25:08 min | 2020
A reading of poet Varavara Rao’s work in English, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi by Ajay Raj, Aravind Kuplikar, Kavitha Lankesh, Radhika Narayan, Sanchari Vijay, Sandhya Rani, Sandhya Reddy, Sudhanva Deshpande and Tina Shashikanth.
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Civicus.org / by Alina Tiphagne / Human Rights Defenders Alert
There has been a huge displacement of Adivasis in Chhattisgarh due to businesses monopolising land and natural resources, and there has been rampant human rights abuses reported in the state. To add to this already complex situation, southern Chhattisgarh is the epicentre of a five decades-long insurgency between the Naxalite Maoist group and the Indian government which has affected the tribal population, densely forested districts and neighbouring states … The work of Sudha Bharadwaj, human rights lawyer and former General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh People’s Union for Civil Liberties, lies at this faught intersection.
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06/08/2020
Indian Cultural Forum / by Nandini Sundar, Archana Prasad, Manju Kawasi, Vineet Tiwari, Sanjay Parate and Mangla Ram Karma
They are demanding compensation “for the mental agony and violation of human rights” caused by false charges and arrests.
Press Release
On 5th November 2016, the Chhattisgarh police lodged an FIR against us under various sections of the IPC, Arms Act, and UAPA …
We are grateful to the PUCL for taking up the cases of all human rights defenders in Chhattisgarh and for informing us about the NHRC order. It is deeply distressing that PUCL Secretary and Advocate Sudha Bhardwaj who took up such cases in Chhattisgarh has herself been arrested under false charges. We trust that all human rights defenders who have been falsely accused will get justice.
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en | 33:00 min | 2020
News Loundry / Newslaundry’s Manisha Pande with N Venugaopal Rao
„The whole case is a lot of lies, fabrications and cooked up things.“
N Venugopal Rao is a writer and the nephew of Varavara Rao, the poet who has been arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case. Varavara was arrested two years ago along with 12 other activists. He has been repeatedly denied bail and has been in poor health for the past month, testing positive for Covid on July 16.
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05/08/2020
Dalit Camera / by Dalit Bahujans for Hany Babu
1000 cultural activists would fast under the banner of the Thrissur District Committee of the Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangham (Pu.Ka.Sa. – Progressive Association of Art and Literature) on Thursday, 6th of August, demanding that the life of revolutionary poet Varavara Rao be saved, and that he be released from jail immediately.
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04/08/2020
SO, by the drizzling afternoon
On Central Kolkata road, WE uttered out loud …
“Varavara’s Comrade! Let’s build Barricade!”
“Soma’s Comrade! Build up Barricade!
“Sudha’s Comrade! Let’s build Barricade!”
“Rona’s Comrade! Build up Barricade!”
“Hanybabu’s Comrade! Let’s build Barricade!”
“GN’s Comrade! Build up Barricade!”
“Join Us Comrade! Let’s build Barricade!”
Countercurrents / by Committee for the Defence and Release of Dr G N Saibaba
We strongly condemn the unwarranted raid on 2nd August 2020 by officers of the National Intelligence Agency, on the house of Dr Hany Babu, a member of the Committee… The raid at his house, conducted on the 2nd morning, was ostensibly to collect material to corroborate the arrest. It defies all logic that the arrest of Dr Babu was made without sufficient basis, to the point that the NIA now finds itself searching for material to justify the arrest, post-facto and concocting false ”evidence” against him.
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Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
The human rights body said the government was resorting to ‘fabricated prosecutions’ using the UAPA to punish activists and academics.
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties on Sunday criticised the arrest of Delhi University professor MT Hany Babu in the Bhima Koregaon case, calling it an attempt to criminalise and silence intellectuals in India.
Babu was arrested by the National Investigation Agency on July 28.
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en | 2:47min | 2020
Al Jazeera English / by Elizabeth Pranam
Some of India’s most prominent rights activists remain in jail, most without formal charges, all without trial. We spoke to some of their families. Our story for @AJEnglish as the UN calls for the release of rights defenders
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Counterview / by Atul & Sandeep Pandey
Professor Sudha Bharadwaj has been in jail since August 2018. She was taken into police custody on August 26, 2018 on suspicion of being involved in Maoist terror activities after Republic TV claimed that she had allegedly written a letter to Maoists and was conspiring to create public disorder and unrest in India.
The channel felt no shame in broadcasting that the elderly Professor was planning to murder the Prime-Minister of India. The police arrested her subsequently and she has been kept in jail continuously since then.
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The Wire / by The Wire Staff
New Delhi: More than 2,000 scholars and activists have extended support to Delhi University professor Hany Babu, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Bhima Koregaon case on July 28.
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By VV Rao´s family members P Hemalata, P Sahaja, P Anala, P Pavana
As per the Bombay High Court’s direction to Nanavati Hospital on July 28 to permit Varavara Rao’s family to visit him, subject to Hospital protocols and Government’s norms in respect of Covid patients, we, the family members were allowed to speak to him in a video conference, as protocols do not permit personal visits.
Thus through video conference we interacted with Varavara Rao for about twenty minutes in the afternoon of Friday, July 31. He looked much more frail and weak and his physical condition did not seem to be well. …