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Tag: Ramesh Gaychor

#India@75: Song by Sagar Gorke, sung by Surendra Galding / PEN America …

#India@75: Song by Sagar Gorke, sung by Surendra Galding / PEN America …

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.
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by Priyanka (Aug 15):

Mahesh Raut

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.

Watch video

Sipper and straw, to mosquito nets and phone calls: Elgar accused in court for relief

Sipper and straw, to mosquito nets and phone calls: Elgar accused in court for relief

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

Varavara Rao is currently on bail on medical grounds, and had challenged in the Supreme Court the High Court order rejecting his appeal.
… Incidentally, the High Court had also noted the claims made by Rao’s counsel on the lack of medical facilities at the Taloja prison and the poor hygienic conditions there, saying there was substance in the argument.
In the trial in the case, the Elgar Parishad accused have repeatedly brought up the lack of facilities in prison, and denial of access to the same.
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‘You are immortalised in our hearts’: A cellmate’s letter to Stan Swamy on his death anniversary / Protest Fast by 11 Co-Accused

‘You are immortalised in our hearts’: A cellmate’s letter to Stan Swamy on his death anniversary / Protest Fast by 11 Co-Accused

‘You are immortalised in our hearts’: A cellmate’s letter to Stan Swamy on his death anniversary

05/07/2022

Scroll.in / by Vernon Gonsalves

The Jesuit priest, who had been arrested in the Bhima Koregoan case, died in custody on July 5, 2021, at the age of 84.

Dear Stan,
It’s now around a year to the day they said you went away. But it doesn’t seem as if you’ve gone. Guys like you can hardly just go away. Not from me at least, not from many many more you worked with and amongst. Actually you haven’t gone, in fact you’ve come. You’ve come to the lakhs who’ve come to know you over the last year and you’ll continue coming, down the ages, to millions more. You can’t go away, you won’t go away.
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On Father Stan Swamy’s Death Anniversary, Elgar Parishad Activists Observe Protest Fast in Prison

05/07/2022

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

Activists and lawyers have accused the jail administration of inhuman treatment towards and lack of adequate medical care for the priest and other accused in the case.
On July 5, last year, 84-year-old Jharkhand-based tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy died in judicial custody in Mumbai.
Swamy was the 16th and last person to be arrested in the highly controversial Elgar Parishad case. He, like his co-accused in the case, suffered from prolonged and serious health complications while in custody. Swamy passed away after testing positive for COVID-19. His co-prisoners and lawyers have blamed the state for not allowing adequate medical help to reach him on time.
A year later, protesting against alleged state apathy and lack of accountability, 11 of his co-prisoners have decided to observe a day-long fast on the day of Swamy’s passing.
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Eleven activists accused in Elgar Parishad case observe day-long fast in Taloja prison on 1st death anniversary of Stan Swamy

05/07/2022

Midday.com / by pti

The protesting activists alleged that the death of Father Stan Swamy (83) was “brutal assassination by the prison administration, the NIA, and the government.” Swamy’s co-accused and activist Sudhir Dhawale, in a letter written to the Taloja prison superintendent and the case lawyers, claimed there has been no change in the jail condition, including general apathy among the prison administration and lack of medical facilities, which were among the several causes that led to Swamy’s death.
Read more

Also read
● How the system broke Stan Swamy: A cell mate recalls the activist’s last days in prison (Scroll.in / Aug 2021)

Bhima Koregaon: Who’s who of those arrested and the developments in the case pertaining to each

Bhima Koregaon: Who’s who of those arrested and the developments in the case pertaining to each

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanwala

In the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, leading activists, lawyers, scholars and artists have been arrested without trial under the charges of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (‘UAPA’). According to the police, allegedly provocative statements and speeches made at the Elgar Parishad meeting in Pune on December 31, 2017, instigated the violence at Bhima Koregaon the following day on January 1, 2018 that led to death of one and injuries to several others …

The Leaflet brings to its readers a brief profile of each of the arrested persons, and the developments in the case pertaining to each.
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The dangerous Machchhardani (mosquito net) – Statement by Ramesh Gaichor

The dangerous Machchhardani (mosquito net) – Statement by Ramesh Gaichor

by PantherAjay (May 27)

