NAPM stands in solidarity against state repression of activists, lawyers and progressive persons

By National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
Release all political prisoners, including Sudha Bharadwaj who has been imprisoned for 2 years!
Arrest the real criminals of ‘Bhima Koregaon’!
Repeal the UAPA Law!
28th August 2020: In India’s dark history of human rights violations, 28th August 2018 has become a very important day. On this day, Sudha Bharadwaj was arrested by Pune police from her home in Faridabad. On the same day, Gautam Navlakha from Delhi, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves from Mumbai and Varavara Rao from Hyderabad were also arrested. Although Gautam Navlakha was granted relief from arrest for a while by the Delhi High Court, he was also arrested a few months ago. In the ‘Bhima Koregaon case’, baseless and false facts have been used to fabricate a criminal case. …
The Sudha Bharadwaj the Govt Doesn’t Want You To Know

Pic by www.karinscheidegger.ch
Article 14 / by Chitrangada Choudhury
India’s National Investigative Agency describes her as the shadowy leader of the banned Maoist party, smuggling arms, planting booby traps and guiding strategy on armed operations. That contrasts sharply with her life of public service among some of India’s most exploited people.
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Why the State Fears My Friend, Sudha Bharadwaj
28/08/2020
The Wire / by Smita Gupta
They cannot fight her in court, so they are calling her a Maoist. They don’t have any real evidence against her, so they are converting the process itself into punishment.
Exactly two years ago, Sudha Bharadwaj was arrested in the infamous Bhima Koregaon case.
It is very painful for me to read about her declining health and the several serious ailments she has been suffering from during her imprisonment – heart disease, arthritis, hypertension, diabetes, depression. Even after two years, she has been denied bail and is being held without a trial.
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‘Maa chose to serve her people. Is that anti-national?’ Sudha Bharadwaj’s daughter
28/08/2020

Maaysha and Sudha Bharadwaj
The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal
Daughter pens heartfelt note as Sudha Bharadwaj completes two years in prison.
Noted human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj was arrested by the Pune police from her residence in Faridabad in August 2018 in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence case.
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AILAJ condemns the issuance of the summons by NIA against lawyers
AILAJ condemns the issuance of the summons by NIA against lawyers, indicating the beginning of dangerous times when intimidatory tactics are used not only against those who are critical of the State but also those who represent them.
Click to enlarge full statement below
Human rights organisation calls for immediate release of Sudha Bharadwaj on second anniversary of her arrest

By CIVICUS
August 28 2020 marks two years since the arrest and detention of Indian activist and human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj. Ahead of this second anniversary, global civil society organisation CIVICUS calls on the Indian government to immediately release Bharadwaj and drop all charges against her:
– CIVICUS urges authorities to drop baseless charges against Sudha Bharadwaj
– There are concerns for Bharadwaj’s health in prison during COVID-19 pandemic
– Bharadwaj is featured in international campaign #StandAsMyWitness calling for release of human rights defenders
Read full statement
The Making of Varavara Rao: Parts Two & Three

Pic: Rao with K Balagopal, Gaddar, and Vangapandu / ICF
Indian Cultural Forum / by N Venugopal Rao
I wouldn’t have been who I am without Varavara Rao, and it is true for the generation I come from and the one that followed. Today’s Telangana wouldn’t have been what it is without him. I have written and spoken about him and his poetry in the past, but now he is on the deathbed, in a faraway hospital, being subjected to retributive torture by the powers that be. Now, with a never-before urgency, I want to speak and write about him, through an interminable torrent of words.
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Video: Sudha Bharadwaj – The People´s Lawyer of Chhattisgarh
hindi | 3:35 min | 2020
Songs by Sudha Bharadwaj
By comrades of Sudha Bharadwaj
The workers and farmers of Chhattisgarh eagerly await the return of Sudhaji
An Irish Poet Sends the Fragrance of Invisible Flowers to Varavara Rao

Stills from Masood Hussain’s poetry film, ‘Flowers for Varavara Rao’. Photo: Masood Hussain
The Wire / by Gabriel Rosenstock
Recently, Dublin-based poet Gabriel Rosenstock sent Srinagar-based artist Masood Hussain a poem in Irish and English, titled ‘Flowers for Varavara Rao’ – a tribute to the ailing 81-year-old poet-activist who has been imprisoned since 2018, arrested in the Elgar Parishad case.
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Flowers for Varavara Rao
en, irish | 2:44 min | 2020
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Friends & family of Sudha Bharadwaj raise serious health concerns and seek her release
Solidarity programs with Sudha Bharadwaj (click to enlarge)
Countercurrents / by friends and family of Sudha Bharadwaj
Keeping under trials in prison for two years deliberately stalling bail opportunities, with no effort for beginning the trial instead exposing them to serious health condition is a gross violation of rights of prisoners. This is further heightened in times of a global pandemic given the crowded situation in prisons…
Friends and family members of Sudha Bharadwaj gathered online Sunday to share series of serious concern over Sudha Bharadwaj’s health condition.
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‘To sir, with love’: Students write letters to jailed Delhi University professor Hany Babu
Scroll.in / by Vijayta Lalwani
Babu was arrested by the National Investigation Agency on July 28.
„Birthday wishes Hany Sir. It pains me to write a birthday wish this way. I hope you are safe there. I hope you come out of this, back to your family and friends, back to the University, soon,” a student of Delhi University wrote in a letter to professor MT Hany Babu on his birthday on August 16.
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