Statements – Page 10 – free them all

How an anonymous poetry page on Instagram is bringing hope to political activism

11/06/2023 Asha

Scroll.in / by Yamini Krishnan

Hamraaz is an anonymous poet on Instagram writing about instances of oppression.
When Varavara Rao was arrested in 2018, many of the demands for his release focused on his identity as a poet. “What kind of country are we,” a concerned citizen said in dismay, “when we put poets behind bars?” This, perhaps, is an indication of the revolutionary power that poetry can have.
Read more

Also read/watch:
● Writing as Righting: The Politics and Poetics of Varavara Rao (The Wire / July 2020)
● A POET AGAINST THE STATE : TALKING WITH VARAVARA RAO – Part 1 (Raiot.in / June 2016)
● THE POET AS THE REVOLUTIONARY – TALKING WITH VARAVARA RAO – Part 2 (Raiot.in / July 2016)

● Voices of poetry roar in solidarity with the call to release the poet Varavara Rao

By Release the Poet, Nov 3, 2020

Salute Comrade, a glorious birthday! Our tribute will be in poetry, throughout the day.

Aruna Nellutla, VV’s niece, reads out for the poet
Ilika reads out for VV
Kodam Kumar reads out for VV
Shovana Nath reads out for VV
Amita Shereen reads out for VV
Baby Sau reads out for VV
Samiran Ghosh reads out for VV
Ipsa Shatakshi reads out for VV
Nalluri Rukmini reads out for VV
Kaushal Kishore reads out a poem for VV
Rahul Purakaystha recites VV
SAHAJA recites VV’s ‘Companion´
… and numerous others read out for VV

Watch videos on `Release The Poet´ fb page

The Bhima Koregaon 16 Must Not Be Forgotten

11/06/2023 Asha

National Herald / by Aakar Patel

Independent agencies find evidence was planted. Yet the 16 accused remain in jail, denied basic health needs, denied bail to honour dead family members one last time
This month marks five years since the first arrests in the Bhima Koregaon case.
A total of 16 people were arrested in the case, including Father Stan Swamy, who died in custody. Most of them remain in jail. None has been convicted in the case, none has been connected with violence in the place for which the matter is named.
Read more

Also read:
● Five years behind bars for five activists – Without bail, without charges being framed, without justice! (Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) / June 6, 2023)
● Five Years Since The First Arrests In Bhima-Koregaon Case (Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO) / June 6, 2023)
● Release activists incarcerated in Bhima Koregaon Case (Campaign Against State Repression / June 7, 2023)

Thread by Amnesty India / @AIIndia (June 6, 2023):
In a series of arrests, 16 activists were imprisoned simply because they spoke up for the rights of the most marginalized in the country. Today, 5 years have passed since the first round of arrests of activists in the Bhima Koregaon case.

Five years behind bars for five activists – Without bail, without charges being framed, without justice!

06/06/2023 Asha

Five years behind bars for five activists – Without bail, without charges being framed, without justice!

06/06/2023

By Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)

Five years behind bars for five activists
Without bail, without charges being framed, without justice!
Release all 15-surviving accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.
June 6, 2023 will mark five years that five activists are behind bars. They include Mahesh Raut, an anti-displacement campaigner, Rona Wilson, a political prisoners’ campaigner, Shoma Sen, a feminist activist and professor, Sudhir Dhawale, a Dalit rights activist and Surendra Gadling, a lawyer who takes people’s rights cases pro-bono.
Read full statement

Five Years Since The First Arrests In Bhima-Koregaon Case

06/06/2023

Countercurrents.org / by Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO)

6th June 2018. The nation’s conscience suffered yet another attack by the arrests of leading intellectuals and democratic rights activists by the Pune police in connection with the so-called Bhima-Koregaon (BK) case. These arrests snowballed into a series of arrests in subsequent months. Five years have passed, and barring a few activists out on bail, the arrested persons are still languishing in jail without a charge sheet being filed. Through this statement, the CDRO once again tries to remember the incidents leading to these arrests and subsequent events; so that people can unite in a struggle for the release of the BK-16 and the repeal of draconian laws.
Read full statement

Five years of Bhima Koregaon arrests: CDRO marks ‘black day’

06/06/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

It was on this day in 2018 that five activists were first arrested by the Pune police in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad Maoist links and criminal conspiracy case. To mark this day, and by means of highlighting the plight of the arrested persons, the Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation and People’s Union for Democratic Rights have issued press statements demanding the immediate release of all the persons behind bars in connection with the case.
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CASR: Release activists incarcerated in Bhima Koregaon Case

07/06/2023

Countercurrents.org / by Campaign Against State Repression

June 6th became a day of one of the most audacious attack by the Brahmanical Hindutva Fascist state on the Democratic rights and political activists and began new era of rampant use of UAPA and conspiracy cases, which was, although known to the working class, the peasantry and the oppressed, have been largely unknown to the Urban democratic movement. June 6th, 2018 marks the first arrest in the infamous Bhima Koregaon ‘Conspiracy’ case, after series of raids in April 2018. The police arrested Sudhir Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen and Mahesh Raut.
Read full statement

