BK16 – Page 21 – free them all

‘Urban Naxals’, Sharad Pawar’s U-Turn and What it Means for Efforts to Ensure Justice for Activists

22/11/2021 Asha

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

When the MVA government came to power in Maharashtra, it vehemently criticised the Fadnavis government’s handling of the Elgar Parishad case. Two years later, Sharad Pawar is sounding a lot more like Fadnavis.
In 2018, the Maharashtra police, under the Devendra Fadnavis-led Bharatiya Janata Party government, arrested several rights activists, lawyers and academics for their alleged involvement in the Elgar Parishad case.
This series of arrests, made from different parts of the country, made way for the dramatic discourse on the presence of “urban Naxals” in the country.
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We salute Sudha Bharadwaj and her fight for Justice (various statements)

01/11/2021 Asha

PUCL salutes Sudha Bharadwaj and her fight for Justice!

01/11/2021

By People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)

Click to enlarge

Chhattisgarh, Nov 1, 2021

by Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan (CBA) Raipur
When the government doesn’t have an answer to the storm of questions raised against it, it resorts to arresting those speaking the truth fearlessly. Shame! #ReleaseSudhaBhardwaj #FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners #RepealUAPA

by Tribal Army
We demand human rights activist sudha Bhardwaj to be released.
Happy Birthday Madam

by NAPM India
#SudhaBharadwaj is one of the finest trade unionists & public spirited lawyers who has always taken on unjust & powerful forces. We wish Sudha real liberation on her 60th. #3years of her incarceration & that of all political prisoners is a shame, a huge loss & unforgivable crime.

by Meera Sanghamitra
Working silently, yet resiliently for over three decades amidst adivasis, workers & oppressed sections in #Chhattisgarh, #Sudha has inspired an entire generation to understand the combined value of legal activism & on-ground unionizing. Happy birthday, Comrade. You are a star.

by Meena Kanasamy
History will remember her as a fierce lioness who stood up to this regime.

Chitrangada
It’s her 60th birthday tday & she is spending it in prison, where she has been since 3+ yrs, without bail or trial.
The Bombay HC finished hearing her last bail plea on 4th Aug. Still no ruling.

by AISA Delhi Universtity

Sudha Bharadwaj goes through her 4th birthday in Jail for fighting for the rights of people! While Criminals like Anurag Thakura and Kapil Mishra are not only Roaming free but are being awarded Ministries by the Government! #ReleaseAllPoliticalPrisoners #releaseBK16 #RepealUAPA

by CIVICUS

Today human rights lawyer & activist Sudha Bharadwaj will celebrate her 60th birthday in prison She was arrested on fabricated charges 3 years ago and has been denied bail. Call on the govt to #FreeSudhaBharadwaj immediately: https://web.civicus.org/India1121 | #StandAsMyWitness

… #ReleaseSudhaBharadwaj

Release All Political Prisoners & Revoke UAPA

29/10/2021

By TribalSpaces

Click to enlarge

Trying Without a Trial Is the Intent of Draconian UAPA Law

25/10/2021 Asha

The Wire / by Rajshree Chandra

‘Trial by process’ is the political and organisational logic of the UAPA.
An 84-year-old Jesuit Father, Stan Swamy, charged for inciting violence in Bhima Koregaon (BK), died inside the panoptic walls of the Taloja jail on July 5. Despite his age, despite his Parkinson’s-ravaged body, despite his tremors, despite his Covid infection, despite all his frailties, he had been denied bail repeatedly. Rather than his ailing, failing body becoming a ground for bail and appropriate medical care, his body became yet another ground on which the National Investigation Agency (NIA) waged its vicious war.
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Bail is Not Impossible in UAPA Cases: Courts Can Shine a Path to Justice

19/10/2021 Asha

Bail is Not Impossible in UAPA Cases: Courts Can Shine a Path to Justice

19/10/2021

The Quint / by Vakasha Sachdev

Despite strict bail conditions & the SC’s Watali judgment, courts can still apply their mind to see if charges fit.
India has for many years had a major problem when it comes to pre-trial incarceration. 70 percent of prisoners in India are undertrials, according to the latest available NCRB data (from 2019) – that’s 3,28,000 people in jail without ever being convicted.
… The Bhima Koregaon accused are the best example of this, with bail denied to them despite incriminating evidence appearing to be planted on their computers (Rona Wilson), the material against them being dubious (Sudha Bhardwaj) and having severe illnesses (83-year-old Father Stan Swamy, who eventually died in jail).
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Kappan’s Chargesheet and Threat to Reporters Covering Minority Issues

19/10/2021

Newsclick / by Hana Vahab

An independent journalist in India has been behind the bars for one year. His crime, as per the chargesheet filed is, reporting and writing stories only for “inciting” the Muslim community.
… The number of journalists charged with UAPA in the past five years add up to over 5,000 with a hike of 162% in sedition cases between 2016- 2019 as per the National Crime Records Bureau. Those who were incarcerated under UAPA include … human rights lawyers Arun Ferreria and Surendra Gadling, Dalit rights activists Sudhir Dhawale and Mahesh Raut, women’s rights activist Shoma Sen among others.
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Human rights defenders don’t tarnish India’s image

