Siasat.com / by Indian Americans Forum
Chicago: Indian Americans Forum is concerned about the recent news of renowned poet Varavara Rao’s health. Varavara Rao, age 81 who is a well known activist, writer, poet and lecturer got arrested 1.5 years ago in the alleged Elgar Parishad case which is still in trial.
Read more
The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal
‘In COVID-19 times, especially when Maharashtra has emerged as the State with the highest number of cases, differentially treating bail petitions by political prisoners is gross injustice’.
The denial of bail to all accused in the Elgaar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case was “patently callous”, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) said on Monday, and urged that the health and safety of political prisoners be treated with the same urgency as other prisoners.
Read more
01/06/2020
Kractivism / by PUDR
With the surrenders of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha on April 14, 2020 in Mumbai and Delhi respectively, the NIA, the investigative agency, has ensured the arrest of all 11 prominent human rights activists in the infamous Bhima Koregaon case under the draconian UAPA. The recent rejection of the bail applications of Varavara Rao, Anand Teltumbde, Shoma Sen and Sudha Bharadwaj, and the sudden transfer of Gautam Navlakha by the NIA, raise significant questions about the rights of political prisoners amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more
National Herald / by NH Web Desk.
Shailesh Gandhi and Prof M Sridhar Acharyulu have written a letter to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray calling for 80-year-old P Varavara Rao’s release, pointing out several grounds to do so.
Two former Central Information Commissioners, Shailesh Gandhi and Prof M Sridhar Acharyulu have written a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray calling for the release of renowned Telugu poet, journalist and lecturer P Varavara Rao, who is in judicial custody for the last 18 months in Bhima Koregaon case for an alleged attempt to murder Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Read more
Counterview / by Vidya Bhushan Rawat
It is deeply disturbing that 81-year-old poet Varavara Rao has been denied bail and has now been admitted to a hospital in Mumbai. Reports suggest that the prison in Taloja, Navi Mumbai, where he was lodged, has several Covid-19 patient. The family and friends of Varavara Rao have protested in Hyderabad, as they were not even allowed to visit him.
Read more
The New Indian Express / by IANS
Varavara Rao’s wife Hemalatha and daughter Pavana staged a three-hour-long protest at home, holding placards for release of the 80-year-old who was arrested in November 2018.
HYDERABAD: Revolutionary Telugu poet and writer Varavara Rao, who is in judicial custody in Maharashtra in the Bhima Koregaon case, has been admitted to JJ Hospital at Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
Read more
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
Taloja Jail authorities said Rao was being treated at the medical facility within the jail, but his condition did not improve for three days.
Varavara Rao, the 81-year-old Telugu poet and an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, was admitted to JJ Hospital in Mumbai on Thursday, the Hindustan Times reported. Taloja Jail authorities said Rao was being treated at the medical facility within the jail over the last three days, but was shifted to hospital after his condition did not improve.
Read more
Scroll.in / by Malini Subramaniam
The subcommittee also questioned India’s use of UAPA to silence activists such as Safoora Zargar, Khalid Saifi, Meeran Haider and Sharjeel Imam, among others.
The European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressing concern about the recent arrests of activists Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha by the National Investigative Agency, and urged India to immediately release all political prisoners in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The activists are accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.
Read more
By Peoples Union for Democratic Rights
People’s Union for Democratic Rights is aghast at the National Investigating Agency (NIA) surreptitiously whisking away Gautam Navlakha from the Tihar Jail to Mumbai on 25 May 2020, without informing his lawyers or his family. 67-year old Gautam Navlakha was arrested by the NIA in the Bhima Koregaon matter, the infamous case that has become the vehicle to arrest human rights activists: journalists, academicians and lawyers critical of government actions.
Read more
The New Indian Express / by Express News Service
HYDERABAD: Leaders of the Indian Journalists Union (IJU) and Telangana State of Union of Working Journalists (TSUWJ) on Wednesday requested the Maharashtra government to consider releasing writer Varavara Rao on parole, keeping in mind his health condition and COVID-19 situation in the State.
Read more
South Asia Citizens Web / by P Sahaja, P Anala, P Pavana
To
The Governor, Maharashtra,
The Chief Justice, High Court of Maharashtra,
The Chief Minister of Maharashtra,
We, P Sahaja, P Anala, P Pavana, daughters of the famous revolutionary poet P Varavara Rao, who is incarcerated in Maharashtra jails (in Yerawada, Pune jail till February 2020 and in Taloja, Navi Mumbai jail since then) in a fabricated case, are perturbed to see the news that a prisoner died in Taloja jail due to Covid-19, as admitted by the government in a PIL case in Mumbai High Court yesterday.
Read full letter
CITING HEALTH, VARAVARA RAO’S DAUGHTERS URGE MAHARASHTRA CM UDDHAV THACKERAY FOR HIS PAROLE
The New Indian Express / by Express News Service
Earlier, at least 40 prominent writers had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting the release of Rao amid the crisis.
MUMBAI: Family members of poet, writer and activist Varavara Rao, jailed in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon case, appealed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to release him on parole amid the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the state and in its prisons.
Read more
By International Federation for Human Rights
Dear Home Minister,
We, the undersigned organizations, write with great concern regarding the situation of student activists Safoora Zargar, who is four months pregnant, Meeran Haider, Shifa-Ur-Rehman and Sharjeel Imam, all detained under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). …
Their situation is not unique. For example, on 14 April 2020, the authorities also detained human rights activists Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha under the UAPA for allegedly inciting caste-based violence during a 2018 demonstration in Bhima Koregaon, Maharashtra state. Nine other activists have been detained since 2018 in relation to the same case. They are known for their work defending the rights of Adivasi and Dalit communities and should all be released immediately.
Read full letter