Five years after arrest, Bhima Koregaon case accused yet to get copies of proof against them

05/06/2023

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

Special Public Prosecutor rubbished the allegation and said most of the material have been shared with them
It has been six years since Sudhir Dhawale, an activist; Surendra Gadling, a criminal lawyer practising in Nagpur; Shoma Sen, professor and Head of Department, English at Nagpur University; activists Rona Wilson and Mahesh Raut were arrested in the caste-based violence that broke out at Bhima Koregaon in Pune in 2017.
Read more

Also read:
● Bhima Koregaon: Who’s who of those arrested & the developments in the case pertaining to each (The Leaflet / June 2022)
● Marking three years since the first arrest (The Leaflet / June 2021)
● Two years of Bhima Koregaon Arrests (The Leaflet / June 2020)
● What has happened to the five activists who were arrested a year ago (Scroll.in / June 2019)
● IAPL press note about arrest of Advocate Gadling & other people’s activists (Sanhati / June 2018)

New democracy through Brecht’s lens

29/05/2023 Asha

Midday.com / by Ajaz Ashraf

The BJP, which strives to trip governments in Opp-ruled states, seems to be heeding playwright’s notion of dissolving the people.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inauguration of the new Parliament building reminded me of playwright Bertolt Brecht and his poem The Solution.
… At the Elgar Parishad, organised in Pune on December 31, 2017, activist Sudhir Dhawale began his speech thus: “What sort of a city is this? What sort of people/are you?/When injustice is done there should be a revolt in this city/And if there is no revolt, it were better that the/city should perish in fire before night falls.” The Pune Police claimed this verse proved Dhawale instigated the January 1, 2018 violence at Bhima Koregaon. He has been locked up for the last five years.
Read more

Also read:
● And a place Sudhir Dhawale calls home (Midday.com / Aug 2022)
● India’s Hindu Nationalist Project Relies on Brutal Repression (Jacobin / April 2021)
● Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi asserts basis of FIR is a translation of German playwright Bertolt Brecht’s poem! (The Leaflet / Sep 2018)

Stan Swamy’s birth anniversary celebrated in Bagaicha / Fellowship for rights defenders

26/04/2023 Asha

Stan Swamy’s birth anniversary celebrated at his center

26/04/2023

Matters India / by P M Antony

Bagaicha, April 26, 2023: Friends and associates of late Jesuit social scientist Father Stan Swamy on April 26 observed his 86th birth anniversary at a center he founded near Ranchi, capital of Jharkhand state in eastern India.
Father Stan, as he was popularly known, died on July 5, 2021, as an undertrial prisoner at Mumbai, western India.
For his 86th birth anniversary, about 70 friends of Stan gathered at Bagaicha to cherish his memories, works and get energized and inspired by his life and works towards creating a more just and democratic society.
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Father Stan Swamy’s acquaintances launch fellowship for rights defenders

28/04/2023

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

‘Most of us are aware of Stan Swamy’s work and contribution to defending human rights, especially the Adivasis’ right to jal, jungle aur zameen’
Friends and acquaintances of Father Stan Swamy have on his birth anniversary launched a fellowship for rights defenders like him and individuals involved in social work.
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by Cedric Prakash / @CedricPrakash (April 26, 2023)
Today birth anniversary of #stanswamy He is fondly remembered by many as a brother, friend, mentor, guide, companion, human rights defender, crusader for justice & more! He was institutionally murdered on 5 Jul 2021; he will never die he LIVES in the hearts of many FOREVER !

Earthly Birthday Greetings to Stan Swamy in Heaven

26/04/2023

Countercurrents.org / by Cedric Prakash

Dear Stan,
It is your birthday today here on earth! You would have completed eighty-six years, if you were around. Well, that was not to be; on 5 July 2021 you were murdered by a brutal and fascist regime, which did not want a human rights defender like you to continue living! This is your second earthly birthday up above. Not sure how you will be celebrating it!
Read more

Swamy and Friends: A Poem by Keki Daruwala

26/04/2023

LiveWire / by Keki N. Daruwalla

This poem was originally published on July 9, 2021 and is being republished on April 26, 2023.

Beyond the Gangetic plain and the Jumna,
they had their world, women dancing in the night
tapping their earth-and-sky-world into rhythm;
their days ruled by taboo and totem
long before Freud had heard of them;
cults flowered, and shamans held the long stick

Indian Jesuit who died in jail hailed for exemplary life

26/04/2023

UCA News / by UCA News reporter

84-year-old Father Stan Swamy was arrested on false charges and denied bail despite suffering from multiple ailments
The birth anniversary of Father Stan Swamy was observed in India by exhorting the youth to follow the Indian Jesuit priest’s path of dedicating life to the poor indigenous people.
“Usually, after death, one is buried. But Father Swamy was sown. His ideals and sacrifices have to be taught to people,” said Justice K Chandru, a retired Madras High Court judge in Tamil Nadu, the home state of Father Swamy.
Read more

