By Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation
Since the BJP’s rise to power in 2014, the list of people -ranging from human rights activists to lawyers, and journalists to students – being persecuted for their identity and their fidelity to fighting for democratic and progressive rights, has grown rapidly. Starting from the arrests related to Bhima Koregaon in 2018 and protests against CAA in 2020 to the recent arrests of activist Teesta Setalvad and journalist Mohammad Zubair, the current regime is bent on imprisoning any person who speaks uncomfortable truths and exposes their lies. Read full statemnt
Advocates Call for Better Medical Care for Gonsalves, who Suffers from Dengue, and Others Held in Prison
September 14, 2022
Ahead of a bail hearing on Sept. 15, PEN America is calling for the immediate release from prison of Indian writer Vernon Gonsalves, due to his worsening health. Gonsalves is suffering from dengue as a result of his detention at Taloja Central Jail. PEN America urged authorities to release other writers and activists held in prison and to improve medical care for all prisoners. Read full statement
‘No cop was free to take Vernon Gonsalves to JJ hospital due to fest’ / Jailers’ apathy?
‘No cop was free to take Vernon Gonsalves to JJ hospital due to fest’
13/09/2022
Times of India / by TNN
Taloja jail authorities have said Elgar Parishad case accused Vernon Gonsalves who tested positive for dengue on September 7 after several days of fever could not be admitted that day since there was no police escort due to Ganeshotsav and he was admitted to state-run JJ hospital on September 8 with an escort. Read more
Jailers’ apathy? Political prisoners’ right to life in India is ‘almost non-existent’
13/09/2022
Countercurrents / by By Deepika Tandon, Shahana Bhattarcharya (PUDR)
On 8th September Vernon Gonsalves, one of the 16 undertrials in the Bhima Koregaon case lodged in the anda cell of Taloja Central Jail, was diagnosed with dengue and likely pneumonia.
Gonsalves age 65, had been suffering from fever since 30th August, but it took an appeal from his lawyer and the intervention of the Court for the Taloja Jail authorities to shift him to JJ Hospital for treatment. The fact that he was immediately put on oxygen support at the hospital, points to the apathy of the jail authorities regarding the health of prisoners lodged in their custody. Read more
Medical treatment was provided to activist Vernon Gonsalves in jail, NIA court told
12/09/022
MidDay / by pti
The activist (65), who was in judicial custody and lodged at the Taloja jail in neighbouring Navi Mumbai, was on September 8 admitted to the state-run JJ Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment for dengue.
Activist Vernon Gonsalves, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, was under constant medical treatment in jail once his ill health came to light and before he was diagnosed with dengue and admitted to a government hospital, prison authorities told a special NIA court here on Monday…
The activist’s plea for temporary bail on medical grounds is likely to be heard by the court on Tuesday. Read more
PRESS STATEMENT
Statement by Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy – a campaign of 40+ civil society groups
MRSD is distressed to learn about the health situation of 65 year old activist, poet, and writer Vernon Gonsalves, incarcerated since 2018 in the Bhima Koregaon/Elgar Parishad case. Gonsalves started developing several symptoms, such as fever, cough, dizziness, and nausea starting on August 30, as per the affidavit filed by his lawyers in Court. However, his health condition was met with neglect and it was only after pleading several times that he was finally taken to the state-run JJ hospital on September 6. Instead of continuing his treatment there, he was taken back to jail the same day. Upon hearing about this from other co-accused, Gonsalves’ lawyers and family members moved the NIA court seeking temporary bail on medical conditions. During the hearing, the lawyers told the Court that apart from Dengue, he may also be suffering from Pneumonia. …
NewsClick / by Relatives and Representatives of the BK16; NewsClick
The relatives and representatives of the accused persons in the Bhima Koregaon case have released a statement drawing attention to the deteriorating health of several undertrials – including Vernon Gonsalves – and the brazen negligence of the prison authorities...
Statement: In yet another act of criminal negligence, the prison authorities of Taloja Central Jail, Maharashtra, have delayed medical treatment for Vernon Gonsalves, a prominent activist and one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad case.
