Statements – Page 58 – free them all

Why Varavara Rao matters

26/07/2020 Rani

The New Indian Express / by T J S George

There was neither common sense nor political sense in putting Telugu poet and activist Varavara Rao in jail two years ago without trial and bail.
There was neither common sense nor political sense in putting Telugu poet and activist Varavara Rao in jail two years ago without trial and bail. He did support Naxalite excesses, but jailing a writer for that is equivalent to giving his writing more mileage. As it happened, authorities excelled themselves in foolishness.
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We must protest both Vikas Dubey murder, risking of VV Rao’s life

24/07/2020 Rani

Solidarty poster, July 2020

The Indian Express / by Satish Deshpande

The fact that Dubey was yet to be charged under any law while Rao has been charged under a special law should not blind us to the essential similarity they share — the state took unfair advantage of its custodial power over them. But the real danger such cases pose is that they always carry in their background the suggestion of popular support, which sometimes ripens into an explicit claim.
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Writers, artists urge CJI Bobde and Uddhav Thackeray to release jailed poet Varavara Rao

23/07/2020 Rani

Solidarity poster

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Hyderabad: As many as 520 Telugu poets, writers and artists on Wednesday urged Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde, Chief Justice of the Maharashtra High Court Dipankar Datta and the State’s Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to ensure the release of jailed revolutionary poet Varavara Rao and Delhi University professor GN Saibaba.
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Writing as Righting: The Politics and Poetics of Varavara Rao

23/07/2020 Rani

The Wire / by Indradeep Bhattacharyya

A deep commitment to revolutionary humanism runs through Rao’s literary oeuvre – one that successive governments have relentlessly tried to muzzle.
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NDTV Reality Check: Despite COVID no Bail for Activists

22/07/2020 Rani

NDTV / Sreenivasan Jain asks

Videos

en | 1:17 min
N Venugopal, nephew of Varavara Rao: “Varavara Rao was lying in a pool of urine, I changed his clothes and the bedsheets. The nurses and constables came and threw us out”
Watch video

en 2:48 min
Suchitra Vijayan, Founder and Executive Director, The Polis Project: “Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it is just”
Watch video

en | 1:56 min
Colin Gonsalves, Senior Lawyer: “Strategy of government and NIA seems to be, ‘let us try and have these guys die in jail, before their trials begin’”
Watch video

Global Campaign #StandAsMyWitness: Free Sudha Bharadwaj

18/07/2020 Rani

By CIVICUS

Nearly 200 human rights organisations including CIVICUS have signed a letter to world leaders urging them to release human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience in honour of Nelson Mandela Day 18 July … It calls on governments to end the imprisonment and harassment of human rights defenders … Resilient human rights defenders from across the globe feature in the #StandAsMyWitness campaign. The ‘faces’ of the campaign are these defenders currently behind bars, like Sudha Bharadwaj – a human rights lawyer who defends Indigenous people’s rights in India.
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The #StandAsMyWitness campaign urges people to write letters on behalf of the defenders:
Demand the release of Sudha Bharadwaj

Release Sudha Bharadwaj, top academic, critic of govt lawlessness: Petition to Thackeray

17/07/2020 Rani

Counterview / by Counterview Desk

Through a petition to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, Prof Sandeep Pandey, the Magsaysay award winning social activist, along with university academics, students and other activists*, have sought wider support for immediate release of Prof Sudha Bharadwaj, in jail since August 2018 for her alleged involvement in Maoist terror activists following a Republic TV report said she was conspiring to create public disorder and unrest in India.
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By ignoring health of jailed poet Varavara Rao, state is imposing capital punishment without trial

17/07/2020 Rani

Scroll.in / by Sruthisagar Yamunan

The judiciary’s failure to protect his rights to medical treatment is disturbing.
In December 1990, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution titled “Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners”. Among the 10 principles that the UN said should be enforced “impartially” is this: “Prisoners shall have access to the health services available in the country without discrimination on the grounds of their legal situation.”
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CLC & Left Parties Demand Unconditional Release of Public Intellectuals arrested in BK Case & Prof. Saibaba

17/07/2020 Rani

CDRO Online / by Coordination of Democratic Rights Organaisation

A round table meeting was held on 14th July 2020, at the Godavarikhani, Ambedkar Bhavan on the issue of arrested intellectuals in Bhima-Koregaon case. This meeting was attended by different public associations, Civil Liberties Committee (CLC), leftist parties like CPI, CPIM, CPI-ML New Democracy and Dalit groups like All India Ambedkar Youth Association (AIAYA), Madiga Reservation PorataSamithi (MRPS) and Mala Mahanadu.
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CASR: Release Varavara Rao immediately! Demand the release of all political prisoners!

16/07/2020 Rani

By Campaign Against State Repression

The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) demands the immediate release of the revolutionary poet Varavara Rao who has tested positive for COVID-19. As per information received by family members, Varavara Rao’s health has rapidly deteriorated over the last couple of weeks. This is also evidenced by his weakening physical state, incoherent speech and inability to independently perform daily or bodily functions. After persistent efforts of family members in highlighting his health condition, the jail authorities, who had denied these concerns, were compelled to shift Varavara Rao to JJ Hospital in Mumbai on July 13th. However, his health further worsened as hospital authorities failed to care for him. They even forcibly sent away his family for raising concerns about him being abandoned on a dirty and unsanitary stretcher. Today, he has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been shifted to Saint George Hospital, Mumbai.
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