Countercurrents.org / by Campaign Against State Repression
Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) Strongly condemns the Supreme Court’s order to suspend the Acquittal of Saibaba and Others in Gadchiroli case pertaining to alleged ‘Maoist link’.
… They want to keep in jail, every voice that foisted the state’s attempt to militarily loot the people of their resources and livelihood through Operation Green-Hunt, which Saibaba and other’s jailed in Gadchiroli case and Bhima Koregaon case have strongly resisted. They want to do so to continue the exploitation of people and their resources in far off Central Indian Regions, in North Eastern states, Kashmir and everywhere. This is not just an attack on Saibaba and others, but a clear sign of continuing and ever sharpening attack on all involved in the struggle for a democratic society. Read full statement
NIA court demands explanation from Taloja authorities on delay of treatment
09/09/2022
Hindustan Times / by Charul Shah
Only on September 5 Gonsalves was shifted to prison hospital as his condition had worsened.
The special NIA court on Thursday directed the superintendent of the Taloja Jail to provide proper medical treatment to Vernon Gonsalves, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, who has been diagnosed with dengue.
It has also reprimanded the prison authority for failing to respond to Gonsalves’s plea for medical treatment till Thursday. Read more
Vernon Gonsalves Is Latest Victim of Prison Staff’s Medical Neglect
08/09/2022
The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha
JJ Hospital has confirmed that Gonsalves has been suffering from dengue for close to two weeks and that he could have developed pneumonia too.
Over 10 days ago, Vernon Gonsalves, a Mumbai-based human rights activist and one of the 16 persons arrested in the Elgar Parishad case, had a high-grade fever. He fainted several times in jail and at one point couldn’t move. The Taloja central prison staff, however, only administered him paracetamol and refused to refer him to a hospital. Read more
Vernon Gonsalves on oxygen support after contracting dengue in prison
08/09/2022
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
His wife, lawyer Susan Abraham, told Scroll.in that the 65-year-old undertrial should have been admitted to hospital ‘long back’.
Activist Vernon Gonsalves, who is among those accused in the Elgar Parishad case, is on oxygen support in Mumbai’s JJ Hospital after contracting dengue in prison, his wife, lawyer Susan Abraham, told Scroll.in on Thursday. Read more
Pandu Narote’s Death: A Reminder of Stan Swamy’s Demise, GN Saibaba’s Struggles
08/09/2022
The Quint / by Mekhala Saran
When Pandu Narote died on 25 August, once again questions arose regarding the treatment of ailing inmates.
In February 2020, granting bail to Bhima Koregaon accused Varavara Rao, on medical grounds, the Bombay High Court had noted that “sending him back to prison is fraught with risk.”
… In May, 2021, while the second wave of COVID-19 wreaked devastation across the country, the family and friends of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, who have been lodged in Mumbai’s Taloja and Byculla jail, held a press conference drawing attention to the purportedly dangerous living conditions there. These included overcrowding, the lack of medical care, paucity of clean water, and flimsy access to basic human rights. Read more
In this post, a fellow traveller of Stan’s in prison shares his reflections about the Jesuit priest who became one India’s foremost human rights defenders: the background to Stan’s own awakening and then participation in the continuing resistance movements among the most marginalised of Indian citizens, its indigenous peoples, the Adivasis:
People call him Father Stan Swamy. This way of addressing is different from the Maoist usage. He opted for the Christian way of life in the Jesuit order when he was an adolescent. He migrated from Tiruchirappalli in Madras State to Jamshedpur which was, at that time, part of the undivided Bihar State. Jamshedpur is the habitat of tribal people. The people who work in the coal reserves and steel factories, and the people who live in the nearby forests are all tribals. Being idealistic from a very young age, Stan was influenced by the preaching and practice of Jesus Christ. Read more
The fight to save the earth / Sudha Bharadwaj on the Climate, Trade Unions and a Just Transition
In her book This Changes Everything, Naomi Klein flags the most challenging threat humanity has ever faced: the war our economic model is waging against life on earth. Sudha Bharadwaj began translating the book in Pune’s Yerawada Jail. President Droupadi Murmu could gain useful insights from it. As a representative of India’s most exploited and threatened community of Adivasis, oldest inhabitants of the land, she could exchange notes with Bharadwaj in Mumbai. Read more
Interview: Sudha Bharadwaj on the Climate, Trade Unions and a Just Transition
29/07/2022
The Wire Science / by Nagraj Adve
Nagraj Adve spoke with trade unionist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj for The Wire Science.
While in Yerawada jail, you began to translate Naomi Klein’s book on global warming, This Changes Everything, into Hindi. What made you do it? And what were the challenges, in terms of doing it while in jail and in the translation?
