BK16 – Page 14 – free them all

NCHRO calls for solidarity to Lawyers and Human Rights Defenders who are arbitrarily detained

27/09/2022 Asha

By National Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (NCHRO)

27/09/2022

This letter elaborates our concerns about the unlawful detention of lawyers and other human rights defenders who were arrested on September 22nd, 2022 in an early morning raid along with over 100 others across the country by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the principal counter-terrorist task force of India and Enforcement Directorate. The activists have been arbitrary detained under repressive laws including the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Such detentions have become a regular practice of the present government…

The Bhima Koregaon case is just one emblematic example of the Indian authorities’ increasing use of anti-terror legislation, particularly the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) to punish those who ask questions about the illegitimate anti-minority and anti-poor stances.
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The National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations (NCHRO) halts its work in the country

28/09/2022

By National Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (NCHRO)

The National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations (NCHRO) halted its work in the country as the news came that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had banned the organisation. This is a reprisal for the organization’s human rights work. The NCHRO is very proud of the vital human rights work carried out by the confederation.
As a result, we are suspending all our activities. Effective immediately, NCHRO halted all its programmes and we are not engaged and responsible for any posts on social media.
We will pursue legal remedies against this injustice.

Sincerely,
Prof A Marx

Prisoners of Conscience Under Modi Regime

25/09/2022 Asha

By Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation

Since the BJP’s rise to power in 2014, the list of people -ranging from human rights activists to lawyers, and journalists to students – being persecuted for their identity and their fidelity to fighting for democratic and progressive rights, has grown rapidly. Starting from the arrests related to Bhima Koregaon in 2018 and protests against CAA in 2020 to the recent arrests of activist Teesta Setalvad and journalist Mohammad Zubair, the current regime is bent on imprisoning any person who speaks uncomfortable truths and exposes their lies.
Read full statemnt

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Also visit:

● Prisoners of Conscience in India. The Prisoners of Conscience in India (PoCI) documents and highlights the cases of people who have been imprisoned in India because of their peaceful expression of political, religious, or other conscientiously held beliefs.

PEN America: RELEASE WRITER VERNON GONSALVES, AS HIS HEALTH WORSENS

14/09/2022 Asha

By PEN America

Advocates Call for Better Medical Care for Gonsalves, who Suffers from Dengue, and Others Held in Prison

September 14, 2022
Ahead of a bail hearing on Sept. 15, PEN America is calling for the immediate release from prison of Indian writer Vernon Gonsalves, due to his worsening health. Gonsalves is suffering from dengue as a result of his detention at Taloja Central Jail. PEN America urged authorities to release other writers and activists held in prison and to improve medical care for all prisoners.
Read full statement

Political Prisoners Unite the British Raj and ‘New India’

13/09/2022 Asha

The Wire / by Partho Sarothi Ray

Just as the British rulers used to refer to political prisoners during their rule as ‘terrorists,’ the rulers of today also call people imprisoned for opposing them ‘terrorists’.

Today, September 13, is Political Prisoners Day.

“Ora Bhagat Singher bhai, ora Khudiramer bhai,
Samasta rajbandider mukti chai, mukti chai”
(‘They are the brothers of Bhagat Singh, they are the brothers of Khudiram,
We want the freedom of all political prisoners’)
– Popular Bengali song by Bipul Chakraborty

On September 13, 1929, Jatin Das, the 24-year-old revolutionary freedom fighter, died in Lahore Jail after a 63-day long hunger strike, demanding humane treatment of political prisoners under the British Raj…
The current government has similarly instituted cases like the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case and the Delhi riots case to allege ‘conspiracies’ and thereby imprison a large number of activists and critics and demonise them as ‘anti-nationals’ and ‘terrorists’.
Read more

Video: Custodial Violence, Judicial Negligence and State Apathy

12/09/2022

en │ 52min │2022

By The Polis Project

On 5 October 2020, Atikur Rahman, journalist Siddique Kappan, student Masood Ahmad, and taxi driver Mohammad Alam were arrested in Mathura, in Uttar Pradesh in, India They were on their way to meet the family of a Dalit woman who was raped and murdered by a group of men from the dominant caste in Hathras…
The denial of medical treatment and bail must be seen as a part of a larger pattern of abuse of power directed toward dissenters and political prisoners in India. On 5 July 2021, 84-year-old Jesuit priest and human rights defender Father Stan Swamy died in judicial custody at the Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai, India.
Watch video

