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‘Half a decade of arrest, meet time cut to 10 mins’

‘Half a decade of arrest, meet time cut to 10 mins’

TOI / by Shishir Arya

A post on Tushar Kanti Bhattacharya’s Facebook page has a picture of his wife Shoma Sen, with the lines below reading: Five years of incarceration. Another post has pictures of her along with co-accused Surendra Gadling, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson and Mahesh Raut. The lines read ‘Repeal UAPA: Behind bars five years and no charges framed, no bail’. A couple of likes can be seen in response.
Read more


Also read:
Shoma Sen’s discharge application at NIA asserts discrepancies in evidence against her (The Leaflet / June 2023)
Shoma Sen moves Supreme Court seeking bail (The Leaflet / Apr 2023)
And he waits for Shoma Sen (Midday.com / May 2022)
Part 1: ‘It is very difficult to see my mother like this’ (Rediff.com / May 2022)
Part 2: When Your Mother Is In Prison… (Rediff.com / May 2022)

Five years behind bars for five activists – Without bail, without charges being framed, without justice!

Five years behind bars for five activists – Without bail, without charges being framed, without justice!

Five years behind bars for five activists – Without bail, without charges being framed, without justice!

06/06/2023

By Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)

Five years behind bars for five activists
Without bail, without charges being framed, without justice!
Release all 15-surviving accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.

June 6, 2023 will mark five years that five activists are behind bars. They include Mahesh Raut, an anti-displacement campaigner, Rona Wilson, a political prisoners’ campaigner, Shoma Sen, a feminist activist and professor, Sudhir Dhawale, a Dalit rights activist and Surendra Gadling, a lawyer who takes people’s rights cases pro-bono.
Read full statement


Five Years Since The First Arrests In Bhima-Koregaon Case

06/06/2023

Countercurrents.org / by Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO)

6th June 2018. The nation’s conscience suffered yet another attack by the arrests of leading intellectuals and democratic rights activists by the Pune police in connection with the so-called Bhima-Koregaon (BK) case. These arrests snowballed into a series of arrests in subsequent months. Five years have passed, and barring a few activists out on bail, the arrested persons are still languishing in jail without a charge sheet being filed. Through this statement, the CDRO once again tries to remember the incidents leading to these arrests and subsequent events; so that people can unite in a struggle for the release of the BK-16 and the repeal of draconian laws.
Read full statement


Five years of Bhima Koregaon arrests: CDRO marks ‘black day’

06/06/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

It was on this day in 2018 that five activists were first arrested by the Pune police in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad Maoist links and criminal conspiracy case. To mark this day, and by means of highlighting the plight of the arrested persons, the Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation and People’s Union for Democratic Rights have issued press statements demanding the immediate release of all the persons behind bars in connection with the case.
Read more


Release activists incarcerated in Bhima Koregaon Case

07/06/2023

Countercurrents.org / by Campaign Against State Repression

June 6th became a day of one of the most audacious attack by the Brahmanical Hindutva Fascist state on the Democratic rights and political activists and began new era of rampant use of UAPA and conspiracy cases, which was, although known to the working class, the peasantry and the oppressed, have been largely unknown to the Urban democratic movement. June 6th, 2018 marks the first arrest in the infamous Bhima Koregaon ‘Conspiracy’ case, after series of raids in April 2018. The police arrested Sudhir Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen and Mahesh Raut.
Read full statement


Five years after arrest, Bhima Koregaon case accused yet to get copies of proof against them

05/06/2023

The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal

Special Public Prosecutor rubbished the allegation and said most of the material have been shared with them
It has been six years since Sudhir Dhawale, an activist; Surendra Gadling, a criminal lawyer practising in Nagpur; Shoma Sen, professor and Head of Department, English at Nagpur University; activists Rona Wilson and Mahesh Raut were arrested in the caste-based violence that broke out at Bhima Koregaon in Pune in 2017.
Read more


Also read:
Bhima Koregaon: Who’s who of those arrested & the developments in the case pertaining to each (The Leaflet / June 2022)
Marking three years since the first arrest (The Leaflet / June 2021)
Two years of Bhima Koregaon Arrests (The Leaflet / June 2020)
What has happened to the five activists who were arrested a year ago (Scroll.in / June 2019)
IAPL press note about arrest of Advocate Gadling & other people’s activists (Sanhati / June 2018)

Shoma Sen’s discharge application at NIA asserts discrepancies in evidence against her

Shoma Sen’s discharge application at NIA asserts discrepancies in evidence against her

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

Shoma Sen, an accused in the case along with 15 other activists and academics, has been charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Sen has been incarcerated as an undertrial since June 6, 2018, and is lodged at the Byculla jail in Mumbai.
On Monday, a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court of special judge Rajesh Kataria continued hearing a discharge application filed by women’s rights activist and academic Shoma Sen, claiming discrepancies in the evidence against her in the  Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad Maoist links and criminal conspiracy case, and drawing a parallel with the allegations raised against Dalit scholar, academic activist and co-accused Dr Anand Teltumbde.
Read more


