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‘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.
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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.
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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)

The story of the ‘Urban Naxal’ Sudha Bharadwaj (book excerpt)

The story of the ‘Urban Naxal’ Sudha Bharadwaj (book excerpt)

Deccan Herald / Alpa Shah (edited by DHNS)

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

Also read:
▪ Fourth Drone Bomb Attack on Indigenous People in Bastar, Chhattisgarh. Stop This State Terror Now! (India Matters UK / April 2023)
▪ Sudha Bharadwaj speaks – A Life in Law and Activism

Publisher: Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)
Edition: January 2021
Language: English
Paperback: 316 pages
Access a free PDF copy of the book here (2,1 MB)

▪ Condemn the State Sponsored Massacre Scripted as ‘Encounter’ in Gadchiroli and Bijapur in Central India (wssnet.wordpress.com / May 2018)
▪ How corporate land grab is sought to be legitimized in Chhattisgarh by misusing legal framework (Kractivism │ by Sudha Bharadwaj │ Feb 2018)

Immediately withdraw pending Pathalgadi cases, including on late Stan Swamy: JJM

Immediately withdraw pending Pathalgadi cases, including on late Stan Swamy: JJM

Immediately withdraw pending pathalgadi cases, including on late Stan Swamy: JJM

02/01/2024

Countercurrents / by Representative

According to a recent RTI reply by the Superintendent of Police of Khunti, five pathalgadi cases of Khunti are yet to be withdrawn. It also includes the case registered against 20 activists and intellectuals, including Stan Swamy. Also, according to the RTI reply, another pathalgadi related case was registered in Khunti in March 2020 under the current Hemant Soren government. Of the total 21 cases registered by the Raghubar Das government in Khunti, 16 have been withdrawn.
Read more

4 Years After Announcement, Govt Yet to Withdraw Cases Pending Against Pathalgadi Movement

30/12/2023

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

The pending cases name Stan Swamy along with 20 other activists and intellectuals associated with the movement. On 29 December 2019, Hemant Soren soon after taking the oath as chief minister had announced the withdrawal of all Pathalgadi cases.
Five cases registered in connection with the Pathalgadi movement in Jharkhand’s Kunti district are still pending to be withdrawn. Four years ago, in December 2019, when Jharkhand’s current chief minister Hemant Soren took over, he vowed to withdraw all cases in connection with the movement, filed under his predecessor Raghubar Das’s government.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Jharkhand police to probe into Maoist links with Stan Swamy’s ‘Bagaicha’, 63 other frontal organisations (The New Indian Express / Sep 2023)
▪ Can Father Stan Swamy’s PIL be the blueprint for justice to thousands of undertrials lodged under UAPA? (The Leaflet / Aug 2023)
▪ In Jharkhand, Scheduled Tribes Still Battle Flimsy Criminal Cases Filed With Little Evidence (IndiaSpend / Oct 2021)

Sudha Bharadwaj: What I knew in the abstract I was now living, feeling and observing

Sudha Bharadwaj: What I knew in the abstract I was now living, feeling and observing

Sudha Bharadwaj

The Leaflet / by Freny Manecksha

In this interview, trade unionist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, who was jailed in the Bhima-Koregaon matter and has just produced a book on From Phansi Yard: My Year with the Women of Yerawada, tells Freny Manecksha how prison changes one for the worse, but also for the better.

“But the irony is on the day they (Adivasis of Sarkeguda, Chhattisgarh) are vindicated, seven years after they began their fight, I, their first lawyer, am in jail 1,000 kilometers away! Yet it is a happy day.”
Read more

Also read:
● Prison Occupancy Rose In 2022, Despite Campaign To Release Undertrials. Three in four prisoners continue to be undertrials, a majority of whom belong to oppressed caste groups (Indiaspend.com | Shreehari Paliath | Dec 2023)

● 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)

‘How Long Can the Moon be Caged?’ documents increasing suppression of free speech in India

‘How Long Can the Moon be Caged?’ documents increasing suppression of free speech in India

WBUR / Deepa Fernandes speaks with Suchitra Vijayan

Host Deepa Fernandes speaks with Suchitra Vijayan, co-author of the new book “How Long Can the Moon be Caged?,” which documents how people who speak in favor of Muslims and minority communities have increasingly been arrested and imprisoned by the Indian government.
Podcast
en | 9:45min | 2023
Listen to the podcast

