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Tag: adivasis

And Ma died waiting for Surendra

And Ma died waiting for Surendra

Midday.com / by Ajaz Ashraf

One of Nagpur’s most successful lawyers, Gadling took it upon himself to fight for the rights of Adivasis who were picked up and thrown inside jail after being tagged Maoists. Now he, too, is lodged in jail, without an end of his trial in sight.
There are many ways you could begin the story of lawyer Surendra Gadling, incarcerated in Mumbai’s Taloja Jail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for his alleged role in the 2018 Bhima-Koregaon violence. You could, for instance, leap over the events of June 6, 2018, the day he was arrested, to begin the story from June 11. 
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Also read:
● And Ma died waiting for Surendra (Midday.com / June 2022)
● And Ma can’t sing with Sagar (Midday.com / June 2022)
● And he waits for Shoma Sen (Midday.com / May 2022)
● And she waits for Gautam Navlakha (Midday.com / May 2022)

‘Unjust’ jail and death can’t eclipse Stan Swamy’s work / What is the Martin Ennals Award?

‘Unjust’ jail and death can’t eclipse Stan Swamy’s work / What is the Martin Ennals Award?

‘Unjust’ jail and death can’t eclipse Stan Swamy’s work

04/06/2022

The Telegraph / by Pheroze L. Vincent

Jesuit priest has been honoured by Martin Ennals Foundation in Geneva for showing exceptional commitment to defending and promoting human rights.
Stan Swamy, the human rights defender and Jesuit priest who died in judicial custody in Mumbai at the age of 84, has been posthumously honoured by the Martin Ennals Foundation in Geneva.
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What is the Martin Ennals Award, the ‘human rights Nobel’, which honoured Father Stan Swamy?

04/06/2022

The Indian Express / by Dipanita Nath

In a special move this year, the Martin Ennals Foundation posthumously honoured Father Stan Swamy for his “many contributions to human rights”. Who was Martin Ennals, and what is the intention of the award?
Every year, the Martin Ennals Foundation, based in Geneva, Switzerland, gives out an award that is regarded as the Nobel Prize for human rights defenders. The recipients of this year’s awards include Daouda Diallo from Burkina Faso, Pham Doan Trang from Vietnam and Abdul-Hadi Al-Khawaja of Bahrain.
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Late Indian Jesuit honored with rights ‘Nobel Prize’

04/06/2022

UCA News / by UCA News reporter

Father Stan Swamy, the late Indian Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist, has been posthumously awarded the Martin Ennals Award, regarded as the Nobel Prize for human rights defenders…
Though the award was presented posthumously, the priest was chosen for it while he was still alive. “Father Stan was nominated for the award in spring 2021, but he sadly passed away before it could reach him,” said Hans Thoolen, chair of the award jury.
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And they wait for Mahesh Raut

And they wait for Mahesh Raut

Midday.com / by Ajaz Ashraf

Every moment of joy has each family member of the youngest of the accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case murmur “wish you were here,” the title of Pink Floyd’s haunting song on aching absences.
A lady in a house at Wadsa, Gadchiroli district, rages and switches off the television every time Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears on it. The lady is an aunt of Mahesh Raut, who, at 34, is the youngest of the accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case and has been languishing in prison since his arrest on June 6, 2018. That house at Wadsa, where a family of 14 children and adults live, is home to Mahesh.
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Also read:
● And he waits for Shoma Sen (Midday / May 2022)
● And she waits for Gautam Navlakha (Midday / May 2022)
● Gadchiroli’s 300 Gram Sabhas Pass Resolution in Support of Activist Mahesh Raut (The Wire / Oct 2018)

And he waits for Shoma Sen

And he waits for Shoma Sen

Midday / by Ajaz Ashraf

Falling in love while trying to affect a change in the society, as their hearts beat for adivasis and dalits, the couple has now spent in jail nine out of 31 years of their life together.
I called up Tushar Kanti Bhattacharya, husband of Shoma Sen, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, on May 9, with a request: could he tell me their story—she languishing in jail and he alone outside? He said it was on this day in 1991 that Shoma and he were married. 
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Also read:
● And she waits for Gautam Navlakha (Midday / May 2022)

