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Category: Statements

Stop the McCarthy style witch hunt of Academics and Human Rights Defenders!

Stop the McCarthy style witch hunt of Academics and Human Rights Defenders!


Pic: Sabrang.in

Sabrang.in / by PUCL

The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) condemns the raid on DU professor, Dr Hany Babu’s residence in Noida, Delhi, by the Pune police earlier today (10 September 2019).
The unending trial of democracy and unremitting assault on the Constitution and rule of law, in the name of Bhima-Koregaon, and the McCarthy-style With-hunt and victimisation of constitutionally minded academics and citizens questioning anti-democratic actions of the government in the Bhima Koregaon case continues unabated.
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The Hounding of a Committed Anti-Caste Intellectual

The Hounding of a Committed Anti-Caste Intellectual

Round Table India / by Vinayakala Korvi

Two genuine intellectuals, academicians and crusaders for justice and truth, from EFLU to University of Delhi … Stay strong … more power to you Hany and Jenny. …
I am highly indebted to Hany. He taught me research methodology and because of him, today I’m excelling as a scholar.
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The Law Takes Its Slow Course

The Law Takes Its Slow Course

Outlook / by Preetha Nair

Lawyers and kin of jailed activists allege pre-trial punishment.
“It’s tough without him around. I am not hopeful of any positive outcome now,” says Meenal Gadling, wife of human rights lawyer Surendra Gadling, who has been languishing in Pune’s Yerawada jail for more than a year now.
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DUTA condemns the raid on DU Professor Hany Babu [pics]

DUTA condemns the raid on DU Professor Hany Babu [pics]

Protest by students and faculty at Arts Faculty, Delhi University
Pic: Mumbai Rises To Save Democracy and Students Islamic Organisation

Statement by Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA)

Today morning at 6:30 am, the house of Dr. Hany Babu who lives in Noida, was raided by a contingent of Pune Police for six hours without a search warrant. They searched the entire house and took away all electronic devices, laptops, pen drives, mobile phone, etc. At the end of the search, the Pune Police claimed that the raid was in connection with the Bhima Koreagaon case.
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A climate of fear: It helps autocracy – but those who disagree should persist past our cowardice

A climate of fear: It helps autocracy – but those who disagree should persist past our cowardice

Times of India blogs / by Amulya Gopalakrishnan

A year after the 9/11 attacks, American writer and editor Michael Kinsley made an honest admission. He had stopped himself from writing or publishing some things, regardless of their merit, he said. Ordinary scepticism, any opinion slightly out-of-step, had been silenced in the “patriotic gush and mush” of the times.
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Why Should We Fear The Implementation Of The UAPA Bill?

Why Should We Fear The Implementation Of The UAPA Bill?


Pic: Mumbai Rises To Save Democracy archive

Feminism In India / by Namrata Mishra

On the night of 6th August, while updating myself with what’s happening around in the country, debates around the passing of the contentious UAPA Bill seemed to be ubiquitous. As soon as I read the word UAPA, comes to my mind the arrest of five human rights activists: Arun Ferreira, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj and Varun Gonsalves, who were arrested last year under this Act without any stark evidence by the police who could not explain the reason for arresting these activists. These human rights defenders were termed as “maoists” and “deshdrohis (anti-national)” by the BJP government.
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When Judicial Process itself becomes a Punishment

When Judicial Process itself becomes a Punishment

Groundxero.in / by P. Varalakshmi

The dictum of ‘natural justice’ that not a single innocent should be punished – is vanishing into thin air in gathering gales of fascism. Professor GN Saibaba is fighting death languishing in a dark and dingy cell, unable to procure legitimate medical requirements. Thousands of Adivasis are rotting behind the high walls of prison. While those actually involved in bomb explosions, murders and genocides, are coming out from within prison walls to be honoured with felicitations. Some are being given chance to be Parliamentarians too. Is India’s political power dictating what and how justice should be? Asks P. Varalakshmi.
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Open letter to Mumbai judge: Books as evidence is ridiculous

Open letter to Mumbai judge: Books as evidence is ridiculous

The Leaflet / by A J Philip

It is easy for the police to conclude that if I have read dozens of detective novels, which are mostly about murders, I have a murderous inclination. The truth is that I can’t even slaughter a chicken, though I may relish it when it is roasted and served on the table.

Dear Justice Sarang Kotwal,
First of all, I owe an apology to you. I was misled by a news-report that you questioned why Vernon Gonsalves, an academic accused of being an urban Naxal, kept the voluminous Russian Classic, Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”, in his personal collection of books.
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Speak against Modi govt’s revenge on activists before there is no one left to speak for us

Speak against Modi govt’s revenge on activists before there is no one left to speak for us

The Print / by Shashi Tharoor

Human rights defenders keep the flame of our Constitution alive. Right now, it is flickering, writes Shashi Tharoor.
The Lok Sabha has debated and passed the Protection of Human Rights Amendment Bill 2019 last week, which the Narendra Modi government claims will strengthen the human rights in our country. Sadly, as I pointed out in the Lok Sabha, it falls considerably short of this objective – and this may be by design.
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