BK16 – Page 17 – free them all

#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.

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Punished without trial: How India’s political prisoners are being denied basic rights in jail

09/08/2022 Asha

Scroll.in / by Umang Poddar

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

Also read:
● Sipper and straw, to mosquito nets and phone calls: Elgar accused in court for relief (The Indian Express / Jul 2022)
● Hunger Strike unto death against the harassment from Taloja Central Jail’s apathetic administration (By Sagar Gorkhe / May 20)

“Free them all!” A call of solidarity with political prisoners in India, America, and beyond

08/08/2022 Asha

“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.
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Video: Political Incarceration and Resistance in India and the United States

31/07/2022

en | 1h26min | 2022

By Boston South Asian Coalition & Jericho Boston

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

06/08/2022 Asha

The Telegraph / by R. Balaji

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

Also read:
● Despite the Evidence, Courts Yet to Take Note of Spyware Used Against Elgar Parishad Accused (The Wire / July 2022)
● Police Linked to Hacking Campaign to Frame Indian Activists (Wired.com / June 2022)

Press Release / ‘Release of all accused in Bhima-Koregaon case’ / 3 Opposition MPs raise voice

04/08/2022 Asha

by VR Jayanthi (Aug 5):

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.

Address reprisals against activists in India: International Human Rights groups to EU

27/07/2022 Asha

Address reprisals against activists in India: International Human Rights groups to EU

28/07/2022

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

The groups named Fr. Stan Swamy, Teesta Setalvad and Khurram Parvez, in a joint statement urging EU to look into how activists are being targeted in India.
Five international human rights groups have issued a joint statement urging the European Union to address reprisals against human rights defenders and systematic attacks on civil society actors in India.
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Joint statement: Address reprisals against human rights defenders in India

27/07/2022

www.fidh.org / by INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

The joint European Union (EU)-India press release, which provides a summary of the topics discussed during the 10th EU-India human rights dialogue which took place on 15 July 2022 in New Delhi, fails to adequately address pressing issues of security and reprisals faced by human rights defenders in India, five human rights organizations said today.
… Indian rights defenders need immediate support and an end to systematic attacks, threats and arbitrary arrests. Of the 16 defenders arrested in relation to the Bhima Koregaon case, 13 remain in jail. On 5 July 2021, 84-year-old Stan Swamy died in custody due to the lack of medical treatment. There has been no public acknowledgment of the State’s complicity in his incarceration and death.
Read more

Chidambaram: ‘Process is the Punishment’ / A former SC judge on the decay in the criminal justice system

22/07/2022 Asha

P Chidambaram writes: ‘Process is the Punishment’

24/07/2022

The Indian Express / by P Chidambaram

P Chidambaram writes: Why are the accused denied bail? Pre-charge evidence, framing of charges, trial and arguments will — not may, it is will — take many years. Should the accused be in jail until the trial is over? Is pre-trial incarceration a substitute for trial, proof, conviction and punishment?
… In current times, there is no story more shocking than the story of the 16 accused in what is known as the Bhima Koregaon case.
Read more

Liberty is too precious to be lost: A former SC judge on the decay in the criminal justice system

22/07/2022

Scroll.in / by Madan B Lokur

A starting point can be making some trial judges realise that they need to stop acting as a rubber stamp of the police in matters of arrest.
“What’s going on?” a young lady asks quizzically in a television advertisement. The same question must be asked of criminal justice and India’s prisons.
Bail, not jail has been reduced to a mere slogan to be whispered once in a while. The reality is jail, not bail. Another reality is that innocent until proven guilty has been transformed to guilty until proven innocent.
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Will Murmu Remain Help Unseen Adivasis Be Seen at Last? / Defending India’s Human Rights Defenders

21/07/2022 Asha

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.
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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

Also read:
● ‘Religious Freedom Worsened’: US Body Names India as ‘Country of Particular Concern’ (The Wire / April 2022)
● 2022 ANNUAL REPORT (U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) / April 2022)

Despite the Evidence, Courts Yet to Take Note of Spyware Used Against Elgar Parishad Accused

18/07/2022 Asha

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

The evidence of malware use has now come in from multiple studies, but the accused remain in jail and the trial is yet to begin.
It has been a year since The Wire, along with 16 other international media organisations – all part of the Pegasus Project – reported how at least eight activists, lawyers and academics arrested for their supposed role in the Elgar Parishad case were on the leaked database as probable Pegasus targets. Besides the accused persons, their family members, lawyers, associated activists and, in some cases, minor children too appeared on the list.
Read more

Also read:
● Police Linked to Hacking Campaign to Frame Indian Activists (Wired.com / June 2022)
● Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)

Video: Online discussion on Anand Teltumbde – Decoding Strategies of Resistance

15/07/2022 Asha

en | 1h 55min | 2022

By National Campaign to Defend Democracy

July 15, 2022 marks the third birthday that Anand Teltumbde spends in prison.
On the occasion of his birthday, the National Campaign to Defend Democracy organized a discussion about his contributions as an activist, scholar and a public intellectual.

Watch the panel discussion @ PUCL fb page