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They say, ‘Truth will finally prevail’. But how long is it going to take? – Anthology of writings by the late Stan Swamy

They say, ‘Truth will finally prevail’. But how long is it going to take? – Anthology of writings by the late Stan Swamy

Article14 / by Stan Swamy

Exclusive excerpts from ‘I Am Not A Silent Spectator’, an anthology of writings by the late Father Stan Swamy, Jesuit sociologist and at 84 the oldest accused, when he died on 5 July 2021 after nine months in custody in the Bhima-Koregaon case. He writes about his life with Adivasis & their struggles against injustice, & the case against him and more.
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I am not a Silent Spectator – Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolarable, Justice so out of reach.

An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection


Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages

Access a free PDF copy of the book here

Reinvestigate Bhima Koregaon Case: Justice Denied To The 15 Facing Severe Charges

Reinvestigate Bhima Koregaon Case: Justice Denied To The 15 Facing Severe Charges

HW / by Neeta Kolhatkar

The arrests of these activists were made on the basis of a First Information Report filed by Tushar Damgude, a former RSS activist and protégé of Bhide.
A peaceful event, Elgar Parishad was held on December 31, 2017. Over 35,000 people had attended it, where free speeches were given and people were informed they needed to be alert, remember their rights as free voices were being muzzled and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government needed to be toppled.
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Also read:
• India´s Hindu Nationalist Project Relies on Brutal Repression (Jacobinmag, April 2021)
• Casting a Veil – What we miss by ignoring Maratha caste politics in the Bhima Koregaon case (The Caravan, Dec 2020)

The 16 activists arrested in relation to the Bhima Koregaon case are victims of witch-hunt

The 16 activists arrested in relation to the Bhima Koregaon case are victims of witch-hunt

Frontline / by Anupama Katakam

The arrests and incarceration of 16 activists, known as the BK-16, on specious charges relating to the Bhima Koregaon violence case is part of the Central government’s systematic and methodical targeting of people who dissent and fight against oppression and for the causes of sections of society that a majoritarian government has no space for …
A look at the profile of each victim clearly indicates why the current regime feels threatened by their work.
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Video: Surekha Gorkhe speaks about prison conditions during the pandemic

Video: Surekha Gorkhe speaks about prison conditions during the pandemic


hindi (english subtitles) | 5:36min | 2021

By Dalit Camera: Through Un-Touchable Eyes

Surekha Gorkhe, mother of political prisoner Sagar Gorkhe speaks to Rupali Jadhav about prison conditions during the pandemic. The lives of her son and other political prisoners are in grave danger, given the congested conditions of the jails. She appeals to everyone to raise the demand:
#FreeSagarGorkhe #FreeRameshGaichor #freejyotijagtap #ReleaseAllPoliticalPrisoners

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Com. Ganpat Bhise writes to Sudhir Dhawale

Com. Ganpat Bhise writes to Sudhir Dhawale

Dalit Camera / by by Com. Ganpat Bhise

A letter sent on May 23, 2021 to poet Sudhir Dhawale, editor of the “Vidrohi”, who has been in prison in Taloja jail. Five revolutionaries including Sudhir were arrested today three years back, initiating the beginnings of BK-16 case, as we know it today.

Dear Sudhir,
Jai Bhim!
Lal Salaam!After you were jailed, there has not been much uprising in Maharashtra and the rest of the country. I don’t think many others have suffered much except some of us who have been close to you.
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Mostly Dalits, Adivasis, 97% undertials ‘falsely’ accused, release them, demands JMM

Mostly Dalits, Adivasis, 97% undertials ‘falsely’ accused, release them, demands JMM

Counterview / by Counterview Desk

Making the 84th birth anniversary of Father Stan Swamy – the veteran Adivasi rights Jesuit priest languishing Taloja Jail, Maharashtra, for about four months for his alleged role in Bhima Koregaon violence – as the occasion, the Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JJM), a civil rights organisation, has demanded that “lakhs of undertrials with no justice in sight” should be released immediately.
Pointing out that Stan Swamy too is an undertrial, JMM said, was involved in a study carried out in 2014-16, which revealed that about 97 percent of the surveyed undertrial prisoners “were falsely accused of being Maoists”. 
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Vira Sathidar’s Life Was a Lesson in Political Commitment and Solidarity

Vira Sathidar’s Life Was a Lesson in Political Commitment and Solidarity

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Nothing perturbed Vira Sathidar, not even the constant harassment by the NIA or the local Nagpur police.
On October 21 last year, when I finally could access one of the countless rounds of supplementary chargesheets in the Elgar Parishad case, I had immediately called Vira Sathidar. His name was among the list of many “Urban Naxals” named in the chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). It was not surprising, but concerning, nevertheless. No “crime” was attributed to Vira Sathidar, but he was named several times. “Asta tey tasa (It is usually like that in these cases),” he told me in his signature Nagpuri drawl. Nothing perturbed Vira Sathidar, not even the constant harrowing by the NIA or the local Nagpur police. He was used to police raids and their persistent harassments.
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Video: Bhima Koregaon accused continue to wait for bail

Video: Bhima Koregaon accused continue to wait for bail

InOldNews / by InOldNews

Vira Sathidar, a poet, writer, activist, and also one of the editors of a radical Anti-Caste Marathi Magazine ‘Vidrohi’ talks about incarceration of Sudhir Dhawale, founder of Vidrohi. Sudhir Dhawale along with two other activists- Surendra Gadhling and Prof. Shoma Sen were arrested by Police from Nagpur and are still in jail. These were among the first few arrests of Human rights activists by Modi Government under charges of being involved in Bhima Koregaon Violence and in a plot to assassinate PM Modi. The magazine stopped its publication due to various reasons, one being the constant threat of police surveillance.
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The Targeted Silencing of Thinker, Student, Reporter / Criminalisation of Anti-Cast Research

The Targeted Silencing of Thinker, Student, Reporter / Criminalisation of Anti-Cast Research

The Targeted Silencing of the Trinity of Thinker, Student, Reporter

28/03/2021

The Wire / by Pamela Philipose

Academia and journalism are intertwined. Both create and question knowledge, both demand a critical engagement with society, and both have a distinct interface with the public.
What is more, journalism and academia routinely draw from – and contribute – to the other. In a conversation carried by The Wire (‘Watch | The State of India’s Academic Freedom’, March 25), reference was made to the elements that constitute academic freedom…
Courageous individuals who stood up and spoke out felt the full force of a vengeful state machinery. If we are to consider the Bhima Koregaon arrests, four of the 16 people put behind bars were formally attached to universities. Anand Teltumbe, a former IIT professor, was a management professor at the Goa Institute of Management; Shoma Sen, the head of the English Literature department, Nagpur University; Sudha Bharadwaj, was visiting professor at the National Law School, Delhi; Hany Babu, was professor of language and linguistics at Delhi University.
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Criminalisation of Anti-Cast Research

27/02/2021

By International Solidarity for Academic Freedom in India (InSAF)

27 March
8pm IST
Register here: http://shorturl.at/hzHM5

Anti-caste academic research and activism in India are increasingly threatened with criminalisation and surveillance from the state: from the arrests of academics and students to the militarisation of campuses, from the banning of books, plays and film screenings to the censorship of activities deemed as detrimental to the reputation of the government. The persecution of academic-activists in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence is a case in point. …

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