19/10/2021 Asha

Human rights defenders don’t tarnish India’s image

19/10/2021

The Indian Express / by Kavita Krishnan

An event marking the 28th foundation day of India’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) revealed much about the current state of human rights in India.
… The fact is that India’s human rights defenders have held every shade of government responsible and accountable for human rights violations and infringement of civil liberties. Sudha Bharadwaj, a leading human rights defender who is in prison for the past three years thanks to flimsy charges under a draconian law, exposed rights violations in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar when the Union home ministry, then under the control of Modi’s rival, the Congress, unleashed “Operation Green Hunt” that resulted in the rape, massacre and displacement of Adivasi civilians in the name of combating Maoist insurgents.
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Mindset that harms human rights, writes P Chidambaram

17/10/2021

Indian Express / by P Chidambaram

In the last over three years, PM Modi has not uttered a word on the human rights of the prisoners in the Bhima Koregaon case nor on the prolonged delay in even framing the charges. I agree with the PM when he said “Such mindset harms human rights a lot.”
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Also read: Bhima Koregaon case: Three years of legal and rights violations (Newslaundry, Jan 2021)

Mumbai: Release the Bhima Koregaon Prisoners

02/10/2021 Asha

By Dr Meena Kandasamy (Oct 1)
Rama Ambedkar at a gathering in Bombay today demanding release of #BhimaKoregaon prisoners. She spoke on the sudden change in the media narrative of the BK riots in 2018 and the conspiracy that ensued culminating in the arrest of Anand Teltumbde and 15 others.

Switzerland: Petition demands immediate release of political prisoners in India

01/10/2021 Asha

Berne; Oct 1, 2021 (Pic credits: Solifonds)

By SOLIFONDS and the Women’s Rights Group Zurich of Amnesty International Switzerland

Today, Friday 1 October, SOLIFONDS and the Women’s Rights Group Zurich of Amnesty International Switzerland handed over several hundred signatures for a petition for the release of political prisoners (BK16) to the Indian Embassy in Berne, Switzerland. However, no one from the embassy was willing to receive the petition.

Indian trade unionist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj has been in prison for over three years – without evidence and without a trial. Sudha Bharadwaj is also known in Switzerland because she struggled for the direct employment of contract workers at the Swiss cement company Holcim in India, as ruled by law. She and 15 other human rights defenders, intellectuals, lawyers and cultural workers were accused of being involved in the violence at Bhima Koregaon and of planning a conspiracy against the government. Forged documents, which forensic investigations revealed had been smuggled into the computers of accused persons by hackers, serve as “evidence”. A trial has not yet taken place.
…

When Can an Accused in Jail Get Medical Bail? Is it Possible in UAPA Cases?

23/09/2021 Asha

The Quint / by Vakasha Sachdev

Nearly all Bhima Koregaon accused have been denied medical bail despite serious ailments. Here’s what the law says.
On 24 September, the Bombay High Court will consider whether to extend the bail granted by it to poet and activist Varavara Rao on medical grounds, back in February.
81-year-old Rao had been granted medical bail for six months by the court in view of various medical problems that had kept requiring hospitalisation and repeated deteriorations in his condition every time he was sent back to jail.
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Video: BK16 and the Incarceration of Justice / Film spotlights ‘price’ paid by Bhima Koregaon 16

18/09/2021 Asha

Video: BK16 and the Incarceration of Justice

18/09/2021

en | 13 min | 2021

By Karawan e Mohabbat

Tune in to find out who are #bk16 and why the state has left no stone unturned to charge them under the draconian #UAPA laws.
Watch video (08:00-22:01)

Film spotlights ‘price’ paid by Bhima Koregaon 16

18/09/2021

The Telegraph / by Pheroze L. Vincent

Produced by the Delhi-based NGO Karwan-e-Mohabbat, the 13-minute film edited and narrated by Anam Sheikh starts with the funeral service of the 84-year-old Father Stan.
At the beginning, Father Stan Swamy appears on screen to say that what is happening to him is not happening to him alone. The film ends with the Jesuit declaring he is “ready to pay the price, whatever it may be”.
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Human chain formed in Tamil Nadu seeking release of prisoners in Bhima Koregaon case (pictures)

15/09/2021 Asha

Human chain formed in Tamil Nadu seeking release of prisoners in Bhima Koregaon case

15/09/2021

The Hindu / by Staff Reporter

‘It is a protest against stifling of all voices for democratic rights’
The arrest of thinkers, social activits and writers in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case is not just a blantant violation of human rights, but a threat to intellectuals who speak against Hindutva forces, said Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan on Wednesday.
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Activists Form Human Chains to Demand Release of Bhima-Koregaon Detainees

15/09/2021

Newsclick / by Neelambaran A

Left, youth, Dalit and human rights organisations in Tamil Nadu slam the BJP government for muzzling dissent.
More than 25 Left, youth, Dalit and human rights organisations in Tamil Nadu formed human chains on the International Day of Democracy on Wednesday to protest the illegal detention of intellectuals and activists, including in the Bhima-Koregaon case, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967.
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Also read:
● 95% pendency of trial of UAPA cases, 85% cases pending investigation: NCRB report (Sabrang / Sep 16, 2021)

● Anyone who exposes the agenda of Sangh Parivar is silenced: Thirumavalavan (The Hindu / Sep 15)