MRSD: Release Activist Vernon Gonsalves on immediate Medical bail

11/09/2022 Asha

By Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy

PRESS STATEMENT
Statement by Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy – a campaign of 40+ civil society groups

MRSD is distressed to learn about the health situation of 65 year old activist, poet, and writer Vernon Gonsalves, incarcerated since 2018 in the Bhima Koregaon/Elgar Parishad case. Gonsalves started developing several symptoms, such as fever, cough, dizziness, and nausea starting on August 30, as per the affidavit filed by his lawyers in Court. However, his health condition was met with neglect and it was only after pleading several times that he was finally taken to the state-run JJ hospital on September 6. Instead of continuing his treatment there, he was taken back to jail the same day. Upon hearing about this from other co-accused, Gonsalves’ lawyers and family members moved the NIA court seeking temporary bail on medical conditions. During the hearing, the lawyers told the Court that apart from Dengue, he may also be suffering from Pneumonia. …

BK16 Relatives Flag Prison Authorities’ ‘Criminal Negligence’ of Undertrials / Custodial Violence, Judicial Negligence & State Apathy

11/09/2022 Asha

NewsClick / by Relatives and Representatives of the BK16; NewsClick

The relatives and representatives of the accused persons in the Bhima Koregaon case have released a statement drawing attention to the deteriorating health of several undertrials – including Vernon Gonsalves – and the brazen negligence of the prison authorities...

Statement:
In yet another act of criminal negligence, the prison authorities of Taloja Central Jail, Maharashtra, have delayed medical treatment for Vernon Gonsalves, a prominent activist and one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad case.
Gonsalves, who is 65 years old, fell ill with fever on August 30th, and even though his condition was steadily deteriorating, he was treated with just paracetamol and antibiotics in jail, for almost a week. After much pleading, he was taken to JJ hospital on September 7 and was given oxygen support. However, instead of continuing his treatment, he was callously brought back to jail where his condition continued to worsen. It is only after his lawyer and wife, Susan Abraham, approached the court and obtained an order, that the prison authorities finally admitted him to the emergency ward of JJ hospital, where he is still under treatment.
Read full statement

Video: Custodial Violence, Judicial Negligence and State Apathy

12/09/2022

en │ 52min │2022

By The Polis Project

► Also read/listen: Bhima Koregaon, COVID-19 And Custodial Apathy In Jails / Audio + Press Release (May 2021)

4 years, 16 arrests and no framing of charges: The many twist and turns of Elgaar Parishad case

22/08/2022 Asha

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

With trial yet to begin, the Supreme Court recently asked the NIA court to expedite framing of charges in 2018 case
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the special court in Mumbai conducting the trial in the Elgaar Parishad case to decide on framing of charges and discharge pleas of the accused within three months. The delay in the framing of charges has meant that four years after the Pune Police made nine arrests and the National Investigation Agency made seven arrests in the case, the trial in the 2018 case is yet to begin.
Read more

Also read:
● Supreme Court directs trial court to expeditiously frame charges and decide discharge pleas (The Leaflet / Aug 2022)

Of 16 Arrested Accused in Elgar Parishad Case, One Dead, Two Out on Bail and Rest in Jail

19/08/2022 Asha

Of 16 Arrested Accused in Elgar Parishad Case, One Dead, Two Out on Bail and Rest in Jail

19/08/2022

The Wire / by pti

With the Supreme Court stipulating that charges in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case be framed within the next three months, the focus has shifted now to the status of the accused.
With the Supreme Court stipulating that charges in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case be framed within the next three months, the focus has shifted now to the status of the accused.
In the case that is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), of the total 16 arrested accused, Jesuit priest Stan Swamy died at a private hospital here last year during judicial custody, while Telugu poet Varavara Rao is currently out on medical bail. Only one accused – Sudha Bharadwaj – is out on regular bail.
Read more

Also read:
● Who’s who of those arrested and the developments in the case pertaining to each (The Leaflet / June 2022)
● As Bhima Koregaon case completes its fourth anniversary, State reprisal is writ large in its twists and turns (The Leaflet / June 2022)