Book excerpt: ‘How Long Can the Moon be Caged?’
By Suchitra Vijayan and Francesca Recchia
A Dalit activist we spoke to said that most people do not encounter the state the way Dalits, Adivasis and Muslims do. She told us: ‘The state has always had a boot on our necks.’ Forget living; imagine what it takes to survive this. The boot is always pressed against minorities’ necks, making it hard to breathe, demanding that they beg for dignity every day. She added: ‘[For us] it doesn’t matter who is in power; oppression is the only thing that hasn’t changed’.
Read more

Also read/watch:
● Kabir Kala Manch: A History of Revolutionary Singing and State Repression (ritimo / April 2022)
● Video: Dafachya Talavar (Songs of Defiance) – A short documentary on Kabir Kala Manch | Hindi, Marthi (subtitles: English) | 24:01min | 2022

SC Extends Stay Granted By Bombay HC On Mahesh Raut’s Bail Till Oct 5, Admits NIA’s Appeal

SC Extends Stay Granted By Bombay HC On Mahesh Raut’s Bail Till Oct 5, Admits NIA’s Appeal

Supreme Court extends stay on bail granted to Mahesh Raut

27/09/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

On September 21, Bombay High Court had granted bail to Raut and allowed a stay on the Order for one week to enable the National Investigation Agency to appeal in the Supreme Court.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court extended the stay on the Order of the Bombay High Court that granted regular bail to forest rights activist Mahesh Raut by another week.
On September 21, a division Bench of the high court comprising Justices A.S. Gadkari and Sharmila U. Deshmukh had granted bail to Raut and allowed a stay on the Order for one week to enable the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to appeal in the Supreme Court.
Today, a division Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M. Trivedi heard the special leave petition filed by the NIA challenging the Order of the high court.
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Supreme Court Extends Stay Granted By Bombay HC On Mahesh Raut’s Bail Till Oct 5, Admits NIA’s Appeal

27/09/2023

Live Law / by Awstika Das

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (September 27) admitted the appeal by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) challenging the bail granted to tribal rights activist Mahesh Raut in the Bhima Koregaon case over alleged maoist list.
The Court also extended the stay, which was granted by the Bombay High Court itself on the bail order, till the next date of hearing October 5.
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Supreme Court extends Bombay High Court stay on bail to Mahesh Raut

27/09/2023

Bar & Bench / by Abhimanyu Hazarika

A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi admitted the NIA’s appeal against the High Court’s order granting Raut bail and listed the case on October 5. The stay on Raut’s bail order will continue until then.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended till October 5 the stay imposed by the Bombay High Court on its order granting bail to Mahesh Raut, one of the accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case. [National Investigation Agency v. Mahesh Sitaram Raut and anr]
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi passed the order on the appeal filed by National Investigation Agency (NIA) before the apex court challenging the High Court’s bail order.
Read more

Also read:
▪ The cost of protesting against mining in Gadchiroli (Scroll.in | by Nolina Minj | Sep 27, 2023)
▪ Bhima Koregaon: Bombay High Court grants regular bail to Mahesh Raut (The Leaflet / Sep 21, 2023)
▪ No Materials Prima Facie Indicating UAPA Offences Against Mahesh Raut: Bombay High Court [read order] (Live Law / Sep 21, 2023)
▪ Encountering Resistance – State Policy for Development in Gadchiroli (Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisations (CDRO / June 2018)
▪ Mining In Gadchiroli – Building A Castle Of Injustices (Countercurrents | by Neema Pathak Broome and Mahesh Raut | June 2017)

In Jail for 5 Years, Activist Mahesh Raut Gets Regular Bail in Bhima Koregaon Case [read order]

In Jail for 5 Years, Activist Mahesh Raut Gets Regular Bail in Bhima Koregaon Case [read order]

In Jail for 5 Years, Activist Mahesh Raut Gets Bail in Elgar Parishad Case

21/09/2023

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

The 36-year-old tribal rights activist is one of the first five persons to have been arrested in the controversial case, on June 6, 2018.
Five years after 36-year-old tribal rights activist Mahesh Raut was arrested for his alleged role in the Elgar Parishad case, the Bombay high court on Thursday, September 21, granted him bail.
The National Investigating Agency (NIA), which is handling the investigation in the case, sought two weeks’ time to appeal in the Supreme Court. The HC, however, granted a week’s time.
Read more