Gonsalves, who is 65 years old, fell ill with fever on August 30th, and even though his condition was steadily deteriorating, he was treated with just paracetamol and antibiotics in jail, for almost a week. After much pleading, he was taken to JJ hospital on September 7 and was given oxygen support. However, instead of continuing his treatment, he was callously brought back to jail where his condition continued to worsen. It is only after his lawyer and wife, Susan Abraham, approached the court and obtained an order, that the prison authorities finally admitted him to the emergency ward of JJ hospital, where he is still under treatment. Read full statement
Video: Custodial Violence, Judicial Negligence and State Apathy
12/09/2022
en │ 52min │2022
By The Polis Project
On 5 October 2020, Atikur Rahman, journalist Siddique Kappan, student Masood Ahmad, and taxi driver Mohammad Alam were arrested in Mathura, in Uttar Pradesh in, India They were on their way to meet the family of a Dalit woman who was raped and murdered by a group of men from the dominant caste in Hathras…
The denial of medical treatment and bail must be seen as a part of a larger pattern of abuse of power directed toward dissenters and political prisoners in India. On 5 July 2021, 84-year-old Jesuit priest and human rights defender Father Stan Swamy died in judicial custody at the Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai, India. Watch video
Stop Denying Political Prisoners the Right to Healthcare in Jails
10/09/2022
By Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)
Sep 10, 2022
On 8th September Vernon Gonsalves, one of the 16 undertrials in the Bhima Koregaon case lodged in the anda cell of Taloja Central Jail, was diagnosed with dengue and likely pneumonia. Gonsalves age 65, had been suffering from fever since 30th August, but it took an appeal from his lawyer and the intervention of the Court for the Taloja Jail authorities to shift him to JJ Hospital for treatment. The fact that he was immediately put on oxygen support at the hospital, points to the apathy of the Jail authorities regarding the health of prisoners lodged in their custody.
The incident marked the two month anniversary of the Special Court rejecting Gautam Navlakha’s petition for a mosquito net. On 20th May the jail authorities had confiscated the mosquito nets of some inmates housed in the anda cell. Sagar Gorkhe and several others had gone on hunger strike expressing apprehensions about contracting malaria and dengue as Taloja is infested by mosquitos. The abysmal jail facilities and hostility of jail staff added to these fears which have all come true. Read full statement
by The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (Sep 9):
+++ USCIRF Vice Chair Abraham Cooper: “We are relieved 65-year-old Dalit rights activist Vernon Gonsalves was finally able to receive medical care after being wrongfully denied it for over a week despite the severe deterioration of his health.” ++
+++ USCIRF Commissioner @StephenSchneck: “Medical neglect of prisoners of conscience like Gonsalves & others arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case continues despite the inhumane death of Father Stan Swamy. Pre-trial detention cannot be a de facto death sentence.” ++
‘You know the factors against you and those in favour, and you use the weapons you have in accordance with the strategy you’ve developed.’
Senior Counsel Anand Grover, last week got regular bail on medical grounds from the Supreme Court for Telugu poet and Bhima Koregaon accused Professor Varavara Rao.
“With all these ailments, if at his age, he were to go back to Taloja jail, his situation would deteriorate,” Grover tells Jyoti Punwani. Read more
Varavara Rao: The old man won’t die in jail. Thanks, SC
15/08/2022
Deccan Herald / by DH News Service
The grant of permanent bail to 82-year-old poet and activist Varavara Rao by the Supreme Court in the Bhima-Koregaon case came after a long and difficult legal struggle.
He was arrested under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in 2018 and was granted medical bail in 2021. It had been extended from time to time on medical grounds. Now, the SC has granted him regular bail with conditions. Read more
Lyrics by Shahir Sagar Gorkhe, sung by Adv Surendra Gadling Watch video
PEN AMERICA, WITH 102 INTERNATIONAL WRITERS AND ARTISTS, CALLS FOR INDIA TO UPHOLD THE FREEDOM TO WRITE AHEAD OF 75TH INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION
15/08/2022
Pen.org / by PEN America
Raises Ongoing Concerns About Fraying of Free Expression and Jailing and Silencing of Writers
(NEW YORK)—As India marks 75 years of independence today, 102 notable U.S. and international writers and creative artists, including Marina Abramovic, Paul Auster, J.M. Coetzee, Jennifer Egan, Jonathan Franzen, Azar Nafisi, and Orhan Pamuk, joined PEN America and PEN International in signing a letter to Indian President Droupadi Murmu, raising concern over the deterioration of free expression and calling for the release of imprisoned writers and dissident and critical voices…
Seven of the eight writers in prison in India during 2021 have been detained in connection with the ongoing Elgar Parishad case, concerning a deadly inter-caste altercation in the village of Bhima Koregaon in 2018. In response, state- and national-level authorities detained a broad swathe of leftist writers and intellectuals, accusing them of inciting the violence and of links to banned groups. Read full statement
INDIA AT 75 | CONTRIBUTORS S – Z
15/08/2022
PEN America / by Siddhartha Deb
…
Siddhartha Deb
I am not allowed to say the name of the person who told me, years ago: “India is not a nation. It is a prisonhouse of all possible nations.” Now this person is incarcerated, but I can’t describe the specifics of their suffering…
I can say the name of Stan Swamy, incarcerated and, eventually, killed by the Indian state on July 5, 2021. I can say his name because his life, if not his memory, is beyond the reach of the prisonhouse. Father Stan, dead at 84 because those running India are terrified of a Jesuit priest whose life was dedicated to working with indigenous people brutalized by Hindutva, the state, and the market. Read more
Our friend Mahesh is spending his 5th Independence Day in the prison with all the other activists in the Elgar Parishad case. They await their freedom. Please spare a thought for each one of them.
