WBUR / Deepa Fernandes speaks with Suchitra Vijayan
Host Deepa Fernandes speaks with Suchitra Vijayan, co-author of the new book “How Long Can the Moon be Caged?,” which documents how people who speak in favor of Muslims and minority communities have increasingly been arrested and imprisoned by the Indian government.
Podcast en | 9:45min | 2023 Listen to the podcast
Book excerpt: ‘How Long Can the Moon be Caged?’ By Suchitra Vijayan and Francesca Recchia
A Dalit activist we spoke to said that most people do not encounter the state the way Dalits, Adivasis and Muslims do. She told us: ‘The state has always had a boot on our necks.’ Forget living; imagine what it takes to survive this. The boot is always pressed against minorities’ necks, making it hard to breathe, demanding that they beg for dignity every day. She added: ‘[For us] it doesn’t matter who is in power; oppression is the only thing that hasn’t changed’. Read more
The Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad ‘Maoist’ conspiracy case is a grand experiment with truth where the State is daring the people to stand up for justice.
‘TRUTH or dare’ is a mostly verbal party game requiring two or more players. Players are given the choice between answering a question truthfully, or performing a ‘dare’. The premise is simple: Players take turns asking one another ‘truth or dare?’ If they choose truth, they have to answer a question of the asker’s choosing. If they choose dare, the asker dares them to do something rather than make a confession.
Suppose the State were to subject its citizens to a macabre version of this game by cooking up a conspiracy case and locking up people behind bars. Then tell them that in order to win their freedom, they have to choose the ‘truth’ of the conspiracy or the ‘dare’ to dissent.
This is the absurd logic that plays out when you try to make sense of the Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case. Read more
… Three years have passed today since Ramesh Gaichor, Jyoti Jagtap, Sagar Gorkhe, the three artists and activists of Kabir Kala Mancha were arrested in the false case of Bhima Koregaon without any evidence under UAPA …
#FreeAllBK16
#FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners Read more [Marathi]
by Apeksha Priyadarshini / @apeksha_9 (Sep 9)
Three Years of Injustice!
Free People’s Artists Jyoti, Ramesh and Sagar!
Free All Activists wrongfully incarcerated in the Bhima Koregaon case!
Repeal UAPA!
#FreeBK15 #baso
In a Letter From Jail, Stan Swamy’s Co-Accused Ask President Murmu to Stand Up for What Is Right
05/07/2023
The Wire / by The Wire Staff
Today is Father Stan Swamy’s second death anniversary.
Two years ago on this day, 84-year-old Jharkhand-based tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy breathed his last while in custody. His death exposed the state’s negligence and inability to protect prisoners. Swamy, a Parkinson’s patient, spent close to a year in jail, deprived of the most basic facilities – one of which was a sipper to drink water from.
On his second death anniversary, 11 of his co-accused (Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Hany Babu, Ramesh Gaichor, Sagar Gorkhe and Jyoti Jagtap) – all human rights activists and academics – write a letter to President of India Draupadi Murmu, who belongs to the tribal community that Swamy worked very closely with. Murmu, who recently spoke passionately about the conditions of Indian prisoners, was the governor of Jharkhand when Swamy’s organisation, Bagaicha, was raided and eventually he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency.
Along with the letter, the still-arrested human rights defenders also announced their one-day symbolic hunger strike in Mumbai’s Taloja and Byculla jails, where they are presently lodged.
The full text of their letter to the president is below. Read more
Caged birds and prison songs: In chorus, Stan Swamy and the Bhima Koregaon accused kept hope alive
05/07/2023
Vernon Gonsalves
Scroll.in / by Vernon Gonsalves
A fellow prisoner’s recollections of the Jesuit priest, who died on July 5, 2021.
“…I am ready to pay the price, whatever be it. But we will sing in chorus. A caged bird can still sing.”
– Father Stan Swamy
When Stan Swamy, in his last message before landing in Navi Mumbai’s Taloja Central Prison in October 2020, declared that a “caged bird can still sing”, he was not talking about the tunes prisoners sing in jail. He had then not been imprisoned before that and was probably not acquainted with prison-singing in its various forms. Read more
On Father Stan Swamy’s second death anniversary, two letters, a painting and the triumph of memory against forgetting
05/07/2023
The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala
Father Stan Swamy’s death was an international shock the ripples of which can still be felt, and a blot on the record of a State that treats criminal justice as its plaything. His legacy is treasured by his co-accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case inside the prison, and everyone who stands for justice and democracy outside the prison.
… The 11 incarcerated accused persons in the Elgar Parishad case are set to go on a day-long hunger strike today. They pen an imaginary letter from Swamy to the President of India Droupadi Murmu, terming it “Prayers that never came to be”. Read more
“Hopefully waiting” writes Shoma Sen from prison
07/07/2023
InSAF India / by Shoma Sen
This handwritten note by Shoma Sen marks five years in prison for the activist and academic.
