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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)

India: Dangerous Backsliding on Rights – Activists, Critics Targeted

India: Dangerous Backsliding on Rights – Activists, Critics Targeted

By Human Rights Watch

Activists, Critics Targeted: Growing Attacks on Muslims, Groups at Risk
Indian authorities intensified their crackdown on activists, journalists, and other critics of the government using politically motivated prosecutions in 2021, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2022. Tens of thousands of people died during a surge in Covid-19 cases, with the government failing to provide adequate health care to those in need.
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Read full India chapter

Visible change but current government silent on core issues / Sainthood for Father Stan Swamy

Visible change but current government silent on core issues / Sainthood for Father Stan Swamy

Visible change from past but current government silent on core issues

29/12/2021

Times of India / by ASRP Mukesh

A day before the second anniversary of the Hemant Soren-led alliance government on Wednesday, Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JJM), a group of several rights bodies, on Tuesday said despite getting a clear mandate, the incumbent administration has failed to bring any significant relief and improvement in the lives of the common people…
Stating that both JMM and Congress, in their election manifestos, had promised action to release undertrials (tribals, Dalits, backward and minorities jailed in minor cases without conviction), the JJM said, “There is complete silence on this issue too. The Hemant Soren government had raised its voice against the inhuman arrest of Stan Swamy and paid him a tribute after his death, but it remained silent on the issues raised by Stan.”
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Sainthood for Father Stan Swamy

25/12/2021

Deccan Herald / by N Jayaram

Hindutva chauvinists might get a strong message if the process leading to his canonisation were to begin soon
On Christmas day, thoughts turn to a good Christian who was snatched away from us on July 5 this year.
Father Stanislaus Lourduswamy, or Stan Swamy, had dedicated his life to serving Adivasis in Central India, after having been director of the Indian Social Institute, Bengaluru, from 1975 to 1986. He was implicated and jailed – falsely, in the opinion of a large number of human rights activists and even noted jurists – in the infamous Bhima-Koregaon case.
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Also read:
● Even after Stan Swamy’s death, the fight to get justice for Jharkhand undertrials is still alive (Scroll.in / Dec 2021)
● Teacher, companion, motivator: Adivasi-rights activist Dayamani Barla remembers Stan Swamy (The Caravan/Sep 2021)
● PUDR Report: Framed to Die – The Case of Stan Swamy (pdf file, 45 pages; PUDR/Aug 2021)

There is no room for fake encounters, says NHRC chief Arun Mishra

There is no room for fake encounters, says NHRC chief Arun Mishra

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The head of the country’s statutory human rights body said that speedy justice was key to rule of law.
National Human Rights Commission chief Arun Mishra on Friday said that suspects in cases should not be jailed without trial and that there was no room for fake encounters. Mishra, a former Supreme Court judge, added that justice was the source of a peaceful society…
As recently as on Wednesday, South African non-profit organisation Civicus put India on a list of countries with “repressed” democratic values. The report had flagged the use of draconian anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against activists arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, repression of the farmers’ protest and the imposition of curfews in Jammu and Kashmir.
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Also read:
● In Jharkhand, Scheduled Tribes Still Battle Flimsy Criminal Cases Filed With Little Evidence (Indiaspend / Oct 2021)
● The ‘Encounter Raj’ mindset: Stop mocking those who stand for human rights. Demonising them endangers every citizen (Times of India / July 2020)
● Chhattisgarh: Story of another ‘encounter’ (The Indian Express / Dec 2019)
● Press Release Of The Joint Fact Finding in Gadchiroli by CDRO, IAPL and WSS (WSS / May 2018)