Jailed Shahir Sagar Gorkhe is not the only under trail prisoner who has been continually harassed and whose ‘Machchhardani’ stolen by the insolent jail administration. This is an attempt to condemn the unlawful treatment meted against the under trial prisoners and to safeguard their rights. Following is the account of a similar incident that was faced by another imprisoned writer and poet Ramesh Gaichor translated from the original written in Marathi.
#Machhardani #Freebk16 #gautammawlakha #Sagar #Ramesh

Statement by Ramesh Gaichor

Also read/ watch:
● As Sagar Gorkhe announces fast unto death, Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court seeking mosquito net (The Leaflet / May 2022)

Video Statement by Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor (Sep 5, 2020)


hindi/ english subtitles | 2:20min | 2020

Kabir Kala Manch activists Sagar Gorkhe & Ramesh Gaichor have alleged that they’re being forced by the NIA to give confessional statements, claiming they are a part of Maoist organization. The two refused, and were arrested in The Bhima Koregaon case.
Their statement was recorded on Sep 5, 2020.
Watch their statement

● Kabir Kala Manch: A History of Revolutionary Singing and State Repression (ritimo / April 2022)
● Video: Dafachya Talavar (Songs of Defiance) | Hindi, Marthi (subtitles: English) | 24:01min | 2022

Sagar Gorkhe announces fast unto death, Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court seeking mosquito net

Sagar Gorkhe announces fast unto death, Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court seeking mosquito net


File pic: Sagar Gorkhe

Accused Sagar Gorkhe goes on hunger strike against jail authorities

25/05/2022

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

Accused alleges harassment by jail authorities and denial of basic facilities, Co-accused Gautam Navlakha seeks special court’s permission to use a mosquito net
Sagar Gorkhe, a cultural activist who has been locked up in the Taloja Central Jail since September 2020 as a virtual political prisoner in the Elgar Parishad Bhima Koregaon case, has now gone on hunger strike to protest his inhuman treatment in jail. Gorkhe has written to Maharashtra’s Home Minister, informing him about his decision that he was forced to take due to Taloja Central Jail allegedly harassing him and denying him his basic human rights.
Read more

As Sagar Gorkhe announces fast unto death, Gautam Navlakha approaches NIA court seeking mosquito net

25/05/2022

The Leaflet / by Sabah Gurmat

Gorkhe’s letter to Maharashtra Home Minister, Dilip Walse Patil, equates the conditions in Taloja jail to that of a “torture camp”.
SAGAR Gorkhe, an activist and performer with cultural troupe Kabir Kala Manch, accused of inciting violence in the Bhima Koregaon (Elgar Parishad) case, has written to Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil announcing his hunger strike in protest against the conditions at Taloja jail.
Meanwhile, septuagenarian activist and journalist Gautam Navlakha, who is a co-accused lodged in the same prison, approached the National Investigation Agency (‘NIA’) seeking a mosquito net.
Read more

Elgar Parishad accused alleges harassment by Taloja jail officer

25/05/2022

Mid-day.com / by Faizan Khan

Sagar Tatyaram Gorkhe has written to the state home minister Dilip Walse Patil, threatens to go on an indefinite hunger strike if action is not taken immediately.
Sagar Tatyaram Gorkhe, an accused in Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon accused, has written to Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil, alleging harassment by the Taloja Jail superintendent. He has threatened to go on a hunger strike until death.
“It is with extreme distress that I inform you that since the very beginning the prison administration has treated the Bhima Koregaon case accused with utmost prejudice. As a result, the prison has become a torture camp for my co-accused and me. As you must be aware that it was the maltreatment by the prison administration that led to the custodial death of Father Stan Swami last year,” his letter reads.
Read more

Jail officials delaying treatment to all Elgar Parishad case accused: Sagar Gorkhe writes to HM

24/05/2022

Hindustan Times / by HT Correspondent

He has also urged the home minister to immediately stop the scanning of all incoming and outgoing mail by the jail officials.
Sagar Gorkhe, one of the accused in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence case, has written to state home minister Dilip Walse-Patil alleging that Taloja jail authorities are discriminating against several accused in the case and deliberately delaying medical treatment to them even though they are suffering from several serious ailments.
Read more

Video Statement by Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor (Sep 5, 2020)


hindi/ english subtitles | 2:20min | 2020

Kabir Kala Manch activists Sagar Gorkhe & Ramesh Gaichor have alleged that they’re being forced by the NIA to give confessional statements, claiming they are a part of Maoist organization. The two refused, and were arrested in The Bhima Koregaon case.
Their statement was recorded on Sep 5, 2020.
Watch their statement

