On 26th June “Movement Against UAPA and Other Repressive Laws (MURL)” conducted ONLINE NATIONAL CONVENTION demanding REPEAL OF ALL UNCONSTITUTIONAL REPRESSIVE LAWS
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21/06/2021
The Leaflet / by Kavita Krishnan
The Delhi HC bail orders vindicate what pro-democracy activists have been saying since last year: The Delhi Police investigation is blatantly biased and has spun a fantastic conspiracy theory to falsely accuse anti-CAA protestors, especially those of the minority Muslim community, of the very “riots” that was planned and targeted against them making them the victims, says Kavita Krishnan.
…In the Bhima Koregaon case, and the Delhi riots case, as well as several cases involving unarmed protestors all over India, we have seen how the UAPA is used to criminalise protest and punish protestors.
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21/06/2021
The Leaflet / by Cedric Prakash
A regime that oppresses the weak and suppresses those who speak against it will always have to deal with more and more dissent. The key to peace and justice in India lies in following the Constitution, writes Cedric Prakash.
… From Aisha Sultana to Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita and Asif Iqbal Tanha. From Khori to Lakshadweep. From Tihar Jail to Taloja Jail. From Fr Stan Swami to Umar Khalid. From the Bhima-Koregaon sixteen to the other UAPA-incarcerated. From Sulabh to Siddique, from farmers to workers, from the unemployed to the refugees, from minorities to the marginalised, from the caregivers to the academics, from the toolkits to the brazen headlines, from rising costs to lack of vaccines—the cries for justice in India have never been so shrill and clear!
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hindi (english subtitles) | 5:36min | 2021
By Dalit Camera: Through Un-Touchable Eyes
Surekha Gorkhe, mother of political prisoner Sagar Gorkhe speaks to Rupali Jadhav about prison conditions during the pandemic. The lives of her son and other political prisoners are in grave danger, given the congested conditions of the jails. She appeals to everyone to raise the demand:
#FreeSagarGorkhe #FreeRameshGaichor #freejyotijagtap #ReleaseAllPoliticalPrisoners
en | 2h | 2021
Public Appeal Meeting with family members of #BhimaKoregaon 16, and legal and human rights experts.
By InSAF (June 19):
The Indian Express / by Pratap Bhanu Mehta
The orders passed by Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup J Bhambhani, granting bail to Asif Tanha, Devangana Kalita, and Natasha Narwal, have opened up the black box of the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) jurisprudence. The UAPA had become the black box of Indian jurisprudence for a number of reasons.
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The Tribune India / by Tribune News Service
Activists of the Jamhoori Adhikar Sabha and other like-minded organisations on Wednesday staged a protest and carried out a march while seeking immediate release of those who were booked and arrested for the 2018 Bhima-Koregaon violence.
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The Times of India / by Neel Kamal
Six months after being described as “urban naxals” and “Maoists” for demanding the release of activists arrested in cases of Bhima Koregaon Alghar Parishad and Delhi riots, farm organisation BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) reiterated its demand for unconditional release of writers, intellectuals and rationalists. They again displayed photos of Gautam Navlakha, Natasha Narwal, Soma Sen, Gautam Gilani, Rona Wilson and Umar Khalid. Members of Naujwan Bharat Sabha and Punjab Students Union (Shaheed Randhawa) released a poster depicting people in a cage. The protesters called for dedicating a fortnight to support jailed activists.
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en | 30sec | 2021
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12/06/2021
The Milli Gazette / by Fr Cedric Prakash SJ
It was the virtual ‘midnight knock’! The irony was that the knock took place in broad daylight, and expectedly in a blatantly unjust, uncivilised and unconstitutional manner. On 6 June 2018, Sudhir Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson were arrested from their residences in various parts of the country. The arrests of others then continued in a phased manner: on 28 August 2018, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao and Vernon Gonsalves; on 14 April 2020, Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha; on 28 July 2020, Hanybabu Tarayil; on 10 September 2020, Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor and (the next day) Jyoti Jagtap – all three from the Kabir Kala Manch were arrested from Pune; finally on 8 October 2020, Fr Stan Swamy was arrested from Ranchi.
It is three years now since the first arrests in the Bhima-Koregaon conspiracy case were made. Today, sixteen (referred to as the BK-16) of the country’s committed citizens continue to languish in jail, with bail being denied to them and with absolutely no signs of any trial beginning.
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Zurich, Switzerland: Solifonds in collaboration with the Frauenrechts Gruppe of Amnesty Zurich Chapter, held a demonstration to protest for the release of the 16 human rights activists in India. They also wrote a solidarity message for the prisoners signed by the people who participated at the activities.
Berlin and Frankfurt, Germany: IndienKoGruppe: Solidarity from Berlin and Frankfurt. Defending the Defenders of Indian Constitutional Values and Human Rights.
Freedom shall prevail, defend the defenders!
Cambridge, UK
Dundee, Scotland: Amnesty Dundee – The BK 16 are a group of human rights defenders who have been imprisoned indefinitely by the Indian Government for standing up for human rights.
Amnesty Kenya: #BK16 solidarity from Nairobi, Kenya. Our members, staff and Board stand with the 16 Human Rights Defenders incarcerated in India #FreeBK16 #FreeThemAll unconditionally now
Amnesty International UK South Asia Action, Minehead group: Today, 12 June 2021, is an Action Day across Europe to raise awareness of the BK16 Below are the AI Minehead group asking you to #FreeBK16 and #FreeThemAll
The Print / by Sravasti Dasgupta
The families and friends of Bhima Koregaon prisoners organised a webinar Friday to highlight the deteriorating health of the prisoners and unhygienic conditions in jails.
The family members of activists arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case demanded their immediate release, in view of the raging Covid-19 pandemic.
To mark three years since the first arrests in the case, the families and friends of the accused Friday organised a webinar — “Three Years Too Many…” — to highlight the deteriorating health of the prisoners, with many of them testing positive for Covid, and unhygienic conditions in jails.
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Watch video: THE BHIMA KOREGAON CONSPIRACY CASE – THREE YEARS TOO MANY … (June11)
Also read (Hindi): SALAAKHON MEIN QAID AVAAZEIN (IMPRISONED VOICES).