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Join Protest: June 6 Marks The Sixth Year Of Wrongful Incarceration In Bhima Koregaon Case

Join Protest: June 6 Marks The Sixth Year Of Wrongful Incarceration In Bhima Koregaon Case

by Campaign Against State Repression (May 27):
6 Years Of Wrongful Incarceration In Bhima Koregaon case
JOIN Demonstration at Jantar Mantar 6 June
Release All Political Prisoners !!
Repeal UAPA !!
Repeal NIA !!

Also read:
▪ CASR: Release activists incarcerated in Bhima Koregaon Case (Countercurrents.org / June 2023)
▪ Five years behind bars for five activists – Without bail, without charges being framed, without justice! (PUDR / June 2023)
▪ CDRO: Five Years Since The First Arrests In Bhima-Koregaon Case (Countercurrents.org / June 2023)


‘We are all prisoners of conscience’, say those facing trial in Bhima Koregaon case on the occasion of fourth anniversary of their arrests (The Leaflet / June 2022)

▪ IAPL: Unite against State Repression on Peoples Movements! (Indian Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL) / July 2018)
▪ IAPL press note about arrest of Advocate Gadling & other people’s activists (Sanhati / June 2018)
▪ PUCL Statement condemning Arrests of Activists in Maharashtra (Kractivist.org / June 2018)

Arrested: June 6, 2018

 

by Campaign Against State Repression

Release All Political Prisoners !!

JOIN Demonstration at Jantar Mantar 6 June
Release All Political Prisoners !!
Repeal UAPA !!
Repeal NIA !!


Also read:
▪ 7/16 Bhima Koregaon Accused Get Bail, Courts Raise Prima Facie Doubts About Evidence (Live Law / May 2024)
▪ SC grants bail to Gautam Navlakha: All about the Bhima Koregaon violence case, other accused (The Indian Express / May 2024)
▪ Bhima Koregaon: The process continues to clot as punishment as another year passes by (The Leaflet / Jan 2024)

Who Does June 4 Belong to?

Who Does June 4 Belong to?

Illustration credits: Rohit Kumar / The Wire

The Wire / by Rohit Kumar

This is the collective win of millions. 
June 4 will go down as the day democracy came back from the dead in India, the day the almighty Bharatiya Janta Party failed to get even a simple majority in what former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa has called the “hottest and most hateful” Lok Sabha elections, ever. 
Most of all, it will be remembered as the day the power of Narendra Modi was broken.
…
It belongs to Father Stan Swamy who lived his life for the tribals of India and who was denied even a sipper during his last hellish days in Taloja Jail. 
The day belongs to Sudha Bhardwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Rona Wilson, G.N. Saibaba and everyone who was arrested in the farcical Elgar Parishad case.
Read more

by Indira Jaising / @IJaising (June 4)
My concern as always , will the election results help the judiciary “ get up stand up, stand up for OUR rights” @TheLeaflet_in, as always our tag line Constitution First

Wake up judiciary , the PM and his law officers are not invincible , bail not jail is the law of the land @TheLeaflet_in as always Constitution First

Also read:
▪ Contrary To SC’s Rules Of Assignment, At Least 8 Politically Sensitive Cases Moved To One Judge In 4 Months (article 14 / Dec 2023)

Podcasts: What does the death of a jailed priest say about India’s democracy? / ‘India’s Watergate’

Podcasts: What does the death of a jailed priest say about India’s democracy? / ‘India’s Watergate’

poster by @/bakeryprasad

What does the death of a jailed Jesuit priest say about India’s democracy under Modi?

02/06/2024

npr / by Lauren Frayer

MUMBAI, India — Two days before police finally came to arrest him, the Rev. Stan Swamy recorded a video of himself speaking directly into the camera.
“They want to put me out of the way,” the ailing 83-year-old Jesuit priest said.
His voice sounded frail. But what he was saying was explosive.

The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, was targeting him in retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of Indigenous people in Indian jails.
Read more / 33-Minute Listen

‘India’s Watergate’: A tale of political manipulation, disinformation and nationalism

29/05/2024

Npr / by Lauren Frayer

It started with a civil rights rally, and ended in riots. NPR investigates how 16 of India’s most famous human rights activists were jailed for an alleged terror plot. They say they were framed.
India is wrapping up elections this week. We’re going to take you back to the last Indian elections five years ago, to a scandal that some call India’s Watergate. It has not brought down Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. In fact, he is expected to win a third term. The scandal started with a civil rights campaign that led to hundreds of arrests, allegations of computer hacking and the death of an elderly priest behind bars. NPR’s Lauren Frayer has our story.
Read more / 8-Minute Listen

‘BK 16’: Victims of Digital Invasion of the State / The Bhima Koregaon saga of injustice

