
Writer and Senior Journalist Ajaz Ashraf discusses the perspectives in his recently published book “Bhima Koregaon Challenging Caste“ in the context of the history of the Elgar Parishad, the relevance of Bhima Koregaon as a symbol of struggle and the upper caste backlash that has manifested in this background. Ashraf also discussed the Deep State factor in Indian polity. Watch The AIDEM interactions with Venkitesh Ramakrishnan here.