Jharkhand Jan Sangharsh Morcha is holding the state accountable

Jharkhand Jan Sangharsh Morcha is holding the state accountable

Youthkiawaaz / by Harsh

Established just a few months ago, Jharkhand Jan Sangharsh Morcha (JJSM) is currently acting as an umbrella for over two dozen provincial-local people’s organisations of Jharkhand to raise voices against injustice, exploitation, corruption and to resolve the public problems in the region …
“Father Stan Swamy, who was one of the founder members of Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan, lived for the Adivasi and moolnivasi communities of Jharkhand.
Taking inspiration from him, various people’s organisations have formed this front as a tribute to him to fulfil his dream of bringing all the movements of Jharkhand on one platform,” says Satyam, a social activist associated with the front.
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Also read
● Narendra Modi’s Government Is Using False Charges of Terrorism to Repress Its Opponents (Jacobinmag / April 2022)

Narendra Modi’s Government Is Using False Charges of Terrorism to Repress Its Opponents

Narendra Modi’s Government Is Using False Charges of Terrorism to Repress Its Opponents

Jacobinmag / by P.M. Tony & Lotika Singha

Radical priest Stan Swamy was one of India’s leading social activists. Modi’s government is to blame for his death while awaiting trial on bogus terror charges, but the clampdown won’t snuff out the inspiring legacy of Swamy’s work with Adivasi communities.
Under the rule of Narendra Modi, the Indian state has launched a sweeping authoritarian clampdown on political dissent. One of the manifestations of this onslaught has been the jailing of opponents on trumped-up charges of terrorism and conspiracy.
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The Bhima Koregaon Arrests and the Resistance in India

The Bhima Koregaon Arrests and the Resistance in India

Monthly Review / by Saroj Giri

It often happens: A murder takes place, an utterly foul one. But there is little outcry, no lasting sense of wrong in public memory. Deep down, everyone is aware of the gross violation that has taken place in their midst. Everyone is affected and silently appalled that there is no redress, no justice. Yet normal life and routine democracy continues—at the expense of a deep scar in the inner recess of society, unseen and perhaps illegible, best described as a void. Like an abyss that stares back, will this void come to haunt everyone later, in some possibly unrecognizable form?
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Book review: Stan Swamy’s voice for the voiceless

Book review: Stan Swamy’s voice for the voiceless

Book review: A voice for the voiceless

28/01/2022

The Telegraph / by Mahtab Alam

Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages
Stan Swamy was no silent spectator, his book makes it clear who he was.
Ever since the tragic death of the human rights activist, Father Stan Swamy, much has been written about him, including a few books. This is not surprising, given his contributions to human rights, especially the rights of indigenous people. However, what distinguishes this book is that it is a first-person account even though it is not an autobiography. Divided into 16 short chapters, including a Prologue and an Epilogue, it takes us on a journey where we are not just introduced to Stan’s personality and work but also get glimpses of the time period it covered.
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Download full book (pdf file)

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
Download full book (pdf file)

Patriotism of Social Activists is Increasingly being Punished: Activist Sudha Bharadwaj

Patriotism of Social Activists is Increasingly being Punished: Activist Sudha Bharadwaj

Newsclick / by Ajaz Ashraf

India is far from realising the promises of justice and equality made in the Constitution, says the well-known activist, citing her experiences in prison as an under-trial and as a lawyer representing workers.
After spending nearly three years in jail, Bharadwaj was released on bail last month. Her bail conditions proscribe her from speaking on the Bhima Koregaon case and leaving Mumbai, although she has now been allowed to live in Thane. NewsClick did not ask her any question on the case, and she politely refused to answer any question she thought was even remotely connected to it. In the first part of this interview, Bharadwaj speaks on the meaning that Republic Day, the Constitution, and the law have for jail inmates, based on her conversations with them.
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Also read
● Part 2: My Spirit has not Been Broken: Activist Sudha Bharadwaj (NewsClick / Jan 2022)