‘BK 16’: Victims of Digital Invasion of the State / The Bhima Koregaon saga of injustice

‘BK 16’: Victims of Digital Invasion of the State

31/05/2024

Countercurrents.org / by Mubashir VP

Hindutva fascism grew and rose to power by abusing the facilities of formal democracy, spreading hatred under the guise of freedom of speech.
The Bhima Koregaon case and the arrests and imprisonment of human rights activists under the UAPA Act, which critics point out as an example of human rights violations stretching back to the two terms of the Narendra Modi government, have drawn much attention internationally. Moreover, it became notorious as a sign of the government’s reactionary approach to democratic rights, intolerance of dissident voices, and an attempt to terrorise civic life.
Read more

The Bhima Koregaon saga of injustice

31/05/2024

Tribune India / by Julio Ribeiro

Charges yet to be framed against the accused, even though the first arrests were made in 2018
ALPA Shah, whose family hailed from Gujarat, was raised in Nairobi, where my deceased wife, Melba, was born and lived till the age of 10. The Mau Mau movement in Kenya forced many families of Indian origin to leave that country. The Menezes of Goa – to which my wife belonged – was among the few families that returned to India. They sailed back to Goa, while Alpa emigrated to England.
Read more


March 2024 | Scroll.in | by Alpa Shah
An excerpt from ‘The Incarcerations: Bhima Koregaon and the Search for Democracy in India’, by Alpa Shah.
Read excerpt

The Bhima Koregaon Case: A Grave Injustice and Human Rights Crisis

31/05/2024

Radian News / by Mohd Naushad Khan

The Bhima Koregaon case is a complex legal and political matter in India, stemming from the violence that occurred on January 1, 2018, during the bicentenary celebration of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon in Maharashtra. This event holds significant historical importance, particularly for Dalits, who commemorate the British East India Company’s defeat of the Peshwa forces as a symbol of resistance against caste oppression.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Incriminating document found in Fr. Stan Swamy’s computer ‘planted’; similar tampering found in other Bhima Koregaon accused: Reports American forensic firm (The Leaflet / Dec 2022)
▪ Fabricating Evidence Against Life and Liberty: Tampering with Fr. Stan Swamy’s computer and its implications for Bhima Koregaon case (Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy / Dec 2022)
▪ Police Linked to Hacking Campaign to Frame Indian Activists (Wired.com / June 2022)
▪ Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)
▪ They were Accused of plotting to overthrow the Modi government – The evidence was planted, a new report says (Washington Post / Feb 2021)

Collapse of 2 ‘Urban Naxal’ cases shows panic & police overreach are worse than Maoist insurgency

Collapse of 2 ‘Urban Naxal’ cases shows panic & police overreach are worse than Maoist insurgency

The Print / by Praveen Swami

With cases against Navlakha & Purkayastha collapsing, it’s time to take stock of whether dirty war against Maoists is justified, or just perpetuates a brutal cycle of violence.
… What I want to look at though, is this whole business of Urban Naxals, a term that led both men and many others to jail. Exactly, what is an Urban Naxal? How serious is the Maoist threat in our cities? Is there even a threat? Or, is this one of those moral panics which lead countries into irrational policy responses from time to time, like the infamous Red Scare which paralysed the US in the 1950s?
Read more

Also read:
▪ NewsClick Raids and Arrests: Demolishing the Myth of the ‘Urban Naxal’ Nomenclature (The Wire / Oct 2023)
▪ ‘Urban Naxal’ is a label to terrorise intellectuals: Prabhat Patnaik (The Telegraph / Feb 2023)
▪ #UrbanNaxal is Sangh Parivar’s favourite word-weapon to throttle Dalit, minority resistance (The Leaflet / Oct 2018)
▪ What makes an Urban Naxal? (MR online / Sep 2018)
▪ From ‘tukde tukde gang’ to ‘urban Naxal’: How media trials enable the government to stifle dissent (Scroll.in / Sep 2018)

7/16 Bhima Koregaon Accused Get Bail, Courts Raise Prima Facie Doubts About Evidence

7/16 Bhima Koregaon Accused Get Bail, Courts Raise Prima Facie Doubts About Evidence

Poster by @/bakeryprasad

Live Law / by Manu Sebastian

The Bhima Koregaon case, in which several activists and academicians have been incarcerated under the draconian Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Act 1967 over alleged Maoist links, raises a big question mark on India’s civil liberties framework. The fact that the trial has not yet commenced for nearly six years makes one question the seriousness of the allegations concerning national security. Moreover, the doubts about the sustainability of the allegations are fortified by the repeated observations made by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court in the judgments granting bail to some of the accused.
Read more

Video by InSAF India / @IndInsaf (May 23, 2024)


