The following is an edited excerpt from the recently released book ‘The Incarcerations – Bhima Koregaon and the Search for Democracy in India’ by Alpa Shah. It is the story of Sudha Bharadwaj, who was one of the ‘BK-16’ – lawyers, professors, journalists, artists, and activists – who were arrested and held in jail for years without trial under the UAPA law in the infamous Bhima-Koregaon case.
… In July 2012, a seven-minute bone-chilling video appeared on Sudha’s WhatsApp. It was shot on a mobile phone in the remote forested village of Sarkeguda in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region. Read more
Compensate Elgaar Parishad accused Arun Ferreira for not forwarding his letter from jail to mother on Stan Swamy: Human rights panel
26/04/2024
The Indian Express / by Express News Service
The Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission has asked the prison department to educate its officers on prison rules to censor inmates’ letters.
The Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) has directed the home department to pay a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to lawyer and Elgaar Parishad case accused Arun Ferreira for violating his fundamental rights as a prisoner by not forwarding his letter on Father Stan Swamy to his mother. Read more
Maharashtra officials told to pay activist Rs 2 lakh for blocking letter from jail to mother
25/04/2024
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
Arun Ferreira’s letter described his relationship with his co-accused in the Bhima Koregaon case Stan Swamy, who died in custody in 2021.
The Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission has asked the state government and the superintendent of the Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai to pay compensation of Rs 2 lakh to activist Arun Ferreira for failing to send to his mother a letter he had written to her. Read more
Fr Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist, dedicated his life to fighting for the rights of the marginalised and oppressed in India. His unwavering commitment to social justice and human rights earned him the title of the country’s oldest prisoner charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for his alleged role in a Maoist conspiracy. Swamy’s death on July 5, 2021, while still in custody, has sparked outrage and calls for justice from human rights organisations and individuals around the world. Read more
▪ An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection
Indian Social Institute, Bangalore | by Stan Swamy | August 2021
Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages Access a free PDF copy of the book here
▪ Framed to Die – The Case of Stan Swamy
By Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)
Edition: Aug 2021 Publisher: Peoples Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi Language: English
Paperback: 45 pages Access a free PDF copy of the book here
A Mango Republic – The arrest and incarceration of the multitude of people …
The arrest and incarceration of the multitude of people languishing in our prisons is as political as that of Kejriwal. How many mangoes will it take to get them out?
With the heat waves and rising mercury, the season of mango is here. But this season, mango is not just a fruit, it also seems to be a key conspirator in the plot to get Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal out of Tihar Jail. The chargesheet is still awaited in the case, but its good name has been dragged through the mud. What’s a mango supposed to do?
Behind this comedy of errors lies the horror of dismantling of Indian democracy.
Kejriwal’s arrest and incarceration is a watershed moment marking the crisis of democracy and free and fair elections in the country. But this moment has long been in the making and all those who want to fight for a democratic future must confront this history. Read more
Modi’s India a modern Indian fascism: Alpa Shah, Professor of Social Anthropology
19/04/2024
The Wire / by Karan Thapar
en | 44:51 | 2024 One of British academias most highly regarded anthropologists has said “we need to call Modi’s India a modern Indian fascism”. Alpa Shah says: “Indian fascism may not be of the classic kind, whatever that is, but it’s fascism nevertheless.”
In a 40-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, to mark the launch of her book, ‘The Incarcerations: Bhima Koregaon and the Search for Democracy in India’, Alpa Shah, who is presently Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics but has just been announced as the new Professor of Social Anthropology at Oxford University and a fellow of All Souls College, identified seven key characteristics of fascism each of which, it seems, applies almost fully to India under Narendra Modi. She, therefore, argues that terms like “majoritarianism or ethnic democracy or cultural nationalism” do not “convey the gravity of threat to democracy under way in India”. Watch video
The Incarcerations: Bhima Koregaon And The Search For Democracy In India by Alpa Shah
19/04/2024
Article14 / by Alpa Shah
… In The Incarcerations, professor of social anthropology at the London School of Economics Alpa Shah now tells the chilling story of the Bhima-Koregaon case that transformed the 16 human rights defenders who were professors, lawyers, journalists and poets into alleged Maoist terrorists accused of waging a war against the Indian state and plotting to kill prime minister Narendra Modi.