Supreme Court Asks Special NIA Court To Decide On Framing Charges Within 3 Months

18/08/2022 Asha

SC Asks NIA Court To Frame Charges Within 3 Months

18/08/2022

The Quint / by The Quint

The Supreme Court also allowed Varavara Rao to approach the trial court with his plea to travel to Hyderabad.
The Supreme Court on Thursday, 18 August, asked the Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court to decide on framing charges in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case within a period of three months.
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Supreme Court Asks Special NIA Court To Decide On Framing Charges Within 3 Months

18/08/2022

Live Law / by Rintu Mariam Biju

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Special NIA Court to decide on framing charges in the Bhima Koregaon case within a period of three months. The Court also directed the NIA Court to decide the discharge applications filed by the accused in the case simultaneously.
A bench comprising Justice UU Lalit and Justice Ravindra Bhat passed the direction while considering a petition field by accused Vernon Gonsalves seeking bail in the case.
Read more

Also read:
● Who’s who of those arrested and the developments in the case pertaining to each (The Leaflet / June 2022)
● What NIA draft charges submitted in court say, against whom (Indian Express / Aug 2021)
● NIA Submits Draft Charges in Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad Case: Read Details (Live Law / Aug 2021)

#India@75: Song by Sagar Gorke, sung by Surendra Galding / PEN America …

15/08/2022 Asha

1:30min | 2022

by Panther Ajay

Lyrics by Shahir Sagar Gorkhe, sung by Adv Surendra Gadling
Watch video

PEN AMERICA, WITH 102 INTERNATIONAL WRITERS AND ARTISTS, CALLS FOR INDIA TO UPHOLD THE FREEDOM TO WRITE AHEAD OF 75TH INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION

15/08/2022

Pen.org / by PEN America

Raises Ongoing Concerns About Fraying of Free Expression and Jailing and Silencing of Writers

(NEW YORK)—As India marks 75 years of independence today, 102 notable U.S. and international writers and creative artists, including Marina Abramovic, Paul Auster, J.M. Coetzee, Jennifer Egan, Jonathan Franzen, Azar Nafisi, and Orhan Pamuk, joined PEN America and PEN International in signing a letter to Indian President Droupadi Murmu, raising concern over the deterioration of free expression and calling for the release of imprisoned writers and dissident and critical voices…
Seven of the eight writers in prison in India during 2021 have been detained in connection with the ongoing Elgar Parishad case, concerning a deadly inter-caste altercation in the village of Bhima Koregaon in 2018. In response, state- and national-level authorities detained a broad swathe of leftist writers and intellectuals, accusing them of inciting the violence and of links to banned groups.
Read full statement

INDIA AT 75 | CONTRIBUTORS S – Z

15/08/2022

PEN America / by Siddhartha Deb

…

Siddhartha Deb

I am not allowed to say the name of the person who told me, years ago: “India is not a nation. It is a prisonhouse of all possible nations.” Now this person is incarcerated, but I can’t describe the specifics of their suffering…
I can say the name of Stan Swamy, incarcerated and, eventually, killed by the Indian state on July 5, 2021. I can say his name because his life, if not his memory, is beyond the reach of the prisonhouse. Father Stan, dead at 84 because those running India are terrified of a Jesuit priest whose life was dedicated to working with indigenous people brutalized by Hindutva, the state, and the market.
Read more

by Priyanka (Aug 15):

Our friend Mahesh is spending his 5th Independence Day in the prison with all the other activists in the Elgar Parishad case. They await their freedom. Please spare a thought for each one of them.

Ideas Behind Bars Podcast

– upcoming –

by InSAF India (Aug 15):

…

Also watch:

Video: The Prison Song of Surendra Gadling

hindi | 11min | 2021

The Wire / lyrics by Ramesh Gaichor

51- year-old Gadling, a well-known criminal lawyer in Nagpur, was once a cultural activist, who sang songs of political resistance. The 11- minutes- long rendition tells you what it means to be incarcerated in Indian prisons. From food, water, to medical care, everything is a struggle, Gadling narrates. The song was recorded by one of Gadling’s colleagues and was made available to The Wire after obtaining his consent.

Watch video