Also read/watch:
● Kabir Kala Manch: A History of Revolutionary Singing and State Repression (ritimo / April 2022)
● Video: Dafachya Talavar (Songs of Defiance) | Hindi, Marthi (subtitles: English) | 24:01min | 2022

Four accused move special NIA court seeking discharge application ahead of framing of charges

Four accused move special NIA court seeking discharge application ahead of framing of charges

Four accused move special NIA court in Mumbai seeking discharge application

30/04/2022

The Leaflet / by Sabah Gurmat

After the youngest accused in the Bhima Koregaon (Elgar Parishad) case, Jyoti Jagtap of the Kabir Kala Manch [KKM] filed an application on Wednesday seeking discharge, more accused have approached the National Investigation Agency [NIA]’s special court seeking discharge from all the charges imposed against them in the 2018 case.
Among the other accused, scholar, writer and activist Anand Teltumbde, activist Mahesh Raut, and activist and publisher Sudhir Dhawale sought discharge from charges in the Bhima Koregaon violence case.
Read more

Three accused seek discharge in Elgar Parishad case ahead of framing of charges

29/04/2022

India Today / by Vidya

Three more accused have filed discharge applications in the Elgar Parishad case ahead of the framing of charges.
Three more accused have filed applications seeking discharge ahead of the framing of charges against them in the Elgar Parishad case. Accused professor Anand Teltumbde, Dalit scholar Sudhir Dhawale and activist Mahesh Raut have filed the applications. The Special Court under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act will now be hearing the four discharge applications, including that of Jyoti Jagtap.
Read more

Activist Anand Teltumbde moves discharge application

28/04/2022

The New Indian Express / by pti

Activist Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case, on Thursday moved a discharge application before the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here, stating that the probe agency has not produced any material to show that he is a member of CPI (Maoist) or his alleged role in the case.
… Besides Teltumbe, other accused Sudhir Dawale and Mahesh Raut also sought discharge from the case.
Read more

Anand Teltumbde seeks discharge from Bhima Koregaon case, says no material to show he is linked to CPI (Maoist)

28/04/2022

Free Press Journal / by Staff Reporter

Regarding an allegation of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) that he is a member of the banned organization, he has pointed out that a witness cited by the NIA in its supplementary charge sheet had mentioned a book authored by him titled ‘Anti-Imperialism and Annihilation of Caste’.
Professor and Dalit scholar Anand Teltumbde accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case has sought a discharge from the case, stating in his plea that the investigating agency has not produced any material before the court to show that he is a member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).
Read more

One accused files discharge plea in special court, five more intend to do so today

28/04/2022

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Special judge Dinesh E Kothalikar said the Bombay High Court has directed that the case be proceeded with on a daily basis and that he expects cooperation from both parties so that charges can be framed.
In the Elgaar Parishad case, accused Jyoti Jagtap filed a discharge application on Wednesday, while five others also sought to file discharge pleas on Thursday before the special court. The court had directed all accused to remain present before the court on Wednesday to proceed with framing of charges against them.
Read more

Also read:
● Charges to be framed next week, all accused asked to remain present in court (The Indian Express / April 2022)
● NIA files draft charges against accused in Elgar Parishad case (India Today / Aug 2021)

Jyoti Jagtap files discharge plea in special court, five more intend to do so

Jyoti Jagtap files discharge plea in special court, five more intend to do so

One accused files discharge plea in special court, five more intend to do so today

28/04/2022

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Special judge Dinesh E Kothalikar said the Bombay High Court has directed that the case be proceeded with on a daily basis and that he expects cooperation from both parties so that charges can be framed.
In the Elgaar Parishad case, accused Jyoti Jagtap filed a discharge application on Wednesday, while five others also sought to file discharge pleas on Thursday before the special court. The court had directed all accused to remain present before the court on Wednesday to proceed with framing of charges against them.
Read more

Jyoti Jagtap files for discharge

27/04/2022

Hindustan Times / by Charul Shah

The Elgaar Parishad was an event held on December 31, 2017, in Pune’s Shaniwar Wada to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon Bhima. It had approximately 35,000 people in attendance.
Jyoti Jagtap, arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for her purported involvement in the Elgar Parishad case, on Wednesday filed for discharge citing a lack of evidence against her.
Read more