Release Gautam Navlakha Immediately! Release all political prisoners. / BK16 Solidarity

14/04/2023 Asha

By Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)

Today, 14 April 2023 marks four years, seven months and eighteen days since Gautam Navlakha’s arrest on 28 August 2018. A well-known human rights activist, respected journalist and writer of long standing, Gautam has now been incarcerated for three years since 14 April 2020 when he surrendered at the NIA office in Delhi.
Read more

Also read:
● Protest the Arrests of Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde: Demand release of the 11 arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case (PUDR / April 2020)
● Protest and Solidarity Statements on the arrests of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha (free-them-all.net / April 2020)

Gautam Navlakha has a tremendous archive of writings from the 1980s to the present, documented by The Friends of Gautam Navlakha.
To read some of his recent writings and a full list of his articles with Economic & Political Weekly, the NewsClick newsportal and the platform Sanhati visit: Gautam Navlakha – Journalist, Human Rights Defender, Political Prisoner

#BK16: Solidarity in New York, Berlin and Amsterdam

14/04/2023

By IndienKoGruppe / @IndienKoGruppe (April 14):

Freedom for political prisoners in India. “Dissent is the safety valve of democracy” (Supreme Court of India) Solidarity from New York, #FreeBK16

#BK16 solidarity from Berlin Freedom for political prisoners in India. Dissent is no crime, it is “the safety valve of democracy”

Ambedkar Jayanthi in Amsterdam, in solidarity with Bhima Koregaon activists in jail. #FreeBK16

Petition by Amnesty International: Act now to demand the release of the BK16!

Since 2018, Indian authorities have arrested 16 activists under a draconian anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case. 11 of them continue to languish in prison without trial. The repression of activists must end.
…
INDIAN AUTHORITIES MUST RELEASE ALL IMPRISONED ACTIVISTS IN THE BK16 CASE!
Act now to urge the Union Home Minister of India, Amit Shah to:
– Drop all charges against the 16 activists and immediately release the 12 who remain in detention
– Pending their release, ensure that they are granted prompt, regular, and unrestricted access to medical care and other basic necessities
– Repeal or substantially amend the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

India more casteist than ever before, says Anand Teltumbde

14/04/2023 Asha

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

Mr. Teltumbde says B.R. Ambedkar is being used by political parties to get Dalit votes
Today’s India is more casteist than ever before, scholar and civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde said on the eve of Ambedkar Jayanti. Grandson-in-law of the architect of the Constitution, the 73-year-old said B.R. Ambedkar is being used by political parties to get Dalit votes.
Read more

Also read:
● From the vault: Contemporary challenges before the anti-caste movement (The Leaflet | by Anand Teltumbde | April 2022)
● Dalit leaders condemn Anand Teltumbde’s arrest on 14 April—Ambedkar Jayanti (The Caravan | April 2020)
● Protest and Solidarity Statements on the arrests of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha (free-them-all.net / April 2020)

When Push Comes to Shove: Tracking Judicial Recusals and Transfers

04/04/2023 Asha

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Taking stock of some cases important for the right to life and liberty and freedom of expression where judges left mid-way.
… The Elgar Parishad case against 16 human rights defenders has gone through several twists and turns over the past five years. Both the state and the Central agency’s role, the subsequent investigations and the electronic evidence allegedly gathered from the accused have faced severe criticism. Even five years later, the trial is yet to commence and those imprisoned have been moving bail applications at different levels. In some of these matters, a number of judges from the Bombay high court and the Supreme Court have recused themselves.
Read more

Also Read:
● Justice Revati Mohite Dere of Bombay HC recuses from hearing bail plea of Mahesh Raut, others (India Legal / March 2023)

Jesuit priest accused of terrorism was victim of digital hacking

03/04/2023 Asha

Independent Catholic News / by John McManus

Today, Jesuit Missions, the international mission and development office of the Jesuits in Britain, along with the international Xavier Network, are calling on the Indian Government to clear Fr Stan’s name, especially in light of new evidence which proves that he was systematically targeted during a four-year campaign, during which time falsified evidence was planted on the priest’s computer.
Read more

Also read:
● Fabricating Evidence Against Life and Liberty: Tampering with Fr. Stan Swamy’s computer and its implications for Bhima Koregaon case (Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy / Dec 2022)
● Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)

Hany Babu has been granted honorary doctorate degree by Ghent University

03/04/2023 Asha

by Maktoob / @MaktoobMedia (Apr 3):

dutch (en subtitles) | 2:51min | 2023

Noted academic Dr Hany Babu, a UAPA prisoner in the Bhima Koregaon case, has been granted honorary doctorate degree by Ghent University in Belgium. Dr Anne Breitbarth, Ghent University in this video read a poem on Babu by Shivangi Mariam Raj. It was published in Maktoob.
Watch video

Also Read:
● Jailed professor Hany Babu gets Honorary Degree by Ghent University in Belgium (free-them-all.net / March 23, 2023)