Book excerpt Only when the streets in Mumbai were deserted because of the Dalit protestors, did the conflict over the Bhima Koregaon British war memorial make it into international news, at The Guardian. In fact, the Indian broadsheets and mainstream TV mainly covered the events only when there was disruption in Mumbai, and then the focus of reporting was on mobs holding the city to ransom, not the casteist violence in Koregaon that they were protesting. Read more
A new book recounts how 16 activists were imprisoned as terrorists, without trial
27/03/2024
Scroll.in / by Alpa Shah
An excerpt from ‘The Incarcerations: Bhima Koregaon and the Search for Democracy in India’
Amnesty International India and Oxfam India released a joint response the day Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves and Varavara Rao were arrested. “The nationwide crackdown on activists, advocates and human rights defenders is disturbing and threatens core human rights values.” Read more
Space for Civil Society Groups, Fundamental Freedoms Shrank Further in Modi’s Second Term
The CIVICUS Monitor, an online platform that tracks threats to civil society in countries across the globe, rates civic space – the space for civil society – in India as “Repressed”.
… On human rights defenders, the report pointed how those critical of the government were implicated and jailed in “politically motivated cases under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), a draconian anti-terror law,”such as 16 activists in the Bhima Koregaon case, former JNU student Umar Khalid, student activist Gulfisha Fatima and several activists in Kashmir, such as Khurram Parvez, award-winning photojournalist Masrat Zahra, journalist Peerzada Ashiq among others, Read more Read full report: India – Fundamental Freedoms Deteriorate Further in Modi’s Second Term
by Sushmita / @Sushmitav1 (April 17):
Prof Shoma Sen, accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, arrested in the first round of arrests in June 2018, finally gets bail. Hope truth will prevail and all accused falsely incarcerated will be released soon!
Former professor Shoma Sen released from prison
17/04/2024
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
On April 5, the Supreme Court had observed that the allegations of terrorism against Sen were prima facie untrue.
Former Nagpur University professor Shoma Sen was released from jail on Wednesday, days after she was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the Bhima Koregaon case. She had been in jail since June 6, 2018.
Sen’s lawyer, Indira Jaising, confirmed her release on X. Read more
Former Nagpur University professor Shoma Sen walks out of prison
17/04/2024
The Hindu / by The Hindu Bureau
On April 5, the Supreme Court had observed that the accusations of terrorism against Shoma Sen were prima facie untrue and granted her bail
The former Nagpur University professor Shoma Sen walked out from Byculla Jail on Wednesday. She was received by her daughter and a photograph of Sen’s reunion with her family was shared by lawyer, advocate Indira Jaising on X (previously Twitter) saying, “She is finally out. Shoma Sen with her daughter outside Byculla Jail.” Read more
by CPIML Liberation / @cpimlliberation (April 17):
#FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners | Shoma Sen is out of jail after more than six years of unjust incarceration. Bhima Koregaon, 2018 saw planned attack on Dalits, as they gathered to uphold fight of the oppressed castes against Brahminical hegemony, by right wing groups close to BJP. While known masterminds of the anti Dalit attacks roam free under today’s Manuvadi regime, civil rights activists face persecution under UAPA.
Elgar Parishad Case: Bail Orders Show ‘Pattern’ of UAPA Being Abused
14/04/2024
The Quint / by Rohit Khannna
The SC recently granted bail to activist Shoma Sen, stating the allegations against her were prima facie not true.
On 5 April 2024, the Supreme Court granted bail to former Nagpur University professor and activist Shoma Sen, stating that the allegations against her – of indulging in terrorist activities or working for a terror group – were prima facie “not true”, and that no case was made out against her for offences under the extremely stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA.
Shoma Sen is among the 16 accused in the Elgar Parishad case, all of whom were arrested under the UAPA. Read more
Video: Elgar Parishad Case: Bail Orders Show ‘Pattern’ of UAPA Being Abused
There’s a striking contrast between German judiciary stance during Hitler’s time and Indian judiciary’s on the executive’s trampling upon the Constitution.
… Professor Shoma Sen of Nagpur University was granted bail on Friday, April 5, by the Supreme Court, after she had spent six years in jail as an accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case. While granting her bail, the Supreme Court said in no uncertain terms that there was no prima facie case of her being associated with any acts of terrorism or being linked to any terrorist organisation. And yet she had to spend six years of her life in jail, which raises two fundamental questions: first, shouldn’t the government be held responsible, and hence be penalised in some way, for her extremely long incarceration without any trial, and that too on non-existent grounds according to the Supreme Court itself?