I had always been concerned about ecological devastation in Chhattisgarh due to the limestone quarries and cement plants, vast coal mines, power plants and their ash dykes, sponge iron plants spewing black dust, and the rivers running red with iron ore – things that, as a trade unionist and later as a lawyer representing landowners fighting land acquisition, I had observed at close quarters. But I was always caught up with the battles of the present moment – the notices, the court cases, the jobs, the environmental hearings. Read more
by Naomi Klein / @NaomiAKlein (Jul 29, 2022)
Little in my writing life has moved me as much as trade unionist Sudha Bharadwaj’s account of translating “This Changes Everything” into Hindi when she was in jail under horrific conditions as a prisoner of conscience.
Fridays For Future India / @fridays_india (Jul 30, 2022)
Lawyer & social activist, Sudha Bharadwaj in an interview with @nagrajadve on the #climatecrisis and the challenges facing a fair transition away from coal in India;
Must Read!
Interview: Sudha Bharadwaj on the Climate, Trade Unions and a Just Transition
Nagraj Adve spoke with trade unionist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj for The Wire Science.
While in Yerawada jail, you began to translate Naomi Klein’s book on global warming, This Changes Everything, into Hindi. What made you do it? And what were the challenges, in terms of doing it while in jail and in the translation?
I had always been concerned about ecological devastation in Chhattisgarh due to the limestone quarries and cement plants, vast coal mines, power plants and their ash dykes, sponge iron plants spewing black dust, and the rivers running red with iron ore – things that, as a trade unionist and later as a lawyer representing landowners fighting land acquisition, I had observed at close quarters. But I was always caught up with the battles of the present moment – the notices, the court cases, the jobs, the environmental hearings. Read more
by Naomi Klein (Jul 29, 2022)
Little in my writing life has moved me as much as trade unionist Sudha Bharadwaj’s account of translating “This Changes Everything” into Hindi when she was in jail under horrific conditions as a prisoner of conscience.
India’s President Droupadi Murmu and ‘an Unbroken History of Broken Promises’ – by Suhda Bharadwaj
Draupadi Murmu has difficult tasks cut out for her if she is to protect rights and ensure justice to the Adivasis.
The reference in the headline is to the passionate essay by the late Dr BD Sharma of the same title. The continuing criminalisation of the Adivasi peoples is seen even in the 75th year of our Independence.
In the past couple of weeks, several very important events have taken place that will deeply affect the Adivasi people of our country. Read more
Will Droupadi Murmu Remain a BJP Electoral Ploy or Help Unseen Adivasis Be Seen at Last?
21/07/2022
The Wire / by Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
BJP is sure to celebrate its own decision to get an Adivasi President elected more than Murmu’s own achievements as a loyal political worker. It remains to be seen if they will let her have her own voice.
… Those who have been working for Adivasis’ causes point out that while BJP may congratulate itself in nominating Droupadi Murmu, their governments have mostly struck down or dismissed autonomous movements led by Adivasis. People like Father Stan Swamy (who passed away due to alleged medical negligence while in jail), Sudha Bharadwaj, or Surendra Gadling, all of whom have devoted their lives to improve the conditions of Adivasis, have been arrested under charges of terrorism in the Elgar Parishad case. Read more
Defending India’s Human Rights Defenders
21/07/2022
South Asian Voices / by Ria Chakrabarty
On July 5, 2021, Jesuit Priest and human rights defender Father Stan died in Indian custody at the age of 84. He was the oldest person to be arrested by the Indian government for terrorism. Father Stan’s incarceration led to a global outcry against the Indian government’s brutal treatment of Indian human rights defenders.
Father Stan is one of a mushrooming group of prisoners of conscience whom the Indian government has jailed over the past few years. Read more
The arrests and continued incarceration of fact-checker Mohammad Zubair, political activist Javed Mohammed and the exoneration of 121 Adivasis accused of terrorism are the latest evidence of how the State adopts extra legal methods of dealing with ‘inconvenient citizens’- including journalists, dissidents, activists or the poorest Indians – to push official narratives of conspiracy and terrorism. The common threads: manipulation or egregious misinterpretation of laws, changing accusations, unknown or untraceable complainants and the abandonment of due process by police and courts. Read more
Announcements of Events Commemorating Father Stan’s Death in Custody
Memorandum will demand release of all human rights activists arrested in Elgaar Parishad and revocation of the UAPA cases.
