Solidarity – Page 2 – free them all

Civil society gears up to protest Public Security Bill / PSA a bid to criminalise organisations

03/09/2025 Asha

Civil society gears up to protest Public Security Bill

03/09/2025

Hindustan Times / by Mayura Janwalkar

Civil society in Maharashtra plans protests against the “draconian” Special Public Security Bill, claiming it suppresses dissent and violates rights.
Civil society groups in Maharashtra are preparing to launch protests against the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill, 2024, calling it “draconian” and an attempt to suppress dissent against the state.
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PSA a bid to criminalise varied organisations: Sudha Bharadwaj

31/08/2025

Hindustan Times / by HT Correspondent

Bharadwaj was among the speakers at a webinar organised by All India Inquilabi Youth and Students Alliance (ALIYSA) and National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) along with senior advocate Mihir Desai and activist Ulka Mahajan
Human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj said on Saturday that it was a great thing that the civil society in Maharashtra had already begun protesting against the Maharashtra Special Public Security Act, passed by the state’s legislative assembly in its recently concluded monsoon session.
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Also read:
▪ Maharashtra Special Public Security Act, Pre-Emptive Criminalisation And Indefinite Surveillance (Outlook | by Anand Teltumbde | Aug 2025)
▪ New Maharashtra Security Law Open To Abuse, Threatens Rights; Say ‘No’ To It (Deccan Chronicle / Aug 2025)
▪ Insecurity By Law: A Critique of the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill in the Context of India’s Banning Regime (PUDR / Jul 2025)

In Surendra Gadling’s case, adjournment becomes the verdict

23/08/2025 Asha

Frontline / by Saurav Das

In the shadow of Bhima Koregaon, the Supreme Court lets delay speak louder than justice.
Surendra Gadling’s bail application has become a Kafkaesque file in the Supreme Court. It appears on the cause list, only to vanish. It is mentioned, only to be deferred. It is scheduled, only to be adjourned. The judge presiding over it, Justice M.M. Sundresh, has turned the very act of not hearing into a form of adjudication.
The bail plea has been listed 17 times since it was first filed in August 2023.
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Also read:
▪ SC to consider listing bail plea of Surendra Gadling (Hindustan Times / Aug 2025)
▪ How Long is Too Long? – On the Maximum Period that an Undertrial Prisoner can be Detained (Constitutional Law and Philosophy | by Hany Babu and Surendra Gadling | Oct 2024)
▪ Surendra Gadling’s Computer Was Attacked, Incriminating Documents Planted: Arsenal Consulting (The Wire / July 2021)
▪ Gadling in jail. Reason? As lawyer-activist he has been ‘unpleasant’ to India’s topcops (Counterview / Dec 2020)

Maharashtra Special Public Security Act, Pre-Emptive Criminalisation And Indefinite Surveillance

22/08/2025 Asha

Outlook / by Anand Teltumbde

The MSPSA gives the state-corporate nexus the legal means to suppress participatory democracy under the guise of public security.
On July 10, 2025, the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha passed a revised version of the Maharashtra Special Public Security Act (MSPSA), exactly one year after the original draft was introduced on July 11, 2024, by the Shiv Sena-BJP coalition under Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Initially framed as a response to the perceived threat of “urban Naxalism”, the Bill claimed to address the alleged infiltration of Maoist ideology into urban areas through affiliated organisations offering logistical support and shelter to underground cadres.
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Also read:
▪ Fall of Democracy’s Last Bastion: Election Commission as the BJP’s Strategic Shield (The Wire | by Anand Teltumbde | Aug 2025)
▪ New Maharashtra Security Law Open To Abuse, Threatens Rights; Say ‘No’ To It (Deccan Chronicle / Aug 2025)
▪ The Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill Perpetuates India’s Banning Regime (The Wire / Aug 2025)
▪ Insecurity By Law: A Critique of the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill in the Context of India’s Banning Regime (PUDR / Jul 2025)
▪ As Maharashtra Govt Brings Bill Against ‘Urban Naxalism’, Activists Fear Criminalisation of Dissent (The Wire / Jul 2025)

