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Category: Statements

Telangana turns into experimental theatre to misuse suppressive laws: CASR meet

Telangana turns into experimental theatre to misuse suppressive laws: CASR meet

Counterview / by Our Representative 

Speakers at a media conference, organised by the civil rights network Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), even as discussing “suppression of democratic voices” using suppressive laws in the light of the Tadwai case, where 152 activists of Andhra-Telangana were named under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), have demanded repeal of the “draconian” law.
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Also read:
● Blatant use of UAPA by Telangana Police to suppress dissenting voices (Countercurrents / June 2023)
● Telangana Govt to ‘Drop’ UAPA Case Against Prof Haragopal, Sudha Bharadwaj, 150 Others (The Wire / June 2023)
● The Govt is out to silence Dissenters through Arrests: Justice Hosbet Suresh (Sabrangindia / Oct 2018)

Will India care for human rights by releasing undertrial activists ahead of G20 summit?

Will India care for human rights by releasing undertrial activists ahead of G20 summit?

Counterview / by Bharat Dogra

India has a very rich tradition of opposing wrongly arrested persons, going back to the days of the freedom movement…
Hence, ahead of the Independence Day, it would be a much appreciated gesture on the part of the government if it releases several dissenting activists, including distinguished scholars and lawyers, who are widely believed to have been wrongfully arrested or implicated in wrong cases. To give one often discussed example of what is widely believed to be a case of wrongful arrests, we may mention here the Elgar Parishad case.
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Also read:
● The Burgeoning Share of Undertrial Prisoners in India’s Jails (The Wire / Oct 2022)
● Punished without trial: How India’s political prisoners are being denied basic rights in jail (Scroll.in / Aug 2022)
● Even after Stan Swamy’s death, the fight to get justice for Jharkhand undertrials is still alive (Scroll.in / Dec 2021)

Frivolous conspiracy cases on Jharkhand’s anti-displacement activists: FACAM

Frivolous conspiracy cases on Jharkhand’s anti-displacement activists: FACAM

Bacha Singh, Damodar Turi during protests

Counterview / by Counterview Desk / FACAM

Civil rights group Forum Against Corporatization And Militarization (FACAM), even as condemning the alleged harassment of Jharkhand activists by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), has said that they are being intimidated because they have “opposed corporate loot of people’s resources.”
…
It is a malicious plot of the state machinery to suppress democratic voice against corporate loot and displacement of adivasis
Among Bhima Koregaon political prisoners, most were actively opposing the state-corporate expropriation of people’s resources, displacement and state repression. Father Stan Swamy himself played an instrumental in formation of Visthapan Virodhi Janvikas Andolan (VVJA) and was active in Pathalgadhi Movement to ensure the autonomy and sanctity of gram sabha.
Read full statement

Also read
● Narendra Modi’s Government Is Using False Charges of Terrorism to Repress Its Opponents (Jacobinmag / April 2022)
● This Organisation In Jharkhand Is Holding The State Accountable (Youthkiawaaz / April 2022)
● NIA Opposes Stan Swamy’s Bail; Calls PUCL, Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan ‘Maoist Fronts’ (The Wire / Jan 2021)

Various statements to commemorate Stan Swamy’s death anniversary / Justice for the BK16!

Various statements to commemorate Stan Swamy’s death anniversary / Justice for the BK16!

Father Stan Swamy Died As A UAPA Martyr; But Political Prisoners Continue To Suffer Without Bail

08/07/2023

Live Law / by Awstika Das

Two years ago, on July 5, Father Stan Swamy died as an undertrial prisoner in the Bhima Koregaon case after 270 days of incarceration. The 84-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist – arrested over alleged links to Naxals – was the country’s oldest inmate charged under the anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. “But we still sing in chorus. A caged bird can still sing,” he famously wrote in a letter from jail. But a storied life – of fighting injustice and defending human rights – came to a poor, undignified end, as Swamy battled not only with advanced Parkinson’s disease and coronavirus while awaiting trial, but also the apathy of the State that denied him basic amenities like socks, a sweater, and a blanket to stave off the cold of his jail cell, and a a straw and a sipper to drink water.
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Father Stan Swamy remembered in Bengaluru on second death anniversary