Youngest accused Jyoti Jagtap moves Special Court for discharge

27/04/2022

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Jagtap was arrested on September 8, 2020 and a chargesheet was filed in October 9, 2020.
Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) member and youngest accused in the Bhima Koregaon case Jyoti Jagtap has filed an application before the Special Court seeking discharge from all charges in the 2018 case.
Read more

Also read:
● Kabir Kala Manch: A History of Revolutionary Singing and State Repression (ritimo / April 2022)
● NIA files draft charges against accused in Elgar Parishad case (India Today / Aug 2021)

Why Sharad Pawar is called to depose as witness / Cop questioned about ‘provocative’ speech by Elgaar Parishad organiser

Why Sharad Pawar is called to depose as witness / Cop questioned about ‘provocative’ speech by Elgaar Parishad organiser

Why Sharad Pawar is called to depose as witness before Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry?

28/04/2022

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

The commission had earlier summoned Pawar to depose as a witness on February 23 and February 24. But on February 21, he sought adjournment of his hearing as he wanted more time for filing an additional affidavit with detailed information and it was granted.
… After the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, including the NCP, came to power in the state, Pawar held a press conference on February 18, 2020, and made allegations against right-wing leaders Milind Ekbote, Sambhahi Bhide and raised doubts about the role of the Pune city police in the investigation of Elgaar Parishad case.
Read more

Repeal Section 124A of IPC; UAPA provisions sufficent: Sharad Pawar to Bhima Koregaon Commission

28/04/2022

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Pawar also stated in his affidavit that responsible media can act as a bridge of communication between protesters and government/ police authorities and ease tensions and avoid misinformation.
Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which criminalises sedition, should be repealed because provisions under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) are sufficient to deal with offences against the nation and national security, the Member of Rajya Sabha and Chief of Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Pawar told Bhima Koregaon Inquiry Commission on Wednesday.
Read more

Cop questioned about ‘provocative’ speech by Elgaar Parishad organiser in Aurangabad

27/04/2022

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

Dhawale is among the persons arrested by the Pune City Police for their alleged links with the banned CPI-Maoist in the Elgaar Parishad case. The case has been taken over by the NIA.
IPS officer Ravindra Sengaonkar, who earlier deposed as a witness before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry, was cross-examined on Tuesday on various points including an alleged provocative speech made by activist Sudhir Dhawale in Aurangabad, a week before the Elgaar Parishad.
Read more

Also read:
● Casting a Veil – What we miss by ignoring Maratha caste politics in the Bhima Koregaon case (The Caravan │ Dec 2020)
● Let’s Remember the Lesson of Bhima Koregaon: Down with the New Peshwai (Sanhati│ by Sudhir Dhawale │ March 2018)

Video: Songs of Defiance – A Short Documentary on Kabir Kala Manch

Video: Songs of Defiance – A Short Documentary on Kabir Kala Manch

Video: Dafachya Talavar (Songs of Defiance)

Hindi, Marthi (subtitles: English) | 24:01min | 2022

This short documentary tries to trace the personal and collective journeys of artists of Kabir Kala Manch, a People’s cultural troupe consisting of youth from marginalized backgrounds, who sing songs of resistance in the Vidrohi Shahiri tradition. This film profiles these artists and their lived experiences in the context of an unjust and hostile system they are struggling against.

Watch video

Video Statement by Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor (Sep 5, 2020)


hindi/ english subtitles | 2:20min | 2020
Kabir Kala Manch activists Sagar Gorkhe & Ramesh Gaichor have alleged that they’re being forced by the NIA to give confessional statements, claiming they are a part of Maoist organization. The two refused, and were arrested in The Bhima Koregaon case today. Their statement was recorded on Sep 5, 2020.
Watch their video statement

Who are the three Kabir Kala Manch artistes arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case?

12/09/2020

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The National Investigation Agency arrested Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor and Jyoti Jagtap from Pune on Monday and Tuesday.
In 2002, as a 19-year-old student in Pune’s Wadia College, Ramesh Gaichor was disturbed by the deadly communal violence in Gujarat that had claimed over 1,000 lives. Passionate about poetry and theatre, he soon found an outlet for expressing his anxieties: the Kabir Kala Manch, a cultural organisation founded by artiste Amarnath Chautaliya in response to the Gujarat riots.
Read more

Also read:
● Kabir Kala Manch: A History of Revolutionary Singing and State Repression (ritimo / April 2022)