Over 30 Organisations Condemn Arrest of Dalit Activist Rajat Kalsan

16/08/2025 Asha

The Mooknayak / by The Mooknayak English

Over 30 organisations and prominent individuals denounce the arrest of Dalit lawyer Rajat Kalsan, allege unlawful detention, torture, and fabricated charges.
More than 30 student groups, civil society organisations, and prominent individuals have issued a joint statement condemning the arrest of Dalit activist and lawyer Adv. Rajat Kalsan, who was allegedly abducted by men in plain clothes from the Auto Market in Hisar on July 30 without being shown an arrest warrant or legal documents.
… Drawing parallels with the Bhima Koregaon arrests and detentions during anti-CAA protests, the statement alleges that Kalsan’s arrest reflects a broader pattern of silencing voices that challenge caste domination, communalism, and authoritarianism.
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Full Statement

New Maharashtra Security Law Open To Abuse, Threatens Rights; Say ‘No’ To It

15/08/2025 Asha

New Maharashtra Security Law Open To Abuse, Threatens Rights; Say ‘No’ To It

18/08/2025

Deccan Chronicle / by Aakar Patel

The term “Urban Naxalism” has no legal definition in Indian law. With its vague language, discriminatory focus, absence of judicial oversight, and high potential for misuse, the bill risks criminalising of legitimate dissent in one of our largest states
We celebrated Independence Day earlier this month, to mark the culmination of our freedom struggle. Independence and freedom from what? From alien rule and from all oppressive laws — no matter who imposes them on us. The governor of Maharashtra is currently examining a law passed by the state Assembly called the “Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill”.
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Open letter: Withhold assent to the Maharashtra special public security bill

15/08/2025

Amnesty International / by Aakar Patel

Your Excellency Shri. Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan, Governor of Maharashtra.
I write to you with grave concern regarding the recently passed Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill, which now awaits your assent. Though presented as a tool to combat “urban naxalism,” The Bill introduces vague, overboard, and ideologically biased provisions that pose an immediate threat to international and constitutionally protected rights and will criminalize dissent in the state.
The Honorable Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, has asserted that the law will not be used to suppress government critics. However, the term “urban naxalism” has no legal definition in Indian law. It is a rhetorical and politically charged phrase – popularized in media and political discourse, not jurisprudence. Its vagueness allows it to be weaponized against civil society, often conflating peaceful dissent with sedition or terrorism. There is a troubling precedent. The Bhima Koregaon case, in which 16 activists were arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act UAPA, demonstrates how this label has been used to detain individuals for years without trial.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Opposition Did Not Deal Well Enough With Maharashtra Bill Against ‘Urban Naxalism’: Sharad Pawar (The Wire / Aug 2025)
▪ The Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill Perpetuates India’s Banning Regime (The Wire / Aug 2025)
▪ Insecurity By Law: A Critique of the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill in the Context of India’s Banning Regime (PUDR / Jul 2025)

“Sorry, Stan!” / St Xavier’s College Cancels Stan Swamy Lecture After ABVP Protest

11/08/2025 Asha

“Sorry, Stan!”

11/08/2025

Countercurrents.org / by Cedric Prakash

Dear Stan,
I write this to you with a heavy heart: shocked and saddened; upset and angry. This letter to you, is perhaps to ease the angst in me; I really don’t know what to say and how to say it!
…
On 9 August, St Xavier’s College(SXC) Mumbai, (through their Department of Inter-Religious Studies) was scheduled to hold ‘The Annual Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture’. The topic was ‘Migration for Livelihood: Hope Amidst Untold Miseries’. It was to be delivered virtually by Jesuit Fr. Prem Xalxo, currently Associate Professor of Moral Theology at the Gregorian University, Rome. The speaker was a renowned personality and the topic timely and relevant. On 4 August, representatives of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad(ABVP) met the SXC authorities, and in a written letter ‘strongly condemned’ the organising of the lecture and demanded its cancellation. Very sadly, the Jesuit management and other officials caved in to this pressure and cancelled the lecture. For this, “Sorry, Stan!”
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St Xavier’s College cancels Stan Swamy lecture after ABVP protests

09/08/2025

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Organising a lecture in memory of an accused in the Elgar Parishad case ‘is an attempt to glorify urban Naxalism’, the Hindutva group told the institution.
St Xavier’s College in Mumbai has cancelled its annual Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture, which was to be held on Saturday, after protests by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, reported The Free Press Journal.
The ABVP is the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
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St. Xavier’s Mumbai cancels Stan Swamy memorial lecture after protest