Bhima Koregaon: Bombay High Court grants regular bail to Mahesh Raut

21/09/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

The operation of the Order granting bail to Mahesh Raut is, however, directed to remain in suspension for a week to enable the NIA to appeal.
On Thursday, the Bombay High Court granted regular bail to forest rights activist Mahesh Raut.
A division Bench of the high court comprising Justices A.S. Gadkari and Sharmila U. Deshmukh, however, has stayed the Order for one week.
Read more

Bombay High Court grants bail to Mahesh Raut; sixth accused to get bail [read order]

21/09/2023

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Raut is the sixth person to get bail in the Bhima Koregaon case after Sudha Bhardwaj, Varavara Rao, Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to Mahesh Raut, one of the accused persons in the Bhima Koregaon riots case of 2018.
A division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Sharmila Deshmukh passed the order.
The Court stayed its order for a week after the National Investigation Authority (NIA) sought time to file appeal against the same before the Supreme Court.
Read more

Read order

No Materials Prima Facie Indicating UAPA Offences Against Mahesh Raut: Bombay High Court [read order]

21/09/2023

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

Observing that the material against forest rights activist Mahesh Raut couldn’t lead to a prima-facie inference that he had indulged in a ‘terrorist act’ under Section 15 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, the Bombay High Court granted him bail in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad larger conspiracy case.
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Bhima Koregaon Case: Bombay High Court Grants Bail To Mahesh Raut, Stays Bail For One Week At NIA’s Request

21/09/2023

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Bombay High Court granted bail to Mahesh Raut an accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad larger conspiracy case making him the sixth person to get bail in this case. However, the High Court stayed the order granting bail for one week at the request of the National Investigating Agency (NIA), which sought for a stay of two weeks.
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Bhima Koregaon Case: Mahesh Raut, youngest accused, granted bail by the Bombay HC!

21/09/2023

Sabrangindia.in / by SabrangIndia

After 5 years of incarceration, court grants bail as Section 16, 17, 18 of UAPA not made out, order stayed for one week as NIA seeks time to file appeal with the Supreme Court.
Mahesh Raut, the youngest accused in the Bhima Koregaon Elgar Parishad Violence case, has been granted bail by the Bombay High Court. On September 21, 2023, a division bench of Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Sharmila Deshmukh passed the bail order.
Read more

Elgaar Parishad case: Mahesh Raut sixth to secure bail; 8 others still in jail

22/09/2023

The Indian Express / by Omkar Gokhale

The High Court had initially allowed a regular bail plea of Mahesh Raut but stayed its order for a week after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sought a stay for 14 days so that it can approach the Supreme Court.
… Of the total 16 accused who were held, six of them (including Raut) have received bails from either the High Court or the Supreme Court. Among the accused who are still in custody are Gautam Navlakha, who is under house arrest.
Read more

Who is Mahesh Raut? Bombay HC grants him bail in Elgaar Parishad Case

23/09/2023

The Statesman / by Statesman Web

The Bombay High Court has recently granted bail to Mahesh Raut in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case, with the condition that the order will be stayed for a week upon the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) request.
Raut, a dedicated land rights activist working in the Gadchiroli region of Maharashtra, had initially sought regular bail in 2022 after his bail plea was rejected by the special NIA court in November 2021. Let’s take a closer look at Mahesh Raut and his background.
Read more

Also read:
● Gonsalves and Ferreira bail judgment: A step in the right direction but where will we go from here? (The Leaflet / Aug 2023)
● Gadchiroli’s 300 Gram Sabhas Pass Resolution in Support of Activist Mahesh Raut (The Wire / Oct 2018)
● Mining In Gadchiroli – Building A Castle Of Injustices (Countercurrents / by Neema Pathak Broome and Mahesh Raut / June 2017)

Bombay High Court allows NIA’s request to adjourn Mahesh Raut’s bail plea

Bombay High Court allows NIA’s request to adjourn Mahesh Raut’s bail plea

Bombay High Court allows NIA’s request to adjourn Mahesh Raut’s bail plea

27/07/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

The National Investigation Agency has sought the adjournment of Mahesh Raut’s bail plea on the ground that the newly appointed Additional Solicitor General of India is yet to assume office. The matter is posted for further hearing on August 7.
On Thursday, the division Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justices A.S. Gadkari and Shivkumar Dige allowed adjournment of hearing in the bail plea of forest rights activist Mahesh Raut.
Read more

ASG for Bombay High Court takes charge, seeks time to argue Elgar Parishad bail plea

