By Concerned Citizens / #NoJailDuringCovid
This appeal is being written to highlight how the activists, lawyers and teachers arrested in what has now come to be known as the Bhima Koregaon/ Elgaar Parishad case should be released keeping in mind the direction of United Nations and to highlight that their release can’t be any harm to the society or danger to the legal procedures.
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By Amnesty International
Amid the spread of COVID-19, the Supreme Court of India’s order directing the arrest and imprisonment of two human rights defenders, Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha within a week, is disappointing. The order is also at odds with the court’s previous ruling where it directed the states to decongest the country’s overcrowded prisons to prevent the spread of the pandemic, thereby posing a risk to the health of the two activists, said Amnesty International India today.
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In 2018, as part of a massive crackdown on human rights defenders in India, nine prominent activists– Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sen, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Arun Ferreira, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Vernon Gonsalves and Varavara Rao were arrested by the Pune Police.
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en | 6:18 min | 2019
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The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) calls on all democratic organisations and individuals to come together and condemn the denial of relief for Prof. Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha, stand in solidarity with all such voices of democracy and demand the immediate release of all political prisoners. Our unity at this time of crisis is all the more urgent and necessary for our silence in the time of injustice is bound to render us voiceless in the days to come. Let us unite and demand:
1. Immediate reprieve from arrest of Prof. Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha.
2. Immediate release of all political prisoners lodged in jails all over the country, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. Immediate release of all under-trial prisoners and persons convicted on minor charges to decongest prisons.
4. Action (with restraint in light of COVID-19) against the perpetrators of violence in the Bhima Koregaon case including Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote.
5. Repeal of all draconian laws like UAPA, NSA and PSA, among others.
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The police in the State of Maharashtra, India, acting at the behest of the central BJP Hindutva government, is forcing the arrest of Professor Dr Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha under August 2018 fabricated charges, accusing them of involvement in violence that occurred at Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018. …
To redeem the situation Indian government and the judiciary must:
– Grant bail to Dr Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha
– Immediately release all falsely implicated in the Bhima Koregaon case
– Release all Political Prisoners
– Repeal UAPA, NSA, AFSA and all other draconian laws
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The Wire / by Vijay Prashad & Sudhanva Deshpande
‘You are being sent to jail because you are part of a tidal wave of dissent against this government and what it has done to Indian democracy.’
Dear Anand,
On Monday, there will probably be a knock on your door. Police officers are likely to arrive to arrest you. They will carry with them a range of papers, a file overflowing with notes that refer to the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Indian Penal Code.
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The #BhimaKoregaon case is an example of judicial repression suffered by those defending human rights in India. We can’t keep looking the other way! That is why we have sent this letter:
The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak
Others seek directions to jail authorities for permission to talk on phone since prison visits are stopped.
Citing the spread of coronavirus, poet P Varavara Rao and retired professor Shoma Sen, among the nine persons accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, have sought temporary bail on medical grounds from a special court. The court Monday heard the arguments on their bail pleas. An order in the matter is likely to be passed Tuesday.
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31/03/2020
Mumbai Mirror / by David Delima
While Varavara Rao says he has respiratory problems, Shoma Sen says she has high blood pressure; a special court to pass order today … Activist and lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj, who has been in jail since August 2018, had also filed an application for bail, but the National Investigation Agency stated it had not received a copy of her application.
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Signatories include eminent public figures such as Noam Chomsky, Gayatri Spivak, Sukhadeo Thorat, Cornel West, Angela Davis, Kshama Sawant, Ramachandra Guha, Prakash Ambedkar and Arundhati Roy.
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Statement for Dr. Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha:
We, the undersigned (organizations and individuals) protest the impending arrest of Professor Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha and strongly condemn the attempt to malign their status as two of India’s foremost civil rights activists and public intellectuals today. …
The Caravan / by Martand Kaushik and Anjeneya Sivan
On 17 April 2018, the Pune Police raided the Delhi home of Rona Wilson, a noted prison-rights activist, and arrested him for his alleged role in the violence at the Bhima Koregaon memorial in January that year. A few months later, the police claimed that it had found a letter on the hard disk of Wilson’s computer that contained details of a “naxal” plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and “overthrow the government.”
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Hindustan Times / by Charul Shah
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Friday remanded nine people accused in the Elgar Parishad case in judicial custody till March 13.
The nine accused in the case – Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sen and Vernon Gonsalves – were produced the special judge, DE Kothalikar, on Friday.
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