51- year-old Gadling, a well-known criminal lawyer in Nagpur, was once a cultural activist, who sang songs of political resistance. The 11- minutes- long rendition tells you what it means to be incarcerated in Indian prisons. From food, water, to medical care, everything is a struggle, Gadling narrates. The song was recorded by one of Gadling’s colleagues and was made available to The Wire after obtaining his consent.
Just in case: On courts and the tenability of the Bhima Koregaon case
12/08/2022
The Hindu / by Editorial
It is time the tenability of the Bhima Koregaon case was examined by courts.
The grant of bail to the 82-year-old Telugu poet and activist, Varavara Rao, on medical grounds is a welcome relief to at least one of those arraigned in the controversial Bhima-Koregaon case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Read more
Punishing process: Supreme Court bail for Varavara Rao again raises questions for the justice system
11/08/2022
Times of India / by TOI Edit
In granting permanent medical bail to Varavara Rao, the Supreme Court has made it clear that stringent restrictions against bail in laws like UAPA don’t hinder constitutional courts from protecting fundamental rights. Last year, SC had relied on this principle to uphold bail to a UAPA accused – arguing that his incarceration for over five years while the trial crawled on was unjustified. But Rao’s bail, granted on technical grounds – medical condition, advanced age, adherence to bail conditions, delay in framing charges – doesn’t answer any of the larger questions confronting the justice system. Read more
“When Will Trial Start?”, “How Will Letters Be Proved?”, Supreme Court Asks NIA In Bhima Koregaon Case
10/08/2022
Live Law / by Livelaw News Network
While hearing Varavara Rao’s bail application, the Supreme Court on Wednesday posed a host of queries to the National Investigation Agency on the Bhima Koregaon case, in which the agency has kept in custody several persons from academic-activist backgrounds on UAPA charges over alleged links with banned Maoist organization. Read more
‘First Step Towards Acquittal’: Varavara Rao’s Family on Bail by SC / #VaravaraRao
The apex court has ordered Rao to remain in Mumbai and said the regular bail granted to him was not a reflection on the merits of case
Telugu litterateur P. Varavara Rao’s family on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court’s judgment granting him regular bail on the grounds of advanced age and multiple ailments, hoping this could eventually lead to him being in the care of his family in Hyderabad and possible acquittal. Read more
‘First Step Towards Acquittal’: Varavara Rao’s Family on Bail by Supreme Court
10/08/2022
The Quint / by Nikhila Henry
On 10 August, the Supreme Court granted bail to Telugu poet and activist Varavara Rao, who has been waiting for a respite on medical grounds for 19 months. His family, however, thinks the 83-year-old’s fight is far from over.
“In today’s mood, I am hopeful that he will come back home,” Rao’s daughter P Pavana told The Quint. “This is only the first step. We are hoping that he will be allowed to come to Hyderabad and be with his family. And finally, we are hoping that he will be acquitted in this case,” N Venugopal, Varavara Rao’s nephew, told The Quint. Read more
PEN International (Aug 10):
#India: We are pleased that poet #VaravaraRao has been granted regular bail today. However, he remains subject to onerous bail conditions and with a trial pending. If convicted, he faces a potential death sentence. We continue to call for his immediate and unconditional release.
#VaravaraRao granted bail
Varavara Rao is no stranger to being imprisoned, but the poet and activist is also the conscience of our society – an intellectual we must protect from the excesses of a state determined to destroy dissenters. Watch video
by Cedric Prakash (Aug 10):
Supreme Court Grants Bail To Varavara Rao On Medical Grounds In Bhima Koregaon Case, Deletes HC Condition. Delayed but good news Hopefully all incarcerated in #BhimaKoregaonCase will be given bail & acquitted incl late #FrStanSwamy
by Amnesty India (Aug 10):
We welcome Supreme Court’s decision to grant regular bail to Varavara Rao, arrested in August 2018 & given interim bail last year on medical grounds.
But 13 others continue to be imprisoned without trial in the case.
Authorities must stop the crackdown & free them all.
#FreeBK16
by Panther Ajay
