Posts

A test case – Detainees during the pandemic

A test case – Detainees during the pandemic

The Telegraph / by Prabhat Patnaik

It is a common practice all over the world that when those incarcerated face a threat to life, the authorities send them home…
It is a sign of the times that our present Central government does not feel the need to follow this practice of releasing prisoners even when their lives are at risk. Varavara Rao, a 79-year-old accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case, has been in jail for two years, where his health had broken down even before the pandemic; matters are worse now because he has tested positive for Covid-19. Yet the government has made no announcement till date about his release after he is discharged from hospital; and this is so notwithstanding the fact that he is merely awaiting trial and has not been convicted of any crime.
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Dr Jenny Rowena On Prof Hany Babu’s Arrest, House Raids And Casteism

Dr Jenny Rowena On Prof Hany Babu’s Arrest, House Raids And Casteism


Solidarity poster by @bakeryprasad

Huffpost / by Betwa Sharma

Hany Babu Musaliyarveettil Tharayil is the 12th person to be arrested in the Elgaar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case.
New Delhi – “Day in and day out we are reminded that there is no justice in this country. And there is no peace without justice,” Hany Babu Musaliyarveettil Tharayil, an associate professor of English at Delhi University tweeted one day in July this year. Babu is a vocal and influential voice against India’s discriminatory caste system.
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What keeps professor Shoma Sen going / A profile of Shoma Sen

What keeps professor Shoma Sen going / A profile of Shoma Sen


Solidarity poster by AI

Of 2 min phone calls and three birthdays in prison: What keeps professor Shoma Sen going

10/08/2020

Edex Live / by Parvathi Benu

How much information can two people exchange during a two-minute-long phone call? The call doesn’t extend even a second beyond two minutes. The people at both ends of the call were professor Shoma Sen and her daughter Koel Sen. The call happened on May 7 and this was the only piece of conversation in two months.
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Women’s trajectories towards social equality and liberation – A profile of Shoma Sen

10/08/2020

The Polis Project / by The Polis Project and maraa

The profile features Shoma Sen, an assistant professor and head of the English literature department of Nagpur University, and a Dalit and women’s rights activist. Sen has been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and among other things has been accused of inciting violence in Bhima-Koregaon in 2018.
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Sudha Bharadwaj: The lawyer for poor and labourers

Sudha Bharadwaj: The lawyer for poor and labourers


Solidarity march in Chhattisgarh, 2019

National Herald / by NHS Bureau

She was a lawyer for the poor, a thorn in the side of big industry. Is that the reason why she has been implicated?
The noted human rights lawyer was born in Massachusetts in the United States but gave up her US citizenship at the age of 18 and returned to India. She studied at IIT-Kanpur and horrified at the condition of labourers in UP, Bihar and West Bengal, she decided to work for them and joined the Chhattisgarh Liberation Front in 1986 when it was still a part of Madhya Pradesh.
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With Hany Babu’s arrest, 4 academics now in custody in Bhima Koregaon violence case

With Hany Babu’s arrest, 4 academics now in custody in Bhima Koregaon violence case

The Print / by Sravasti Dasgupta

Hany Babu & 11 others are accused of attending the Elgar Parishad, which allegedly triggered violence in Bhima Koregaon on 1 January 2018 …
Babu is the fourth academic arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case — all four have been trenchant critics of the Modi government.
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State to re-verify after medical reports of Anand Teltumbde, Mahesh Raut show identical details

State to re-verify after medical reports of Anand Teltumbde, Mahesh Raut show identical details

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Vijay Hiremath had pointed out that the health parameters mentioned on Mahesh Raut’s report were identical to the medical report of activist Anand Teltumbde (68), a co-accused in the case, who is also lodged in the Taloja jail.
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HC wants to know how Anand Teltumbde, Mahesh Raut have same BP, pulse and O2 levels, weight, height in jail reports

08/08/2020

Mumbai Mirror / by Sharmeen Hakim

HC seeks explanation after Taloja jail’s medical reports say hey are also identical in height, weight.
The Bombay High Court has sought an explanation from Taloja Prison officials following revelations that certain portions of academic Anand Teltumbde and activist Mahesh Raut’s medical reports, both accused in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case, are exactly the same. The two approached the HC after co-accused Telugu poet Varavara Rao tested positive for the coronavirus last month.
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Rich Land of Poor People – the work of imprisoned lawyer and activist Sudha Bharadwaj

Rich Land of Poor People – the work of imprisoned lawyer and activist Sudha Bharadwaj

Civicus.org / by Alina Tiphagne / Human Rights Defenders Alert

There has been a huge displacement of Adivasis in Chhattisgarh due to businesses monopolising land and natural resources, and there has been rampant human rights abuses reported in the state. To add to this already complex situation, southern Chhattisgarh is the epicentre of a five decades-long insurgency between the Naxalite Maoist group and the Indian government which has affected the tribal population, densely forested districts and neighbouring states … The work of Sudha Bharadwaj, human rights lawyer and former General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh People’s Union for Civil Liberties, lies at this faught intersection.
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Rs 1 Lakh each for Human Rights Defenders: NHRC Orders Chhattisgrah Govt

06/08/2020

Indian Cultural Forum / by Nandini Sundar, Archana Prasad, Manju Kawasi, Vineet Tiwari, Sanjay Parate and Mangla Ram Karma

They are demanding compensation “for the mental agony and violation of human rights” caused by false charges and arrests.
Press Release
On 5th November 2016, the Chhattisgarh police lodged an FIR against us under various sections of the IPC, Arms Act, and UAPA …
We are grateful to the PUCL for taking up the cases of all human rights defenders in Chhattisgarh and for informing us about the NHRC order. It is deeply distressing that PUCL Secretary and Advocate Sudha Bhardwaj who took up such cases in Chhattisgarh has herself been arrested under false charges. We trust that all human rights defenders who have been falsely accused will get justice.
Read full statement

NIA Interrogates Father Stan Swamy in Bhima Koregaon Case

NIA Interrogates Father Stan Swamy in Bhima Koregaon Case

Gauri Lankesh News / by Rupesh Kumar Singh

Father Stan Swamy has been fighting for the issues of Adivasis and Mulnivasis in Jharkhand for almost 50 years.
On 6th August 2020, the NIA interrogated Father Stan Swamy, a prominent human rights activist from Jharkhand, for nearly two and a half hours in relation to the Bhima Koregaon case. This interrogation took place at his Ranchi residence in Bagaicha, Namkum.
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NIA questions social activist Stan Swami in Jharkhand

The Hindu / by pti

In 2018, a police team from Maharashtra had raided his residence and seized his computer in connection with the probe.
The NIA on Thursday questioned social activist Stan Swami at his residence in Ranchi in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence, an official said.
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Commercial mining – not a boon but a curse

23/06/2020

Gaon Connection / by Stan Swamy

On June 18, 2020, the central government released a list of 41 coal blocks from all over the country to be auctioned to private companies. Most of these mines are located in the predominantly Adivasi-inhabited areas. About 40 per cent of the 60 million people displaced by development projects in the past decades are Adivasis.
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