07/07/2023

The indian Express / by Express News Service

Father Frazer Mascarenhas, the former principal of St Xaviers College in Mumbai, in whose care Fr Swamy was in his last days, termed the Jharkhand-based activist as a committed Jesuit and scholar and recalled his activism towards the welfare of the tribal communities.
Father Stan Swamy, the Jesuit priest who died while in judicial custody in connection with Elgaar Parishad case, was remembered on his second death anniversary at an event held in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
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Panel discussion on civic literacy held to commemorate Father Stan Swamy’s second death anniversary

06/07/2023

The Telegraph / by Pheroze L. Vincent

Swamy, an 84-year-old Jesuit activist from Jharkhand, died of post-Covid complications while in judicial custody in Mumbai
The second death anniversary of Father Stan Swamy, who died in custody while awaiting trial in the Elgaar Parishad-Maoist links case, was commemorated with a panel discussion on “Civic Literacy and Political Participation” at the Jawahar Bhawan auditorium in the capital on Wednesday.
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‘Withdraw Bhima Koregaon case’: Activists demand after 2 yrs of Stan Swamy’s death

06/07/2023

The Siasat Daily / by News Desk

84-year-old Jharkhand-based tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy passed away while in custody for his alleged role in the Bhima Koregaon case.
Shaheed Father Stan Swamy Nyay Morcha, an umbrella organisation of various social outfits in Jharkhand, on Wednesday called for the withdrawal of the Bhima Koregaon case and the immediate release of the arrested.
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Pic shared by Abhinay Lakshman / @al_lakshman

Jharkhand social activists demand action against culprits of Stan Swamy’s death in judicial custody

05/07/2023

Lagatar News / by  Raj Kumar

Ranchi, July 5: Shaheed Father Stan Swamy Nyay Morcha today organized a tribute-cum- resolution meeting in front of Raj Bhawan on the occasion of second martyrdom day of the father, whom the NIA had arrested on October 8, 2020 from Ranchi for delivering a hate speech. Later, he died on July 5, 2021 while going for treatment to a Mumbai hospital in judicial custody.
Many social workers and representatives of various organizations and political parties from different districts, including Ranchi participated in it. They demanded action against the culprits of Stan’s death in judicial custody.
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Activists urge Indian president to clear Stan Swamy’s name

06/07/2023

UCA News / by UCA News reporter

Tributes flow on the second death anniversary of the late Jesuit priest, who was falsely charged with terror-related laws
A group of rights activists in India have urged President Droupadi Murmu to withdraw terror-related cases against late Jesuit Father Stan Swamy and 15 other accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case.
“It is a false case registered against Father Swamy and others and it should be withdrawn,” said Father Antony P.M, a social activist at a gathering to mark the second death anniversary of the priest, on July 5 in the eastern Jharkhand state. Tributes were paid to the Swamy across the country.
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Bring legislation against custodial torture, activists urge TN government

05/07/2023

The New Indian Express / by By Palanivel Rajan C

“Leaders’ rhetoric against custodial tortures will do no good on the ground, where plausible changes ought to be done in the police stations where the most number of such incidents take place.”
TIRUCHY:  On the second death anniversary of tribal rights activist Stan Swamy who died in jail after being arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case and after being consistently denied bail, activists and outfits in the state have called out for an Act called ‘Tamil Nadu Prevention of Custodial Torture Act’.
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Also read/watch:
● Stan Swamy’s second death anniversary: Stand Up for What Is Right, demand Co-Accused  (July 5, 2023)

● Remembering Father Stan and demand justice for the BK-16! (July 5, 2023/ PUCL)

en / hindi | 2:49:57 | 2023
Watch recording

Stan Swamy’s second death anniversary: Stand Up for What Is Right, demand Co-Accused

Stan Swamy’s second death anniversary: Stand Up for What Is Right, demand Co-Accused

poster by @/bakeryprasad

In a Letter From Jail, Stan Swamy’s Co-Accused Ask President Murmu to Stand Up for What Is Right

05/07/2023

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

Today is Father Stan Swamy’s second death anniversary.