Civil rights outfits along with like-minded political outfits will take out a Nyaya March (march for justice) in Ranchi on July 5 to mark the first death anniversary of octogenarian Jesuit priest and human rights defender Stan Swamy. Read more
Video: Persecution of Religious Minorities and their Defenders in India – Commemorating Father Stan’s Death in Custody
28/06/2022
By Hindus for Human Rights
Join us to mark the 1-year anniversary of Father Stan’s passing and hear from lawmakers from across the world, the UN, & Adivasi activists. About this event
Join an international coalition of human rights organizations to mark the first anniversary of Father Stan Swamy’s passing. At this virtual event, we will hear from lawmakers from Australia, Canada, the European Parliament, the UK, and the US, as well as top officials from the UN. The event will also feature the voices of Adivasi (Indigenous) leaders, alongside whom Father Stan lived and worked for decades.
Video: Persecution of Religious Minorities and their Defenders in India
July 5: London, Anniversary Mass and Vigil for Fr Stan Swamy SJ
29/06/2022
By Jesuit Missions UK
A special Mass and Vigil to mark the first anniversary of the death of Fr Stan Swamy will take place in London on Tuesday, 5 July.
Mass will be celebrated at 13.05 in Farm Street Church, Mayfair, by Fr Dominic Robinson SJ. At 13.35 there will be a Solidarity Walk from Farm Street to the Indian High Commission. Read more
July 9: Lecture: Democracy & Human Rights Defenders
Indian Social Institute, Bengaluru is delighted to invite you to Volken-Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture on “Democracy & Human Rights Defenders”. The lecture will be delivered by Adv.Vrinda Grover and chaired by Adv. Henri Tiphagne. Register
Tributes to Stan Swamy / Video: Why Democracy and Human Rights matter?
Alluri Sitarama Raju and Stan Swamy: Two Adivasi rights defenders – one praised, one persecuted
04/07/2022
Scroll.in / by Cedric Prakash
Prime Minister Modi unveiled a statue of Alluri in Andhra Pradesh one day before the first death anniversary of the Jesuit priest, who passed away in custody.
On a recent domestic flight, the head of the cabin crew made an announcement from the airlines informing passengers that July 4 was the birth anniversary of
Alluri Seethrama Raju.
“He led the ‘Rampa Rebellion’, the protest of tribal people against the British Raj,” the announcement said. Read more
Fr. Stan Swamy: his legacy lives forever!
03/07/2022
Countercurrents.org / by Cedric Prakash
A year ago, on 5 July 2021, when Father Stan Swamy left us, the world mourned the death of a great human being who epitomised compassion, courage, collaboration and commitment! ‘Stan’, as he was lovingly called by those close to him, died whilst he was still incarcerated. From the time he was illegally arrested on 8 October 2020, he languished in the Taloja jail; his deteriorating health conditions prompted the Special Court to direct the jail authorities to admit him to a private hospital in Bombay where he finally succumbed, despite the best possible medical treatment given to him at that time! It was indeed too little too late. For one, Stan should never have been arrested; Read more
‘Sad situation for human rights in India… Father Stan Swamy’s resolve inspires us’
04/07/2022
The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak
Father Frazer Mascarenhas, the former principal of St Xavier’s College in Mumbai and the Parish Priest of St Peter’s Church, in whose care Swamy was in his last days, in conversation with Sadaf Modak.
On July 5, it will be a year since the death of 84-year-old priest and Jharkhand-based activist Stan Swamy while in judicial custody. Swamy was arrested in the Elgaar Parishad case by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in October 2020 and a chargesheet filed against him for his alleged links with banned CPI (Maoist). Swamy had denied the charges. Read more
Video: Why Democracy and Human Rights matter? – Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture
03/07/2022 hindi | 2h 48min | 2022
By PUCL Jharkhand
People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Jharkhand organized the Inaugural Lecture of ‘Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture’ series on 1st of July 2022. Prof. Faizan Mustafa, the Vice-Chancellor of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad delivered the lecture. Watch video
Essential to have defenders of rights in country
03/07/2022
Ranchi, July 1
The Telegraph / by Animesh Biosee
Activists pay tribute to Father Stan Swamy and criticise State’s tendency to crack down on dissent
India needs more human rights defenders, constitutional law expert Faizan Mustafa said in Ranchi on Friday as he paid tribute to the late Father Stan Swamy and criticised the State’s tendency to crack down on rights activists. Read more
XISS lecture to honour Stan Swamy
02/07/2022
Times of India / by Jaideep Deogharia
Ranchi: Vice-chancellor of National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR), Hyderabad, Faizan Mustafa while addressing the first Stan Swamy memorial lecture here at XISS auditorium on Friday said that the activist believed in true spirit of human rights. “Swamy came from a different state to fight for the oppressed and people of a different state,” he said. Read more
