Daijiworld / by Daijiworld Media Network – Kasargod (SB)
A silent protest to express solidarity with Fr Stan Swamy demanding his release from jail led by Catholic Sabha, Kasargod deanery was held on the afternoon of Sunday, January 3 at Seethangoli and Uppala junctions.
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The Leaflet / by Nihalsing B Rathod
Lawyers who defended activists in the Bhima Koregaon case risked being branded anti-national, but they believed that they were innocent and it was necessary to uphold the rule of law and constitutional values, says Nihalsing B Rathod.
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en / hindi | 6min | 2021
By National Alliance of People’s Movements
As we enter a new year, 2021, full of challenges and possibilities, we look back and remember many of our comrades and follow-travellers who remain incarcerated and persecuted. Their only ‘crime’: trying to make this country a better place, with rights and justice for all of us, especially for those marginalized and oppressed.
To that spirit of resistance and resilience, we dedicate this video and our energies over the coming year. Stand with all those persecuted, jailed and vilified for standing with the human rights of others.
#FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners #EndStateRepression
In solidarity,
National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
01/01/2021
HW English / by Neeta Kolhatkar
Hindu right-wing duo, Milind Ekbote and Manohar Bhide, the two main accused named by Anita Sawle in her FIR, are obviously still free.
This December 31, it will be three years since the Elgar Parishad held in Shaniwarwada, Pune, historically was considered the seat, of power seat of the Peshwas. The Parishad was attended by intellectuals, lawyers, activists, students, members of the Kabir Kala Manch and other participants.
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01/01/2021
Deccan Herald / DHNS
The 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence has only increased the popularity of the Bhima Koregaon victory celebrations, retired Karnataka High Court judge H N Naga Mohan Das has said.
Participating in the 203rd historic Bhima Koregaon commemoration event organised virtually by the Babasaheb Dr BR Ambedkar Studies and Research Centre of Bangalore University, Justice Das on Wednesday condemned the term ‘Urban Naxals’ used on participants of the 2018 incident and the continued imprisonment of some of them.
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JESC / by JESC
With the advocacy efforts of JESC Secretary for European Affairs, Martin Maier, 21 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from the main political Groups sent a letter to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, and to the Ambassador of India to Belgium, Mr. Santosh Jha, asking the immediate liberation of Stan Swamy on humanitarian grounds.
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Indian Cultural Forum / by Socialist Party (India)
Stan Swamy has been a thorn against the establishment for decades. He has always stood on the side of the Adivasis of Jharkhand whose plight he understands well. His methods have always been peaceful – often making use of the vehicle of Public Interest Litigation. Yet, now the government – through the NIA – has arrested and jailed Stan Swamy for conspiring to incite violence in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon episode and of being a part of the banned CPI (Maoist) party.
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Comrades & Friends!
On the eve of the upcoming Bhima-Koregaon Day, this is our statement on behalf of ‘Release the Poet’ Committee to the anti-fascist people of West Bengal.
In this state as well as throughout the whole country, the danger of Hindutva-Manuvadi Fascists is no longer an impending possibility, it has become a burning truth. The BJP-RSS has reared its ugly aggresive head in West Bengal, taking full advantage of the mismanagement, corruption and dictatorship of the present and former governing parties in the state, and with the corporate-funded financial powers, the muscle power of the Brahmanical Saffron forces, the central judiciary and paramilitary forces. …
26/12/2020
The Wire / by Sidharth Bhatia
Whether at Shaheen Bagh or on the highways outside Delhi, Indians are standing up for dignity and rights for all.
In an environment where dissidence is considered an act of rebellion, even sedition, where people are thrown into jail for standing up for rights, and where even a cartoon or a joke can get the politicians riled up, some Indians have let it be known that they will not get cowed down. Especially when it comes to matters of dignity and livelihood.
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26/12/2020
Countercurrents / by Kunal Pant
… UAPA has been disproportionately targeted against minorities (Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis), activists, human rights defenders and political opponents… UAPA has been disproportionately targeted against minorities (Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis), activists, human rights defenders and political opponents… Cases in point are Sudhir Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, and Rona Wilson – all Dalit activists – allegedly for being associated with the “Elgar Parishad.” (Bhima Koregaon).
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25/12/2020
Mumbai Live / by Mumbai Live Team
As 2020 nears towards the end, we look back at three of the arrests that have been made under the anti-terror law by the name Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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en | 2:17min | 2020
In solidarity with all unjustly incarcerated, charged under a terrorism law, imprisoned without trail.
25/12/2020
The Telegraph / by Fr J Felix Raj, SJ
It is now a global festival that has transcended the perimeters of religion and symbolises different sentiments – love, friendship, hope, benevolence, forgiveness and amity.
This Christmas, I remember my fellow Jesuit, Fr. Stan Swamy. December 25 is his 79th day in jail. I wonder how he is celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ at Taloja.
As a true Jesuit, I am confident that he is reaching out to the fellow prisoners and sharing with them the joy of the newborn divine Baby Jesus, and if the jail authorities do not ask him to appeal to the court for permission, he would distribute some sweets and wish them all a Feliz Navidad.
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24/12/2020
The New York Times / by Nikhil Kumar
Father Stan Swamy spent decades fighting for the rights of India’s marginalized people. In October, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government imprisoned him under antiterrorism laws…
Before he was arrested in October under India’s antiterrorism laws, Father Swamy spent decades championing the welfare of the Indigenous tribespeople who account for around a quarter of the population in Jharkhand, one the country’s most resource-rich yet impoverished states.
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24/12/2020
Countercurrents / by Vidhya Bhusan Rawat
None would ever have imagined that an octogenarian Stan Swamy would face such a harsh treatment for his committed work for the Adivasis of Jharkhand. When the governments of the world over honor activists who work in tiring circumstances and devote their time to areas far away from their places than we must realise that it is not for money or fame but for pure committment and convictions. Father Stan Swamy was born in Trichy and as a Tamilian Christian he had enormous opportunities for him but he dedicated over thirty years of his life to the service of Adivasis in Jharkhand.
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en | 34 min | 2017
This conversation was recorded about three years back at the Ranchi office of Father Stan Swamy when I visited Jharkhand. Hailing from Trichy district in Tamilnadu, Father worked tirelessly for the Adivasis in different parts of the country. He was also associated with Indian Social Institute, Banglore but his love was Jharkhand where he dedicated his entire life since 1990s.
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