Two years ago on this day, 84-year-old Jharkhand-based tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy breathed his last while in custody. His death exposed the state’s negligence and inability to protect prisoners. Swamy, a Parkinson’s patient, spent close to a year in jail, deprived of the most basic facilities – one of which was a sipper to drink water from.

On his second death anniversary, 11 of his co-accused (Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Hany Babu, Ramesh Gaichor, Sagar Gorkhe and Jyoti Jagtap) – all human rights activists and academics – write a letter to President of India Draupadi Murmu, who belongs to the tribal community that Swamy worked very closely with. Murmu, who recently spoke passionately about the conditions of Indian prisoners, was the governor of Jharkhand when Swamy’s organisation, Bagaicha, was raided and eventually he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency.
Along with the letter, the still-arrested human rights defenders also announced their one-day symbolic hunger strike in Mumbai’s Taloja and Byculla jails, where they are presently lodged.
The full text of their letter to the president is below.
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Caged birds and prison songs: In chorus, Stan Swamy and the Bhima Koregaon accused kept hope alive

05/07/2023

Vernon Gonsalves

Scroll.in / by Vernon Gonsalves

A fellow prisoner’s recollections of the Jesuit priest, who died on July 5, 2021.

“…I am ready to pay the price, whatever be it. But we will sing in chorus. A caged bird can still sing.”
– Father Stan Swamy

When Stan Swamy, in his last message before landing in Navi Mumbai’s Taloja Central Prison in October 2020, declared that a “caged bird can still sing”, he was not talking about the tunes prisoners sing in jail. He had then not been imprisoned before that and was probably not acquainted with prison-singing in its various forms.
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On Father Stan Swamy’s second death anniversary, two letters, a painting and the triumph of memory against forgetting

05/07/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

Father Stan Swamy’s death was an international shock the ripples of which can still be felt, and a blot on the record of a State that treats criminal justice as its plaything. His legacy is treasured by his co-accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case inside the prison, and everyone who stands for justice and democracy outside the prison.
… The 11 incarcerated accused persons in the Elgar Parishad case are set to go on a day-long hunger strike today. They pen an imaginary letter from Swamy to the President of India Droupadi Murmu, terming it “Prayers that never came to be”.
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“Hopefully waiting” writes Shoma Sen from prison

07/07/2023

InSAF India / by Shoma Sen

This handwritten note by Shoma Sen marks five years in prison for the activist and academic.
As we enter the sixth year of our incarceration the predominant feeling over the last five years is that of waiting. From waiting for default bail in the seventh month of our imprisonment, most of us are still waiting. In jail, we sit there waiting for court dates, waiting for mulakaat, waiting for the newspaper, waiting for bail and for the jail God called Memo. In jail, our sense of time itself gets warped. When a lawyer tells a prisoner that she will get bail in one or two days, it may actually mean one or two years. 24 hours of clock time could mean 24 months in judicial time.
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I Am Not A Mute Spectator – Conversation with four Jesuit priests

I Am Not A Mute Spectator – Conversation with four Jesuit priests

Asianspeaks / by Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek 

… Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek had a conversation with four Jesuit priests, Fr. Cedric Prakash, Fr. Joseph Xavier, Fr. Frazer Mascarenhas, and Fr. Martin Puthussery, who were known to Stan and were outspoken against his extra judicial murder.

Rejaz: Several Christian clergymen were executed for opposing fascism during Hitler’s regime in Nazi Germany. Can we equate those institutional murders with Fr. Stan Swamy’s who was killed in India during Narendra Modi’s RSS led Brahmanic hindutva fascist regime because he was working for the liberation of the oppressed?

