The head of the country’s statutory human rights body said that speedy justice was key to rule of law.
National Human Rights Commission chief Arun Mishra on Friday said that suspects in cases should not be jailed without trial and that there was no room for fake encounters. Mishra, a former Supreme Court judge, added that justice was the source of a peaceful society…
As recently as on Wednesday, South African non-profit organisation Civicus put India on a list of countries with “repressed” democratic values. The report had flagged the use of draconian anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against activists arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, repression of the farmers’ protest and the imposition of curfews in Jammu and Kashmir. Read more
Our friend Mahesh, is spending his fourth year in jail. Without trial! Who is Mahesh though? Why is his story important? And why is he a threat to the powers that are?
Join us for an evening where we will discuss all this and more. Friends, family, colleagues and journalists will talk about Mahesh and why he is still in jail.
We will also be launching a website which documents much of Mahesh’s story through this event.
We miss our friend and we really hope we will see #JusticeForMahesh very soon! Watch video
Twitter: @justice4mahesh
Gadchiroli Sessions Judge S C Khati passed an order in this regard on September 23. Following the Surjagad incident on December 27, 2016, an offence was lodged at the Etapalli police station in Gadchiroli district.
A court in Gadchiroli has rejected the bail application filed by lawyer Surendra Gadling in connection with an incident of arson in December 2016. Read more
Nagpur: Justifying detention of Naxal sympathizers Vara Vara Rao and lawyer Surendra Gadling for their alleged role in a case of arson wherein around 80 vehicles were torched at Surjagarh mining site in Gadchiroli in 2016, Maharashtra government on Tuesday informed that more names of Maoists and their sympathisers could be revealed as the probe progresses.
In an affidavit submitted to the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court, the government justified the extension of investigation period and the duo’s detention due to non-receipt of e-mails from Yahoo, the web services provider company. Read more
His crime- raising his voice against illegal mining in Gadhchiroli, reading, understanding and deliberating for the rights of tribals and other communities- in the state of Maharashtra. Read more
Seeking to arrest Navlakha, Maharashtra govt points to Gadchiroli attack
MUMBAI: Opposing the interim protection from arrest granted to activist Gautam Navlakha by the Bombay High Court, the Maharashtra government on Thursday invoked the Naxal attack in Gadchiroli, saying he is accused of being a member of “such a group“. Read more
“Mahesh is highly loved and respected in all these villages and one with the people I visited. They treated him as if he were a member of their own house!”
Hailing from Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, Mahesh Raut is a young prominent activist working for the rights of Adivasi communities in his district. Born in Lakhapur, a small village in Maharashtra, Mahesh completed his schooling from Gadchiroli and moved to Nagpur for graduation. He later went on to pursue higher education from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. On completing his education he worked as Prime Minister Rural Development Fellow (PMRDF) in Gadchiroli. He has tirelessly advocated for laws like The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act and Forest Rights Act which protect the democratic rights of indigenous communities against unlawful land grabbing by large corporations. Mahesh has consistently worked to protect and promote the rights of the marginalised within a Constitutional framework. On completion of his fellowship, Mahesh decided to continue working with the Adivasi communities in the State.
Mahesh organised and participated in mass movements to abet the cause of social welfare. He was the co-convenor of Visthapan Vidrohi Jan Vikas Andolan (VVJVA) which ghts against the forced displacement of Adivasis and other marginalised people. As a member of VVJVA, Mahesh organised the Tendu leaves workers from Adivasi communities of the region to sell them directly in the market without the involvement of middlemen.
Along with campaigning for the Adivasis of the region, he also joined the Bharat Jan Andolan (BJA), an organisation started by late BD Sharma. Through his work with BJA, Mahesh has been instrumental in organising people for participative decision making in regions a ected by mining projects, including the Surajgarh mining project.
His work against the atrocities of Police and several State authorities led to several cases being led against him. According to a letter drafted by his PMRDF fellows, the State’s crackdown on Mahesh started from 2013 citing his consistent political engagement as one of the reasons for his harassment. His friend and fellow activist Sohini Shoaib, working in Bihar writes about her visit to Gadchiroli, “Mahesh was highly loved and respected in all these villages and one with the people I visited. They treated him as if he were a member of their own house! Some of them even tried to get me to convince him to get married: they thought he worked too hard and did not take care of his health enough. They hoped that nding a partner would help him feel less lonely, help him balance other aspects of life!”
In 2018, Mahesh was picked up by the Pune Police for his alleged involvement in organising the Elgar Parishad and his alleged Maoist links. He was booked under sections of the UAPA and arrested from his residence in Nagpur. Neither was he involved in organising the Elgar Parishad nor did he attend the 31st December events. His arrest is a clear crackdown of the State on Human Rights defenders who are struggling against the State and Corporation nexus. His contributions to promote and uphold Constitutional rights of the marginalised identities have led him to persecution and consequent imprisonment. His incarceration is a standing testament of the State’s repression of Rights’ activists who protect the values of the Constitution which the same State is trampling upon.
Lalsu Nogoti, an elected district council member from Bhamragad in Maharashtra is speaking about the work of Mahesh Raut: “He first came to us as a part of the PMRD [Prime Minister’s Rural Development] fellowship in 2013. He would visit every village with other government officials and meticulously note down grievances and parallelly also research on several village and state-level policies that could come to our rescue. His work in the formative years helped us build our struggles in the coming days.” …
Gadchiroli police in the late hours of January 30, 2019, took custody of noted human rights lawyer and Nagpur-based Dalit rights activist Surendra Gadling and activist-poet-writer P Varvara Rao from Pune’s Yerwada Jail authorities. The Police made the arrests in connection with another alleged case of involvement of Gadling and Rao in so-called “unlawful activity” related to the Surjagadh case of 2016. With these arrests, the apprehensions of “ever-greening” of charges on the civil rights activities becoming a reality. Read more
Police take custody of P Varavara Rao, Surendra Gadling in ’16 Maoist attack case
PUNE: The Gadchiroli police on Wednesday took custody of veteran activist-poet-writer P Varavara Rao and activist-lawyer Surendra Gadling from the city’s Yerawada jail authorities in connection with a UAPA case related to the 2016 Maoist attack at Surjagadh. Read more
Lawyer Activist Gadling’s bail plea hearing deferred till Nov 15
A special court on Tuesday deferred the hearing of the bail plea of activist Surendra Gadling in the Elgar Parishad case till November 15 because he had not received a copy of the case diary in the FIR registered against G N Saibaba from the Gadchiroli police. Read more
