Saibaba – free them all

More than 400 students, faculty members sci-tech institutes demand bail for Varavara Rao, GN Saibaba

18/08/2020 Rani

Hindustan Times / by Priyanka Sahoo

More than 400 students, faculty members, and alumni from various science and technology institutes in the country have signed a petition to the Central government, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde, demanding bail and medical care for Varavara Rao and GN Saibaba, who are in jail for their alleged Communist Party of India (CPI)-Maoist links, and the release of other political prisoners.
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DU professor PK Vijayan says NIA questioned him on role in Saibaba committee

17/08/2020 Maya

Free Press Journal / by Bhavna Uchil

Delhi University’s Hindu College professor PK Vijayan has said that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) questioned him last Friday regarding his role in the Saibaba Defence Committee.
Prof Vijayan who teaches English in the institution said he is not at liberty to speak on what happened during the questioning, as he has been advised by his advocates not to do so but described the session ‘cordial’ and ‘civil’. “We (he and Prof. Rakesh Ranjan) were kept waiting for about 5-6 hours and questioned for the rest,” he said.
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We are only as free as those we love / K Satyanrayana on Varavara Rao

14/08/2020 Maya

The Hindu Business / by Shriya Mohan

For the families of political prisoners, daily life is an endless rigmarole of legal battles for the bail of their loved ones.
The pandemic and the resulting curfew on prison visits and postal delivery have exacerbated the isolation of political prisoners like GN Saibaba, Varavara Rao, Dr Kafeel Khan, Sudha Bharadwaj and others, cutting them off further from their families — the very people who are rooting for their innocence and freedom.
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When the moon slips into Darkness: K Satyanrayana on Varavara Rao

15/08/2020

Gauri Lankesh News / by K Satyanarayana

A popular public speaker with eloquent oration and elephantine memory is now reduced to searching for words, incoherent delirium.
Varavara Rao, 80-year old Telugu revolutionary poet, now incarcerated in Bhima Koregaon case and ailing in Nanavati Hospital, should not be left to die, as he is a symbol of people’s poetry, chronicler of people’s movements, upholder of popular democracy and rule of law, a teacher and a public speaker. One can gauge his popularity from the world-wide upsurge of expressions of protest against his imprisonment and solidarity with him, pouring in for the last ten days.
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Committee condemns the raid on the house of Dr Hany Babu

04/08/2020 Rani

Countercurrents / by Committee for the Defence and Release of Dr G N Saibaba

We strongly condemn the unwarranted raid on 2nd August 2020 by officers of the National Intelligence Agency, on the house of Dr Hany Babu, a member of the Committee… The raid at his house, conducted on the 2nd morning, was ostensibly to collect material to corroborate the arrest. It defies all logic that the arrest of Dr Babu was made without sufficient basis, to the point that the NIA now finds itself searching for material to justify the arrest, post-facto and concocting false ”evidence” against him.
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PUCL criticises Hany Babu’s arrest, says NIA acted in `sheer spite´

03/08/2020 Rani

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The human rights body said the government was resorting to ‘fabricated prosecutions’ using the UAPA to punish activists and academics.
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties on Sunday criticised the arrest of Delhi University professor MT Hany Babu in the Bhima Koregaon case, calling it an attempt to criminalise and silence intellectuals in India.
Babu was arrested by the National Investigation Agency on July 28.
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NIA Arrests Hany Babu, ‘Pressured Him to Implicate Others,’ Says Wife

28/07/2020 Rani

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

The DU academic’s wife, professor Jenny Rowena, told The Wire that the NIA has tried repeatedly to nudge him towards implicating others in the case, during questioning.
Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday, July 28, arrested Delhi University associate professor of English, Hany Babu M.T, in connection with the Elgar Parishad case. With Babu’s arrest, 12 people – all activists, lawyers and academics – have been arrested in the case.
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`A Pattern´: NIA Arrests DU Prof Hany Babu in Bhima Koregaon Case

The Quint / by Amita Nandy

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested Delhi University Professor Hany Babu on Tuesday, 28 July in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence probe. He was being interrogated at the NIA’s Mumbai office since 23 July.
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NIA arrests DU professor Hany Babu, say reports

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The National Investigation Agency on Tuesday arrested Delhi University professor MT Hany Babu in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case, reported PTI.
Babu will be produced before a special NIA court in Mumbai on Wednesday, according to The Times of India.
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CLC & Left Parties Demand Unconditional Release of Public Intellectuals arrested in BK Case & Prof. Saibaba

17/07/2020 Rani

CDRO Online / by Coordination of Democratic Rights Organaisation

A round table meeting was held on 14th July 2020, at the Godavarikhani, Ambedkar Bhavan on the issue of arrested intellectuals in Bhima-Koregaon case. This meeting was attended by different public associations, Civil Liberties Committee (CLC), leftist parties like CPI, CPIM, CPI-ML New Democracy and Dalit groups like All India Ambedkar Youth Association (AIAYA), Madiga Reservation PorataSamithi (MRPS) and Mala Mahanadu.
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CASR: Release Varavara Rao immediately! Demand the release of all political prisoners!

16/07/2020 Rani

By Campaign Against State Repression

The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) demands the immediate release of the revolutionary poet Varavara Rao who has tested positive for COVID-19. As per information received by family members, Varavara Rao’s health has rapidly deteriorated over the last couple of weeks. This is also evidenced by his weakening physical state, incoherent speech and inability to independently perform daily or bodily functions. After persistent efforts of family members in highlighting his health condition, the jail authorities, who had denied these concerns, were compelled to shift Varavara Rao to JJ Hospital in Mumbai on July 13th. However, his health further worsened as hospital authorities failed to care for him. They even forcibly sent away his family for raising concerns about him being abandoned on a dirty and unsanitary stretcher. Today, he has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been shifted to Saint George Hospital, Mumbai.
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NIA Issues Summons to an Academic, a Journalist and 3 Activists

13/07/2020 Rani

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Delhi University teacher Hany Babu is being made to travel from Delhi to Mumbai despite his apprehensions about travelling during the pandemic.
Mumbai: Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, when passenger travel across states is still regulated, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) wants Delhi University associate professor Hany Babu M.T. to travel from Delhi to the agency’s Mumbai office. The NIA has served him a notice to be present at their South Mumbai office on July 15 as a “witness” in the Elgar Parishad case.
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Nearly 100 Global Intellectuals Appeal for Varavara Rao, Saibaba to Be Released

14/06/2020 Rani

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

New Delhi: Close to a 100 renowned intellectuals from across the world have appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind and Chief Justice of India (CJI) S.A. Bobde to release professor G.N. Saibaba and activist Varavara Rao, saying they have been imprisoned in ‘fabricated cases’ and that they are vulnerable to infection in the ‘overcrowded Maharashtra prisons’.
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