Posts – Page 53 – free them all

Supreme Court allows state time to file counter-affidavit in Surendra Gadling bail plea

29/11/2023 Asha

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Gadling, stated that evidence recovered from Gadling in the Bhima Koregaon case is being repurposed for use in the Gadchiroli arson case.
Wednesday, the Supreme Court allowed the Maharashtra government time to file a counter-affidavit in the bail plea by human rights lawyer and Dalit rights activist Surendra Gadling.
… The Bench directed the state government to file a counter-affidavit within one week and posted the matter for hearing in two weeks.
Read more

NIA court allows Varavara Rao to travel to Hyderabad to undergo cataract surgery in his left eye

29/11/2023 Asha

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

On October 23, the Bombay High Court had allowed Rao to travel to Hyderabad for surgery in his right eye. The high court had directed Rao to approach the National Investigation Agency court for surgery for the other eye, after returning to Mumbai following the first surgery.
Today, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court of special judge Rajesh Kataria allowed activist, writer and teacher and poet Dr P. Varavara Rao to travel to Hyderabad to undergo cataract surgery on his left eye.
Read more

● Bombay HC allows Varavara Rao to undergo cataract surgery in Hyderabad (The Indian Express / Oct 2023)
● Supreme Court grants permanent medical bail to P. Varavara Rao in Bhima Koregaon case (The Leaflet / Aug 2022)
● Varavara Rao granted six-month bail on medical grounds (The Leaflet / Feb 2021)

Fadnavis prepares to fight the phantom of ‘urban naxals’

27/11/2023 Asha

Deccan Herald / by Jyoti Punwani

Maharashtra, under Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis, is set to have a new ‘public security’ law where even peaceful expressions of dissent will be targeted.
… ‘Urban Naxals’ has been a favourite bogey of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre, and was used as a label against the Leftist intellectuals arrested for the January 1, 2018 violence at Bhima Koregaon in Maharashtra.
Read more

Also read:
● ‘Urban Naxal’ is a label to terrorise intellectuals: Prabhat Patnaik (The Telegraph / Feb 2023)
● Maharashtra: Activists, Lawyers Added to ‘Union War Book’, Listed as ‘Enemies of the State’ (The Wire / Jul 2021)
● From ‘tukde tukde gang’ to ‘urban Naxal’: How media trials enable the government to stifle dissent (Scroll.in / Sep 2018)

Supreme Court adjourns hearing of bail plea by Shoma Sen again

23/11/2023 Asha

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing on behalf of Shoma Sen, emphasised that Sen has been lodged in jail for five and a half years without trial and the bail hearing before the Supreme Court has been pending for five and a half months.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing of the bail plea filed by women rights activist and academic Shoma Sen.
Read more

Also read:
● Since Evidence Tampering Not Ruled Out, Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson Want Chargesheets Quashed (The Wire / Oct 2023)
● “Hopefully waiting” writes Shoma Sen from prison (InSAF India / Jul 2023)

● Shoma Sen moves Supreme Court seeking bail (The Leaflet / April 2023)

NIA Court rejects plea of Sagar Gorkhe to continue medical treatment in Taloja Prison

16/11/2023 Asha

You’re not of unsound mind, elaborate on med issues: Court to Elgar accused

16/11/2023

Times of India / by Rebecca Samervel

Even as an accused in the 2018 Elgar Parishad case sought continuation of his psychiatric treatment, saying he was suffering from depression and and excessive worry for two years, a special court said that considering the treatment papers received from the chief medical officer of Taloja prison and answers given by him the judge’s interaction, prima facie, there is no reason to believe that he has any sort of “unsoundness of mind” or mental illness.
Read more

‘No reason to believe accused is mental ill’: Court rejects plea of Elgaar Parshad accused to continue treatment

15/11/2023

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

The court directed jail authorities at Taloja Central Prison to submit his medical records. Referring to the reports, the court said that while the accused was referred to JJ Hospital and was on medication for depression and referred for counselling, the psychiatrist in October had advised that the medicines be stopped.
An accused in the Elgaar Parishad case told the court, on November 8, that although he has been suffering from depression for the past two years, the medicines prescribed to him have been discontinued from last month.
Read more

