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Category: Solidarity

To dissent is not a crime! Concerned citizens call for the release of activists on humanitarian grounds

To dissent is not a crime! Concerned citizens call for the release of activists on humanitarian grounds

Indian Cultural Forum / by ICF Team

We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned about the health of 11 respected fellow citizens:
1. Mr. Varavara Rao
2. Ms. Sudha Bhardwaj
3. Ms. Shoma Sen
4. Mr. Anand Teltumbde
5. Mr. Gautam Navlakha
6. Mr. Arun Ferreira
7. Mr. Vernon Gonsalvez
8. Mr. Surendra Gadling
9. Mr. Mahesh Raut
10. Mr. Sudhir Dhawale
11. Mr. Rona Wilson
These activists, many of them eminent scholars, writers and poets, have worked for the welfare of India’s poorest and most marginalised people over decades. Yet they have been turned into politcal prisoners and incarcerated. They have not been granted bail despite the fact that in the prisons of Maharashtra where they are being detained, some inmates have died and many others have tested positive for COVID-19.
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Nearly 100 Global Intellectuals Appeal for Varavara Rao, Saibaba to Be Released

Nearly 100 Global Intellectuals Appeal for Varavara Rao, Saibaba to Be Released

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

New Delhi: Close to a 100 renowned intellectuals from across the world have appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind and Chief Justice of India (CJI) S.A. Bobde to release professor G.N. Saibaba and activist Varavara Rao, saying they have been imprisoned in ‘fabricated cases’ and that they are vulnerable to infection in the ‘overcrowded Maharashtra prisons’.
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After NIA Chargesheet Called it Criminal, Twitter Responds with #LalSalaamComrade

After NIA Chargesheet Called it Criminal, Twitter Responds with #LalSalaamComrade

Newsclick / by Newsclick Report

Registering their protest against an increasingly “authoritarian” state, users on social media in India used the hashtag #LalSalaamComrade on Twitter this evening. The hashtag also comes about days after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) held that the use of “lal salam” and “comrade” meant that one is a Maoist.
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Selection of posters @ #LalSalaamComrade (click to enlarge)

Delhi High Court Was Right to Call NIA to Account for Gautam Navlakha’s Hasty Removal

Delhi High Court Was Right to Call NIA to Account for Gautam Navlakha’s Hasty Removal


Solidarity poster by ABA, 2020

The Wire / by Anjana Prakash

By failing to uphold the sanctity of the high court’s order in a matter where the NIA’s conduct appears surreptitious and mala faide, the Supreme Court has undermined the majesty of the law.
A senior once told me that the best way to understand the law was to know the law. His advice confused me in the beginning, but I soon realised how profound it was. I recall this in the context of the case of Gautam Navlakha and others. I don’t hold their brief, but if I’ve chosen to speak, it is as a thinking person.
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We need groups organised to fight, they’re the ones who can make a dent – A profile of Sudha Bharadwaj

We need groups organised to fight, they’re the ones who can make a dent – A profile of Sudha Bharadwaj


CMM demands release of Sudha Bharadwaj, Chhattisgarh 2019

The Polis Project / by The Polis Project & maraa

PROFILES OF DISSENT | The profile spotlights the life and work of Sudha Bharadwaj a trade unionist, and a civil rights activist who had fought against land acquisition, and has worked and lived in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh for 29 years.
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AI India: Release The BK11 on bail on humanitarian grounds (video)

AI India: Release The BK11 on bail on humanitarian grounds (video)


en | 2:12 min | 2020

By Amnesty International India

Over the past 2 years, Sudha & 10 other activists have been repeatedly denied bail. In the wake of the #COVID19 pandemic, we at @AIIndia are concerned about their health. The Indian Government must immediately release the activists on bail on humanitarian grounds!
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Travesty of Justice – Persecution of Human Rights Defenders

Travesty of Justice – Persecution of Human Rights Defenders

By Civil Liberties Committee (AP &Telangana State)

We cannot forget 2018. In fact that the violence in Bhimakoregaon in Maharashtra on January 2018 was a planned and organized by the RSS and other Hindhutva outfits in order to foil Edgar Parishat, a conglomeration of dalits, bahujans and minorities who gathered in a single  platform. The Parishad proclaimed to fight against fascist hindutva forces and reclaim Constitution and its ideals. In the months of June and August the Maharashtra Police raided selectively the houses of human rights and social activists across the country.
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Video: We Shall Fight, Comrade

Video: We Shall Fight, Comrade


en/marathi | 3:46 min | 2020

By The Boston Coalition

Today is 2 yrs. since peaceful activists were first arrested in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case.
Stop the misuse of draconian UAPA & NSA laws in India!
We fight to #FreeBK11!
Watch video