As we enter the sixth year of our incarceration the predominant feeling over the last five years is that of waiting. From waiting for default bail in the seventh month of our imprisonment, most of us are still waiting. In jail, we sit there waiting for court dates, waiting for mulakaat, waiting for the newspaper, waiting for bail and for the jail God called Memo. In jail, our sense of time itself gets warped. When a lawyer tells a prisoner that she will get bail in one or two days, it may actually mean one or two years. 24 hours of clock time could mean 24 months in judicial time. Read more
Who are the acclaimed ‘BK-16’? / HRDs and families await justice, five years down
Faulty investigation and severe loopholes in investigation, surrounds the controversial BK-16 case. International outcry has not helped move the trial five years down even while the targeted languish, families await the return of their loved ones
In June 2021, European Union parliamentarians, Nobel Laureates, renowned academics, and internationally known figures wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, the then Chief Justice of India as well as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, and other authorities in India, demanding to the release of political prisoners arrested with relation to the Elgar Parishad and Bhima Koregaon incident.
Amidst contested accusations of an anti-India conspiracy, militancy, and violence, five long years have passed since the BK-16 have been imprisoned without trial. Read more
Who are the acclaimed ‘BK-16’?
22/06/2023
cjp / by CJP Team
Five years have passed, and human rights defenders (HRDs) and their families continue to await justice.
Surendra Gadling
Status: Detained without trial
Charges:Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) since June 2018
Location: Taloja Central Prison, Mumbai
Gadling is a human rights lawyer and a Dalit activist. Over time, Gadling established himself as a keen advocate and a key figure in cases related to extrajudicial killings, police misconduct, false accusations, and injustices against Dalits and Adivasis in the region… Read more
The remaining 11 continue to languish in jail — Who are they and what is the status of the case against them?
Anti-caste writer Anand Teltumbde, who walked out of jail on Saturday, 26 November, after he was granted bail on merits in connection with the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case said:
“I am definitely happy. It has been 30 months that I have been in prison. The sad part, however, is that we had to spend time in jail after being booked in a fake case.”
In the same case, two others, poet Varavara Rao and lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj – were granted bail earlier due to different reasons, while academic Gautam Navlakha was allowed house arrest on health grounds by a 19 November Supreme Court order. Read more
Is it just their relentless opposition to State policies that gets the NIA’s goat, or is it also their privileged background?
Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage. Sometimes they do, even for the most creative minds.
Take Maharashtra’s Taloja Jail, on the outskirts of Mumbai. For the last almost three years, it’s been home to some of the country’s most valuable public intellectuals, and also the site of their steady deterioration. The Bhima Koregaon trial is yet to begin, but the 16 accused have already been punished, by the NIA that’s handling their case and the jail authorities. Read more
Court directs top cop to look into the mosquito menace in Taloja prison
16/11/22
Free Press Journal / by Staff Reporter
In his plea made on Tuesday, he said that there is no reply from the jail’s superintendent despite the court’s direction to the authority to file one.
Following an application by civil rights activist and accused in Bhima-Koregaon case, Anand Teltumbde, on Tuesday, a special court has directed the Deputy Inspector General of police (DIG, Prisons) to look into the mosquito menace in Taloja prison as the jail superintendent has not complied with previous orders to take precautions to control the situation despite repeated directions. Read more
NIA wants to use witness statements from Elgar Parishad in Gadchiroli blast case
02/09/2022
Hindustan Times / by Charol Shah
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has claimed that Rona Wilson, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, met with an accused who is wanted in the deaths of 15 police personnel in the Jamburkheda blast in Gadchiroli.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has claimed that Rona Wilson, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, met with an accused who is wanted in the deaths of 15 police personnel in the Jamburkheda blast in Gadchiroli. Read more
Mumbai court allows NIA to file evidence from Elgar Parishad probe in Gadchiroli blast case
02/09/2022
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
The judge allowed the agency to produce the statements of two witnesses and a photo identification panchnama.
… The National Investigation Agency, in an application before Special Judge Rajesh Kataria, said that some evidence needed to be brought on record in the Gadchiroli attack case. The court allowed the agency to produce the statements of two witnesses and a photo identification panchnama, according to The Times of India. Read more
Jyoti Jagtap moves Bombay HC challenging special court’s bail rejection order
NIA opposes bail plea of Elgar Parishad accused Jyoti Jagtap, says she received arms training
31/08/2022
India Today / by Vidya
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday opposed the bail plea of Jyoti Jagtap who is an accused in the Elgar Parishad case.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday opposed the bail plea of Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) member Jyoti Jagtap, who is accused in the 2018 Elgar Parishad case. Jagtap was arrested on September 8, 2020 and a charge sheet was filed against her on October 9, 2020.
… A division bench of the High Court will hear the plea on September 13. Read more
Jyoti Jagtap moves Bombay HC challenging special court’s bail rejection order
30/08/2022
The Indian Express / by Express News Service
In the plea filed through advocate Kritika Agarwal, Jagtap said she is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the case. Jagtap said the special court erred in concluding that a prima facie case existed against her.
An accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, Jyoti Jagtap, recently approached the Bombay High Court challenging an order of a special court that denied her regular bail. A division bench of Justice Ajay S Gadkari and Justice Milind N Jadhav Tuesday posted hearing after two weeks. 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