And, second, what were the various courts doing all these six years, letting her languish in jail, when they were duty-bound under the Constitution to protect her fundamental rights? Read more
You spent 10 years in jail for nothing. Who should pay for it?
12/04/2024
Times of India / by Sunil Baghel
What connects three professors — from Delhi, Kolhapur and Nagpur — to 17 residents of a village in Madhya Pradesh? All of them spent time in jail as undertrials or convicts before they were either acquitted or granted bail due to lack of evidence, with the courts questioning the cases against them.
… Under the stringent UAPA — where getting bail is even harder than other criminal cases — more than 24,000 people were accused in 5,027 cases registered between 2016 and 2020.
The data revealed in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha showed that just 212 people had been convicted in these cases, and 386 were acquitted. As per the data, nearly 98% of those arrested under the law had been imprisoned for multiple years just awaiting trial or to get bail. Read more
Also watch/read:
▪ Spotlight | How UAPA is Crushing Dissent in India
The Wire’s new show, ‘Spotlight’ / by Zeeshan Kaskar en | 15:16min | 2024
In Episode 4 of The Wire’s new show, ‘Spotlight’, we understand the UAPA, its history and how the 2019 amendment of the law has pushed India’s legal justice system on the brink. Watch video
It’s been five days since Professor Shoma Sen, accused in the Elgar Parishad case, got bail from the Supreme Court, but she hasn’t managed to step out of Byculla Jail in central Mumbai. Nor has her daughter or husband been able to speak to her even on the phone, since they had finished their phone-call quota for last week before her bail order came.
Waiting to meet her mother, Koel Sen recalled the many frustrations she has experienced in the six years since her mother was suddenly arrested in June 2018. The 36-year-old independent film-maker spoke to Jyoti Punwani about how these years changed her. Read more
Stay on bail for long period affects personal liberty and rights, feel experts
09/04/2024
The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak
Elgaar Parishad case accused Mahesh Raut and Gautam Navlakha remain in jail for over four months since grant of bail by the Bombay High Court.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to activist and Nagpur University professor Shoma Sen, arrested six years ago in the Elgaar Parishad case. Two of her co-accused Mahesh Raut and Gautam Navlakha who were granted bail six and four months ago, respectively, by the Bombay High Court, continue to remain in jail awaiting their bail hearings in the SC which has stayed their release till it hears appeals against their bail. Read more
By @apeksha_9 (April 5): Revolutionary Salutes to Prof. Shoma Sen! Free All the Activists wrongfully incarcerated in the Bhima Koregaon case. Repeal UAPA.
As Shoma Sen gets bail, what is the status of other accused in Elgaar Parishad case?
05/04/2024
The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak, Omkar Gokhale
Eight accused, including prominent activists, lawyers, and academics, have now been given bail. Two of them are yet to be released from custody. The case dates back to the beginning of 2018, but the trial is yet to commence
… Among the 16 individuals arrested in the case, one – Father Stan Swamy, an 84-year-old-priest and tribal rights activist based in Jharkhand – passed away in custody in July 2021.
Before Sen, seven other accused have been given bail. Two of these eight accused, however, are yet to be released from custody because the NIA has appealed the High Court’s bail orders in the SC. Read more
Thread by BehanBox / @BehanBox (Apr 5):
(1/5) Today the Supreme Court granted bail to women’s rights activist #ShomaSen, accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, in the #BhimaKoregaon violence case. #bhimakoregaon
…
(5/5) 8 of the activists, namely Jyoti Jagtap, Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, Mahesh Raut, Surendra Gadling, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson and Hany Babu, continue to languish in prison without trial.
Bhima Koregaon: The process continues to clot as punishment as another year passes by
01/01/2024
The Leaflet / Arif Ayaz Parrey, Sarah Thanawala
Many of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad case have now spent one more year incarcerated without a trial. A far cry from the verbiage of high judicial officials that even a day’s denial of liberty is too much.
… Here is a recap of the major developments in the case this year, of bail applications granted, stayed and pending; the consistent pleas for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to comply with the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973; and the courts heeding to medical conditions-related pleas of the accused. Read more