Also read:
● NIA court directs prison authorities to provide Sagar Gorkhe treatment at J.J. Hospital (The Leaflet / Nov 2023)
● Securing the right to health of political prisoners (The Leaflet / Oct 2022)
● Relatives of BK16 Flag Prison Authorities’ ‘Criminal Negligence’ and Deteriorating Health of Undertrials (Newsclick / Sep 2022)
● Hunger Strike unto death against the harassment from Taloja Central Jail’s apathetic administration (By Sagar Gorkhe / May 20, 2022)

‘Varavara Rao: A Life in Poetry’: Six decades of activism and courage bound in one collection

11/11/2023 Asha

‘Varavara Rao: A Life in Poetry’: Six decades of activism and courage bound in one collection

11/11/2023

Scroll.in / by Ila Manish

These poems seek to bring a truth to light, they are unafraid to challenge, to confront, to hope.
Meena Kandasamy introduces the poet-subject of Varavara Rao: A Life in Poetry with the epithet “India’s most-incarcerated poet”. She has co-edited the new collection published by Vintage Books with Telugu journalist, N Venugopal. The translations contained within speak volumes about the life of the man who wrote them. Each poem spurs the reader into restlessness, and takes them back into the contexts in which Rao was writing. And the contexts are many – as the helpful yet unobtrusive annotations that the editors have provided will tell you.
Read more

Brahmin by birth, Communist by disposition, Varavara’s poems reflect soul of oppressed

12/11/2023

Counterview / by Harsh Thakor

Varavara Rao was born in 1940 and became an established poet in his early teens. At the age of 17 years, he was published in the journal called “Telugu Swatantrata”, which gave him status as a modern poet. At 18, he wrote ‘Don’t Fear, Dawn Will Break’ which was considered one of his best poems. At 26, he started a journal called “Modern Literature in Telugu”. His first poetry collection came out in 1968. Since then, around 17 volumes of poetry have come out.
He is considered the leading twentieth-century poet of Telugu, spoken by approximately ninety-six million people.
Read more

Also read/watch:
● Tomorrow there won’t be any classes’: Activist Varavara Rao’s poems get an English translation (Scroll.in / by Varavara Rao, N Venugopal & Rohith / Jul 2023)

● Varavara Rao A Live in Poetry

By VIRASAM
Book Launch || Live Laamakan || 13-07-23 || VIRASAM

en / telugu | 2:16:35 | 2023
Watch video

From Phansi Yard: My Year With The Women Of Yerawada, by Sudha Bharadwaj (Book Excerpt) / Video

10/11/2023 Asha

From Phansi Yard: My Year With The Women Of Yerawada, by Sudha Bharadwaj (Excerpt)

14/11/2023

Artice 14 / by Samar Halarnkar | Sudha Bharadwaj

Arrested on 28 August 2018, human rights lawyer, teacher and IIT graduate Sudha Bharadwaj is among 16 accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case, charged under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), 1967.
Bharadwaj was arrested from her house in Faridabad, where she had moved in 2017 to teach law at the National Law University Delhi.
…
In From Phansi Yard: My Year With The Women Of Yerawada, Bharadwaj paints a vivid picture of life behind bars, discussing overcrowding, menstruation, sanitation, fights, health niggles and more.
Read more

Video: Barkha Dutt speaks to Sudha Bharadwaj on her book ‘From Phansi Yard’

10/11/2023

en | 21:03min | 2023

By Mojo Story

Barkha Dutt speaks to Trade Unionist, activist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj on her book ‘From Phansi Yard’. The book records stories of her time in jail. She is out on bail after 3 years in the 2018 Bhima-Koregaon violence case.
Sudha speaks about her days in jail and how her time in a women’s prison made her aware of the gender gap in legal aid. “Many women are jailed- because their husband committed some crime and are now absconding- they don’t even know about the crime,” she says.
Sudha further says that she lives in the house of a friend, as she “can’t afford rent”. Trade unions support her, she does legal cases for them, she says.
Watch video

From Phansi Yard: My Year with the Women of Yerawada

Author: Sudha Bhardwaj
Publisher: Juggernaut
Pages: 216
Order

● A Cage with a View: Under-trial life in an Indian jail

National Herald | by Sudha Bharadwaj | Oct 2023
The jottings that make up this book were my way of coping with incarceration. Some prisoners pray, some weep, some just put their heads down and work themselves weary. Some fight defiantly every inch of the way, some are inveterate grumblers, some spew gossip. Some read the newspaper from cover to cover, some shower love on children, some laugh at themselves and at others.
I watched through the bars, and I wrote.
Read more