Why has Adivasi land rights scholar-activist Mahesh Raut not been released yet from prison even though he was given bail in 2023?
en | 1:35 | 2024
Watch video

Also read:
▪ The process continues to clot as punishment as another year passes by (The Leaflet / Jan 2024)
▪ Recovering the Basics: The Supreme Court’s Bail Order in Vernon Gonsalves’ Case (Constitutional Law and Philosophy / July 2023)
▪ UAPA – CRIMINALISING DISSENT AND STATE TERROR – Study of UAPA Abuse in India, 2009-2022 (PUCL / Sep 2022). Download report

Legal experts call for a repeal of UAPA over misuse and rights violations

Legal experts call for a repeal of UAPA over misuse and rights violations

Frontline / by Frontline Web Desk

Senior advocates and rights activists raise concerns over the draconian application of UAPA, arbitrary arrests, and denial of constitutional rights.
If the present government comes back to power, “we will see the use of terrorism legislation in a manner that we’ve never seen before” said senior advocate of the Supreme Court, Colin Gonsalves, the founder of the Human Rights Law Network. “We’re at a very tenuous period of our history, a very dangerous period,” he added.
Read more

Gautam Navlakha Released | Gautam Navlakha’s letter on release from custody

Gautam Navlakha Released | Gautam Navlakha’s letter on release from custody

Released: Gautam with his partner Sabha Husain

Gautam Navlakha’s letter on release from custody

19/05/2024

pudr.org / by Gautam Navlakha

I wish to thank the Supreme Court for upholding the bail granted to me by the Bombay High Court. It proved to be a long wait but well worth it.
Although happy for myself, I am saddened that the fate of scores of fellow dissidents implicated in a variety of cases, still hangs in balance. Years of our life have been snatched from us as prisoners awaiting trial, which itself will take years to conclude.
Read full letter

Others still languish in life of uncertainty, says activist Gautam Navlakha on release from custody

19/05/2024

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The human rights activist was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the Bhima Koregaon case on May 14.
Human rights activist Gautam Navlakha on Sunday said that while he had been released from custody in the Bhima Koregaon case, he is saddened that the fate of several fellow dissidents implicated in other cases still hangs in balance.
Read more

Gautam Navlakha Released

19/05/2024

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

Gautam Navlakha was released from custody, which had been in the form of house arrest in Navi Mumbai, on Saturday late evening, at around 8:30 pm.
The Supreme Court on May 14 lifted the stay on the bail granted to rights activist Gautam Navlakha, who was arrested in the Elgar Parishad case.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Gautam Navlakha granted bail by Supreme Court; orders him to pay 20 lakhs for the expenses incurred during his house arrest (cjp / May 2024)
▪ Bombay High Court grants, stays bail to Gautam Navlakha (The Leaflet / Dec 2023)

A Captive’s Musings on Freedom: Gautam Navlakha’s Notes From Prison

A Captive’s Musings on Freedom: Gautam Navlakha’s Notes From Prison

19/05/2024

The Wire / by Gautam Navlakha

It is at a time like this that one faces a critical choice: to either fall silent and submit to the authorities or to continue to strive and struggle for freedom, unmindful of the outcome.
The following is an article written by activist Gautam Navlakha during his period of incarceration.

“…..No, freedom does not die alone. At the same time justice is forever exiled, the nation agonises, and innocence is crucified anew every day.”

– Albert Camus in Resistance, Rebellion and Death.

A captive’s understanding of freedom, by its very loss, becomes acute. Severe restrictions on movement and mobility are compounded by unreasonable constraints placed on expression and speech.
Read more

Draconian Laws Promoting Authoritarian Rule Should Be Repealed

Draconian Laws Promoting Authoritarian Rule Should Be Repealed

Poster campaign by PUDR || PUDR welcomes bail to civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha (pudr.org / May 15, 2024)

Draconian Laws Promoting Authoritarian Rule Should Be Repealed

19/05/2024

Peoples Democracy / by G Ramakrishnan CPI(M)

… After BJP came to power in 2014, the situation in our country has gone from bad to worse. The situation now is akin to an undeclared emergency. The last ten years of the Modi government have seen unprecedented attack on democracy and democratic rights. The lawless laws, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), National Security Act (NSA), Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the central Agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED), CBI and Income Tax department have been used to target the leaders of the opposition parties and those who criticise and oppose the policies of the Modi government at the centre.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Five years behind bars for five activists (PUDR / June 2023)
▪ CASR: Release activists incarcerated in Bhima Koregaon Case (Countercurrents / June 2023)
▪ UAPA – CRIMINALISING DISSENT AND STATE TERROR – Study of UAPA Abuse in India, 2009-2022 (PUCL / Sep 2022). Download report