07/08/2025

Matters India / by Matters India Reporter

St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, has cancelled its annual Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture scheduled for August 9, following protests from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a student organization affiliated with the RSS.
The lecture, titled “Migration for Livelihood: Hope amidst Miseries,” was to be delivered virtually by Father Prem Xalxo and organized by the college’s department of Inter-Religious Studies. It aimed to honor the legacy of the Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist who died in judicial custody in July 2021.
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St Xavier’s College Cancels Stan Swamy Lecture After ABVP Protest

06/08/2025

Free Press Journal / by S Balakrishnan

The lecture, organised by the college’s department of inter-religious studies, was to have been delivered by Fr Prem Xalxo on “Migration for Livelihood: Hope amidst miseries.”
St Xavier’s College has cancelled its annual Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture scheduled for August 9 pm following protest from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sangh (ABVP), an RSS affiliated. …
The ABVP told the college principal in a strongly worded letter that Fr Stanley was a prime accused in the Bhima Koregaon criminal case and was arrested under UAPA, an anti-terrorist law. Prashant Mali, ABVP secretary, Mumbai, alleged in the letter that Fr Stanley was linked to the CPI (Maoist).
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Also read:
▪ Daring, Fearless and Kind, Father Stan Swamy Remains a Beacon of Resistance (The Wire | by Hany Babu, Jyoti Jagtap, Mahesh Raut, Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor, Sagar Gorkhe, Surendra Gadling | Jul 2025)

▪ Video: Testimony of Stan Swamy, two days before his arrest on 8 October 2020.

en | 7:48 min | Oct 6, 2020
Watch video
▪ Bhima Koregaon: The man who lodged FIR against Mevani and Khalid is distancing himself from ABVP (Scroll.in / Sep 2018)

Delhi University Professor Hany Babu Marks Five Years in Jail Without Trial in Bhima Koregaon Case

28/07/2025 Asha

Hany Babu completes five years in prison without bail, trial

28/07/2025

Maktoobmedia / by Maktoob Staff

Delhi University professor and noted academic Dr. Hany Babu, who is one of the UAPA prisoners in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case, completed five years of incarceration on Monday, 28 July, 2025.
On 28 July, 2020, the National Investigation Agency arrested Babu, an anti-caste activist and a staunch proponent of social justice.
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Delhi University Professor Hany Babu Marks Five Years in Jail Without Trial in Bhima Koregaon Case

28/07/2025

FOEJ / by FOEJ Desk

Delhi University professor and noted academic Dr. Hany Babu completed five years in prison on Monday, 28 July 2025, in connection with the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case.
Babu, a prominent anti-caste activist and advocate for social justice, was arrested on 28 July 2020 by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Babu is among several Dalit and Adivasi rights activists accused by authorities of inciting violence through speeches made on 31 December 2017 at the Elgar Parishad event in Pune.
Read more

Also read:
▪ SC Allows Hany Babu to Approach Trial or High Court For Bail (The Wire / Jul 2025)
▪ ‘Tell the judge he has done no crime’: The struggles of Hany Babu’s family (Scroll.in / Jul 2025)

Criminalizing Dissent: Maharashtra’s Urban Naxal Bill and its New War on Civil Society

23/07/2025 Asha

Maharashtra’s Urban Naxal Bill and its New War on Civil Society -Criminalizing Dissent

23/07/2025

Countercurrents / by Dr Ranjan Solomon

“The price of liberty is eternal vigilance, not silent submission.”
(Inspired by Thomas Jefferson)

The Maharashtra government’s Special Public Security Bill, 2024, introduced to counter so-called “urban Naxal” activities is a perilous milestone in India’s accelerating slide into authoritarianism.
… Activists like Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, and the late Fr. Stan Swamy were imprisoned for years without trial under charges of sedition and conspiracy. The Bhima Koregaon case was a dress rehearsal for exactly the kind of repression this bill now makes routine at the state level.
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‘Urban Naxal’ To Maharashtra’s New Bill Rekindles Fears Of Criminalised Dissent

17/07/2025

Outlook / by Pritha Vashisth

The Bhima Koregaon case returns to focus as the Supreme Court allows bail plea revival—while Maharashtra’s sweeping Jan Suraksha Bill raises alarms over civil liberties, ambiguous terms, and the creeping criminalisation of protest.
A tiny pore of blood rinsed down the alley until one among the several injured was dead. Around seven years ago, on January 1, 2018, silence hovered over the annual celebration as a Hindu mob allegedly attacked a gathering assembled to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon. Decorated with plays, speeches, and songs, the state soon strangled this small village in Pune.
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Maharashtra just passed a law that could jail you for peacefully protesting