Fr. Cedric Prakash: Yes, we certainly regard the death of Fr. Stan Swamy as an institutional murder. Fr. Stan we all know accompanied the poorest of the poor, the excluded, and the exploited, the Adivasis and the Dalits in their struggle for a more humane, just, dignified, and equitable life. In doing so he had to take on the most powerful of the land like the politicians, the crony capitalists, the mining mafia, and other vested interests. Because of their illegal unconstitutional and nefarious deeds, Fr Stan was a thorn in their side. He was arrested on absolutely fabricated charges.
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Institutionalisation of injustice the order of the day, says noted journalist-author

Institutionalisation of injustice the order of the day, says noted journalist-author

The Telegraph / by Achintya Ganguly

P. Sainath said this while delivering the second Father Stan Swamy memorial lecture on ‘Governance by gagging and the moral universe of media’
Earlier the media was expected to speak the truth to the power that be but now it also needs to speak the truth about that power.
Magsaysay award-winning journalist-author P. Sainath said this while delivering the second Father Stan Swamy memorial lecture on “Governance by gagging and the moral universe of media” at XISS auditorium in Ranchi on Sunday afternoon.
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Six (of Many) Reasons Why PM Modi’s Words on Democracy in the White House Ring Hollow

Six (of Many) Reasons Why PM Modi’s Words on Democracy in the White House Ring Hollow


#ModiNotWelcome /
Modi Visit Protests and other Actions (kractivist.org)

 

The Wire / by Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta

There is a world of gap between what the prime minister preaches at global events and what his government practices. Although Modi has denied promoting any form of discrimination under his rule, it is evident that he is blatantly misleading the world.
…
Here are a few instances which contradict the Prime Minister’s assertions in the White House.

The Elgar Parishad case
Five years have passed but most of the 16 arrested activists, all renowned for their life-long advocacy of civil liberties and opposition to any form of discrimination against people living on the margins, are still in jail.
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PUCL: Five Years of Bhima Koregaon – Release Them All (video)

PUCL: Five Years of Bhima Koregaon – Release Them All (video)


hindi/en | 1h 55min | 2023

By People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)

Friends,
Join us in remembering the 16 human rights activists who are still charged in the Bhima Koregaon case – many of whom have now spent more than 5 years in jail!

Let us remember
– the quiet dignity of Fr Stan Swamy, even as he lost his life in jail, incarcerated under false charges;
– the mounting injustice of Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson,  Mahesh Raut, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves  spending 5 years in jail,
– the trials and tribulations of the young Jyoti Jagtap, Ramesh Gaichor and Sagar Gorkhe of KKM,  and Prof Hany Babu, arrested later
– and Sudha Bharadwaj, Varvara Rao, Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha, who are on bail, but still not free

Watch recording @ PUCL fb

Who are the acclaimed ‘BK-16’? / HRDs and families await justice, five years down

Who are the acclaimed ‘BK-16’? / HRDs and families await justice, five years down

HRDs and families await justice, five years down

22/06/2023

cjp / by Sabah Maharaj

Faulty investigation and severe loopholes in investigation, surrounds the controversial BK-16 case. International outcry has not helped move the trial five years down even while the targeted languish, families await the return of their loved ones
In June 2021, European Union parliamentarians, Nobel Laureates, renowned academics, and internationally known figures wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, the then Chief Justice of India as well as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, and other authorities in India, demanding to the release of political prisoners arrested with relation to the Elgar Parishad and Bhima Koregaon incident.
Amidst contested accusations of an anti-India conspiracy, militancy, and violence, five long years have passed since the BK-16 have been imprisoned without trial.
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Who are the acclaimed ‘BK-16’?

22/06/2023

cjp / by CJP Team

Five years have passed, and human rights defenders (HRDs) and their families continue to await justice.

Surendra Gadling
Status: Detained without trial
Charges:Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) since June 2018
Location: Taloja Central Prison, Mumbai
Gadling is a human rights lawyer and a Dalit activist. Over time, Gadling established himself as a keen advocate and a key figure in cases related to extrajudicial killings, police misconduct, false accusations, and injustices against Dalits and Adivasis in the region…
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Also read:
● Five years behind bars for five activists – Without bail, without charges being framed, without justice! – Various statements