The Hindu / by Ananya Biswal
The annual bookfair at Shivaji Park on Friday had a blue-white sartorial theme: those who manned the stalls drew attention to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s way of life by wearing blue ribbons over white shirts.
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More than a year since 9 HRDs were arrested on the pretext of Bhima Koregaon violence. On January 1, 2018 Hindutva mobs attacked Dalit Bahujans in Bhima Koregaon. In the aftermath of the violence their homes were raided, false cases foisted on them. We demand from the newly formed Maharashtra govt. for the swift release of 9 HRDs, all false cases on Dalit youths to be quashed and actions on Hindutva leaders to be expedited. We also demand that the pretext of Bhima Koregaon not be used to further target activists and human rights defenders.
Millenium post / by Amritananda Chakravorty
Prone to misuse, an opportunity exists for CrPC Section 321 to be properly utilised by the Uddhav government for withdrawing false cases against Bhima Koregaon activists.
On November 28, 2019, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), a post-poll coalition between Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Indian National Congress formed the government in Maharashtra under the aegis of Uddhav Thackeray, after almost a month-long drama.
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The Wire / by Sudha Bharadwaj
Dr Lakhan Singh (August 9, 1952-September 8, 2019) was the president of the Chhattisgarh chapter of PUCL from 2010 to 2019. Sudha Bharadwaj, currently at Yerwada Jail in Pune, wrote this tribute to him in her letter to her daughter, Maaysha, dated September 15, 2019, and it is being published with her permission.
Sudha Bharadwaj is the general secretary of the Chhattisgarh PUCL and was one of the lawyers for the Sarkeguda case.
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Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia
Leaders urge Maha CM Uddhav Thackeray to quash the cases against activists who have been fighting for marginalized sections of society.
On Monday, after the Uddhav Thackeray led Maharashtra government decided to review the Aarey and Bhima Koregaon cases, state NCP leader Jitendra Awhad among others have requested the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to withdraw the cases against rights activists in the BhimaKoregaon matter.
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The Caravan / by Shaheen Ahmed & Maya Palit
In the early hours of 10 September 2019, a team of police officials, including personnel from the Pune Police, turned up at the doorstep of Hany Babu MT, an associate professor in the University of Delhi’s English department. … The police informed Babu that the search was conducted in connection with the Elgar Parishad and Bhima Koregaon case. …
Shaheen Ahmed and Maya Palit, the multimedia and books editors at The Caravan, respectively, spoke to Babu about the raid at his house and its aftermath.
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American Bar Association / by American Bar Association
In the wake of violent attacks on marginalized communities in India in 2018, the Maharashtra police arrested several activists and lawyers who historically advocated for the rights of these communities. A preliminary review of the judicial records in this case raises serious concerns of procedural irregularities, abuse of process, and violations of fundamental human rights. Several United Nations’ (UN) experts on human rights have expressed concern that the arrests and charges were brought in retaliation for the defendants’ legitimate human rights work.
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Read the full report here (.pdf):
Reporters Without Borders / by Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) firmly condemns a recent increase in attempts in several Indian states to prosecute journalists for allegedly participating in “revolutionary” activities, and calls on the courts to dismiss these absurd charges.
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Media Release by Communist Party of India (Marxist) Maharashtra State Committee
Nov 27, 2019
The CPI(M) welcomes the fact that the thoroughly unprincipled BJP-led Devendra Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar government, which never had a majority in the state assembly, was forced to resign. …
The Telegraph / by The Editorial Board
No country that claims to uphold human rights deprives prisoners of the right to self-improvement or the peaceful habit of reading. Yet Shalini Gera, an activist who went to visit the lawyer, Sudha Bharadwaj, imprisoned in Pune’s Yerwada jail since October 2018 for alleged links with the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in the – rather enigmatic – Elgaar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, had her birthday gift of two books returned.
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