16/07/2025

Frontline / by Amey Tirodkar

BJP-led government says it’s fighting “Urban Maoists”, but critics say the MSPS Bill is the biggest threat to free speech since the Emergency.
Days after the ruling BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra observed the 50th anniversary of the Emergency and the curtailment of freedoms it entailed, the Maha Yuti government, led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, passed the Maharashtra Special Public Security (MSPS) Bill, 2024, by voice vote in the Legislative Assembly on July 10.
Read more

Also read:
▪ As Maharashtra Govt Brings Bill Against ‘Urban Naxalism’, Activists Fear Criminalisation of Dissent (The Wire / Jul 2025)
▪ A New Bill Shows Maharashtra Wants to Become a Police State Before Combatting Left-Wing Extremism (The Wire / Jul 2024)

When the Law Becomes a Weapon: India’s Broken Promise of Justice

21/07/2025 Asha

Countercurrents.org / by Dr Ranjan Solomon

“Innocence, once lost to the gallows or a prison cell, can never be returned. Who pays for that injustice?”
Today, the Bombay High Court overturned what had once been touted as a major victory in India’s fight against terror: the conviction of 12 men in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings, in which 189 people died. Five had been sentenced to death. The other seven, to life in prison. They had already spent over 18 years behind bars.
The High Court has ruled that the prosecution “utterly failed” to prove its case.
…
We must ask: What kind of justice system jails people without trial for 5, 10, 15 years—and then quietly lets them go when the truth catches up?
Do we even pause to think of the lives destroyed?
– Father Stan Swamy, 84 years old, arrested under UAPA, denied a straw for his Parkinson’s, died in custody without trial.
– Professor G.N. Saibaba, wheelchair-bound, imprisoned for years, only recently acquitted.
– The Bhima Koregaon 16—intellectuals and lawyers framed with tampered evidence, still awaiting justice.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Supreme Court stays HC verdict acquitting 12 in 2006 Mumbai train blasts case (Scroll.in / Jul 24, 2025)
▪ 7/11 Judgment Fails to Hold Police Accountable For Custodial Torture, Lost Time of Those Acquitted (The Wire / Jul 2025)
▪ Police torture, ill-treatment make India ‘high risk’: Report (Newslaundry / June 2025)
▪ Read India report: INDIA – COUNTRY FACTSHEET 2025 (World Organization Against Torture / Jun 2025)
▪ G.N. Saibaba’s Lifelong Campaign Was Against the Violence of Silencing (The Wire | by Rona Wilson | Oct 2024)
▪ ‘It Is Only by Chance That I Came Out of Prison Alive’: G.N. Saibaba (The Wire / March 2024)

Jesuit Missions: ‘Clear his name!’ / Christians, rights activists remember Father Stan Swamy

14/07/2025 Asha

‘He was murdered by State’: Christian community, rights activists remember Father Stan Swamy on fourth death anniversary

16/07/2025

Maktoobmedia.com / by Aktarista Ansari

On the fourth death anniversary of Father Stan Swamy, members of the Jesuit community, human rights activists, and concerned citizens gathered in Delhi to honour his life and legacy—a legacy rooted in his tireless pursuit of truth and justice.
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‘Clear his name!’ – Jesuit Missions hold vigil outside Indian High Commission for Fr Stan Swamy

14/07/2025

Jesuit Mission / by Jesuit Mission

The campaign to clear the name of the late Jesuit priest Fr Stan Swamy continued with a vigil outside the Indian High Commission in London.
Peaceful protestors gathered in front of India House, in Aldwych, on Friday (11 July), where they stood silently with placards calling for Fr Stan to be exonerated.
Fr Stan spent most of his life defending the rights of vulnerable communities in India, including Adivasi (indigenous tribal) and Dalit (low caste) people.
Read more

Also read:
▪ I saw firsthand how callous prison officials and their negligence led to Stan Swamy’s death (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Jul 2025)
▪ Daring, Fearless and Kind, Father Stan Swamy Remains a Beacon of Resistance (The Wire | by Hany Babu, Jyoti Jagtap, Mahesh Raut, Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor, Sagar Gorkhe, Surendra Gadling | Jul 2025)
▪ Jesuit Missions repeats call to clear Indian priest’s name (Indcatholic News / Jul 2024)