27/07/2023

India Today / by Vidya

Devang Vyas is currently the ASG for Gujarat High Court and has now assumed the additional role of ASG for the Bombay High Court for a duration of six months or more.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Devang Vyas on Thursday informed the Bombay High Court that he had just assumed charge and requested some time to prepare himself. As a result, he sought an adjournment for the hearing of the bail plea of Elgar Parishad accused Mahesh Raut… He also requested that the bail plea of Raut’s co-accused, Gautam Navlakha, be adjourned to another date.
Read more

Also read:
● National Campaign to Defend Democracy: 5 Years of Unjust Incarceration under Fabricated Evidence (Counterview / July 2023)
● NIA opposes Mahesh Raut’s bail plea in Bombay HC (Indian Express / June 2023)
● Gadchiroli’s 300 Gram Sabhas Pass Resolution in Support of Activist Mahesh Raut (The Wire / Oct 2018)
● Mining In Gadchiroli – Building A Castle Of Injustices (Countercurrents / by Neema Pathak Broome and Mahesh Raut / June 2017)

Frivolous conspiracy cases on Jharkhand’s anti-displacement activists: FACAM

Frivolous conspiracy cases on Jharkhand’s anti-displacement activists: FACAM

Bacha Singh, Damodar Turi during protests

Counterview / by Counterview Desk / FACAM

Civil rights group Forum Against Corporatization And Militarization (FACAM), even as condemning the alleged harassment of Jharkhand activists by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), has said that they are being intimidated because they have “opposed corporate loot of people’s resources.”
…
It is a malicious plot of the state machinery to suppress democratic voice against corporate loot and displacement of adivasis
Among Bhima Koregaon political prisoners, most were actively opposing the state-corporate expropriation of people’s resources, displacement and state repression. Father Stan Swamy himself played an instrumental in formation of Visthapan Virodhi Janvikas Andolan (VVJA) and was active in Pathalgadhi Movement to ensure the autonomy and sanctity of gram sabha.
Read full statement

Also read
● Narendra Modi’s Government Is Using False Charges of Terrorism to Repress Its Opponents (Jacobinmag / April 2022)
● This Organisation In Jharkhand Is Holding The State Accountable (Youthkiawaaz / April 2022)
● NIA Opposes Stan Swamy’s Bail; Calls PUCL, Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan ‘Maoist Fronts’ (The Wire / Jan 2021)

Fourth Drone Bomb Attack on Indigenous People in Bastar, Chhattisgarh

Fourth Drone Bomb Attack on Indigenous People in Bastar, Chhattisgarh

IndiaMatters UK / by over 60 international organisations and individual campaigners, activists and academics

Fourth Drone Bomb Attack on Indigenous People in Bastar, Chhattisgarh
Stop This State Terror Now!

Press Note

Indigenous (Adivasi) people in Bijapur district of Bastar, in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, have been traumatised by yet another aerial bomb attack from the security forces which have been using drones to carry out these operations. Although the Indian Air Force is not officially deployed for combat in Chhattisgarh, the repeated use of aerial bombardment on civilian populations suggests a new dimension to the state terror being inflicted on the Adivasi population of Bastar for years.
… Social activists who have been speaking out against this injustice have also ended up in prisons … there are the well known sixteen democratic rights activists falsely implicated in what has come to be known as the Bhima Koregaon case. These sixteen were locked in prison between 2018 and 2020 on the basis of an essentially fabricated case prepared by the notorious National Investigative Agency against them under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
Read full statement

Also read:
▪ Security forces’ operations in adivasi areas compared with Russia-Ukraine war (Counterview.net / April 2022)
▪ In Jharkhand, Scheduled Tribes Still Battle Flimsy Criminal Cases Filed With Little Evidence (Indiaspend.com / Oct 2021)
▪ Gadling in jail. Reason? As lawyer-activist he has been ‘unpleasant’ to India’s topcops (Counterview.net / Dec 2020)
▪ Gadchiroli’s 300 Gram Sabhas Pass Resolution in Support of Activist Mahesh Raut (The Wire / Oct 2018)
▪ Condemn the State Sponsored Massacre Scripted as ‘Encounter’ in Gadchiroli and Bijapur in Central India (wssnet.wordpress.com / May 2018)
▪ How corporate land grab is sought to be legitimized in Chhattisgarh by misusing legal framework (Kractivism │ by Sudhy Bharadwaj │ Feb 2018)