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. …
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
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
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
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
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. Read more
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
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
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.
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.
They are often denied items of food and clothing that other inmates are allowed to access.
Over the past few weeks, prison authorities in Maharashtra have denied basic amenities such as mosquito nets and telephone facilities to undertrials in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case, which pertains to caste violence as well as an alleged attempt to assassinate the prime minister. Nearly five years later, even as independent reports have pointed to the fact that the electronic devices of the accused were hacked using military-grade spyware available only to governments, the trial in the case is yet to begin. Read more
“Free them all!” A call of solidarity with political prisoners in India, America, and beyond
08/08/2022
SASW / by Padma B and Beena Sarwar
… Whereas ‘fascism’ isn’t a phrase to be taken evenly, it’s tough to keep away from given how political dissent is being crushed in numerous nations. This got here by in shows at a current seminar within the Boston space about political repression and incarceration in India and the USA. Read more
Video: Political Incarceration and Resistance in India and the United States
1. Resisting the Political Incarceration in India. Speakers: Kavita Srivastava is the national secretary of the People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL). She is a dedicated human rights worker, working collectively towards restoring democracy, justice and ending inequalities. Prachi Teltumbde is a doctor and researcher based in London. She is also the daughter of Anand Teltumbde, a prominent public intellectual and one of the BK 15. 2. Mumia Abu Jamal’s Monumental Struggle Against Corruption and Empire. Speaker: JD
The demand to release incarcerated political activists in South Asia and the United States is gaining momentum. The incarceration of Bhima Koregaon 15 (BK 15), the institutional murder of Father Stan Swamy, and recent arrest of Teesta Setalwad and Mohammad Zubair has been condemned worldwide. In the US, the struggle continues to release the famous political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal, well known for his powerful struggle against the Philadelphia political machine and analysis of current events. Boston South Asian Coalition’s (BSAC) and Jericho Boston are holding a joint event on July 30th (Saturday) 11:30am EST to discuss the state of political prisoners in India and the US. Watch video
Supreme Court ticks off govt on seizure of personal devices
SC frowns on government’s cavalier dismissal of a PIL’s demand for guidelines on ‘seizure, examination and preservation’ of such gadgets
The Supreme Court on Friday said electronic devices seized by investigating agencies “have personal contents and we have to protect this”, frowning on the Centre’s cavalier dismissal of a PIL’s demand for guidelines on the “seizure, examination and preservation” of such devices.
… several accused in the Elgaar Parishad-Maoist links case have said — with support from forensic analysts — that false “evidence” was planted on their devices after their seizure by investigators. Read more
3 Opposition MPs raise voice against continued imprisonment of undertrials
05/08/2022
The Telegraph / by Pheroze L. Vincent
CPI Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam hails Stan Swamy as ‘martyr’
Three Opposition MPs on Thursday spoke out against the continued imprisonment of the undertrials in the Elgaar Parishad case.
CPI Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam hailed Stan Swamy, the priest who died in custody after being arrested in the case, as a “martyr.” Read more
Press conference by CDRO: ‘Release of all accused in Bhima-Koregaon case’
04/08/2022
Times of India / by Mohua Chatterjee
Three members of Parliament from different states and across parties demanded the release of all the the accused of the Bhima-Koregaon case, who are in jail since June 2018.
Rajya Sabha MPs Binoy Viswam (CPI) who hails from Kerala and Ajit Bhuyan (Independent) who represents Assam and Lok Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu Tholkappiyan Thirumavalavan (VCK) spoke at a press conference held by the Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO). Read more
by Ajit Kumar Bhuyan (Aug 4):
We, the opposition MPs of Parliament addressed a press conference at Press Club of India today demanding- Immediate release of all the accused of the Bhima-Koregaon case. And repe of the NIA act and disbandment of the agency as it goes against the ethos of our federal nature.
by Panther Ajay