● Video: The Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails

By All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice – AILAJ | March 2022

en | 1:21:23 | 2022
The huge number of undertrials, the overcrowding, and the disproportional numbers of Dalit, Muslim and Adivasi prisoners are part of the prison problem in India.
We are joined by Adv. Sudha Bharadwaj for a discussion on the Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails.
Watch video

● Sudha Bharadwaj speaks – A Life in Law and Activism

Publisher: Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)
Edition: January 2021
Language: English
Sudha Bharadwaj’s interview by: Darshana Mitra and Santanu Chakraborty
Paperback: 316 pages
Access a free PDF copy of the book here:
Sudha_Bharadwaj_speaks (2,1 MB)

Koregaon Bhima violence: Elgaar Parishad activist questioned about Mohsin Shaikh murder case

09/11/2023 Asha

● Read booklet: Salaakhon Mein Qaid Avaazein (69 pages)

Elgaar Parishad activist questioned about Mohsin Shaikh murder case

09/11/2023

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

Replying to advocate Hiray, Harshali Potdar said she was aware that the accused in the Shaikh murder case were acquitted. When Hiray asked whether she made any attempt to appeal against the judgment, Potdar said, “No”.
While cross-examining activist Harshali Potdar before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry, special public prosecutor Shishir Hiray on Thursday quizzed her about the 2014 Mohsin Shaikh murder case.
Read more

Sambhaji Bhide: The BJP’s pet rabble-rouser in Maharashtra

30/09/2023

National Herald / by Sujata Anandan

Meet Manohar Kulkarni, alias Sambhaji Bhide, aka Guruji, who the BJP is banking on to deliver the Maratha vote in Maharashtra
After lying low for almost three years while Uddhav Thackeray was chief minister of Maharashtra, it is no coincidence that Manohar Kulkarni aka Sambhaji Bhide is back to stirring the communal pot with BJP-leaning Eknath Shinde in the driver’s seat.
Read more

Also Read:
● Top Investigating Officer Admits Elgar Parishad Event ‘Had No Role’ in Bhima Koregaon Violence (The Wire / Dec 2022)
● Bhima Koregaon Violence: Four Different Theories, but No Justice in Sight (The Wire / Jan 2022)
● Ekbote instigated Koregaon Bhima violence, Elgaar Parishad organiser tells panel (The Indian Express / Sep 2021)
● India’s Hindu Nationalist Project Relies on Brutal Repression (Jacobinmag / April 2021)
● What is the Elgar Parishad and who Oganised It? (SabrangIndia / Sep 2018)

State-sponsored attacks of surveillance reveal an erosion on Indians’ right to privacy

09/11/2023 Asha

SabrangIndia / by Tanya Arora

Bringing back the ghost of Pegasus malware by the ruling regime, recent alerts from Apple throw up more instances of a state-sponsored surveillance attack on leaders of the opposition and journalists
On the morning of October 31, several journalists and politicians from the opposition parties in India woke up to alerts on their iPhones pertaining to a state-sponsored attack on their phones. The alerts were sent by Apple via message and email. The alert had also alleged that the reason behind the attempts to comprising the phones of the individuals might have something to do with who they are and what they do.
Read more

Also Read:
● Why Courts Are Ignoring Concerns Of Planted Evidence In The Bhima-Koregaon Prosecution (article14 / Jan 2023)
● Incriminating evidence planted in computers: The Trojan solved the Bhima Koregaon case! (Anchored Narratives / Jan 2023)
● 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)

NIA court directs prison authorities to provide Sagar Gorkhe treatment at J.J. Hospital

08/11/2023 Asha

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

An application was filed by Sagar Gorkhe, praying the court to direct urgent and necessary treatment for his mental and physical health. According to the application, the prison authorities have deprived Gorkhe of medicines and treatment for his psychiatric conditions.
Today, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court of special judge Rajesh Kataria directed the jail superintendent of Taloja Central Prison to refer Sagar Gorkhe to J.J. Hospital, Mumbai to provide him with the required medical treatment.
Read more

Also read:
● Securing the right to health of political prisoners (The Leaflet / Oct 2022)
● Relatives of BK16 Flag Prison Authorities’ ‘Criminal Negligence’ and Deteriorating Health of Undertrials (Newsclick / Sep 2022)
● Punished without trial: How India’s political prisoners are being denied basic rights in jail (Scroll.in / Aug 2022)
● Hunger Strike unto death against the harassment from Taloja Central Jail’s apathetic administration (By Sagar Gorkhe / May 20, 2022)