Also read:
Shoma Sen moves Supreme Court seeking bail (The Leaflet / Apr 2023)
Inconsistencies in Bail Orders Mean Individual Liberty Is Now the Outcome of Judicial Lottery (The Wire / Oct 2022)
US-based forensic analysis group finds incriminating documents “planted” in Rona Wilson’s computer; Wilson challenges his prosecution in Bombay HC (The Leaflet / Feb 2021)
They were Accused of plotting to overthrow the Modi government – The evidence was planted, a new report says (Washington Post / Feb 2021)

SC seeks response of NIA, Maharashtra government in bail pleas of Jyoti Jagtap, Shoma Sen

SC seeks response of NIA, Maharashtra government in bail pleas of Jyoti Jagtap, Shoma Sen

Supreme Court Issues Notice On Bail Pleas Of Professor Shoma Sen & Jyoti Jagtap In Bhima Koregaon Case

04/05/2023

Live Law / by Sohini Chowdhury

The Supreme Court, on Thursday, issued notice in bail pleas filed by Jyoti Jagtap and Professor Shoma Sen, accused in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad Case under the anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
A Bench comprising Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia issued notice in both the Special Leave Petitions.
Read more


Supreme Court seeks response of NIA, Maharashtra government in bail pleas of Jyoti Jagtap, Shoma Sen

04/05/2023

Bar & Bench / by Abhimanyu Hazarika

The Supreme Court on Thursday sought the response of the Maharashtra government and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the bail pleas filed by, Jyoti Jagtap and Shoma Sen, accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case.
A Bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia issued notice to the State and NIA.
Sen, an English Literature professor and Dalit and women’s rights activist, was arrested on June 6, 2018.
Read more


SC issues notice to Maha, NIA on activist Jyoti Jagtap’s plea for bail

04/05/2023

The Print / by pti

The Supreme Court on Thursday sought the responses of the Maharashtra government and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on a plea filed by activist Jyoti Jagtap, arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, challenging a Bombay High Court order declining her bail.
Read more


Also read:
Shoma Sen moves Supreme Court seeking bail (The Leaflet / Apr 2023)
Inconsistencies in Bail Orders Mean Individual Liberty Is Now the Outcome of Judicial Lottery (The Wire / Oct 2022)
Kabir Kala Manch incited hatred, passion at Elgar Parishad: Bombay High Court (India Today / Oct 2022)
The Security Playbook Used To Erode Democracy In Modi’s India & How The Tide Might Turn (article 14 / March 2022)

Shoma Sen’s discharge application at NIA court claims lack of incriminating evidence

Shoma Sen’s discharge application at NIA court claims lack of incriminating evidence

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

The matter will now be heard on May 17.
A National Investigation Agency (NIA) court, presided by special judge Rajesh Kataria, on Tuesday heard a discharge application filed by women’s rights activist and academic Shoma Sen, claiming lack of incriminating evidence against her in the  Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad Maoist links and criminal conspiracy case.
Read more


Also Read:
Shoma Sen moves Supreme Court seeking bail (The Leaflet / Apr 2023)
Mahesh Raut, Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson seek bail from Bombay HC on parity with Sudha Bharadwaj (India Today / March 2023)
Bombay HC asks Elgar Parishad accused Prof Shoma Sen to first approach trial court for bail (India Today / Jan 2023)

Shoma Sen moves Supreme Court seeking bail

Shoma Sen moves Supreme Court seeking bail

Shoma Sen

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

The Bombay High Court, in its order dated January 17, had refused to examine the correctness of the order of the trial court that rejected her bail application.
A special leave petition, filed by women’s rights activist and academic Shoma Sen challenging the order of the Bombay High Court on her bail plea, is listed to be heard on May 4. The petition was mentioned by senior advocate Anand Grover before a division Bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice of India Dr D.Y. Chandrachud, on Wednesday.
Read more


Also Read:
Mahesh Raut, Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson seek bail from Bombay HC on parity with Sudha Bharadwaj (India Today / March 2023)
Bombay HC asks Elgar Parishad accused Prof Shoma Sen to first approach trial court for bail (India Today / Jan 2023)

Fourth Drone Bomb Attack on Indigenous People in Bastar, Chhattisgarh

Fourth Drone Bomb Attack on Indigenous People in Bastar, Chhattisgarh

IndiaMatters UK / by over 60 international organisations and individual campaigners, activists and academics

Fourth Drone Bomb Attack on Indigenous People in Bastar, Chhattisgarh
Stop This State Terror Now!

Press Note

Indigenous (Adivasi) people in Bijapur district of Bastar, in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, have been traumatised by yet another aerial bomb attack from the security forces which have been using drones to carry out these operations. Although the Indian Air Force is not officially deployed for combat in Chhattisgarh, the repeated use of aerial bombardment on civilian populations suggests a new dimension to the state terror being inflicted on the Adivasi population of Bastar for years.
… Social activists who have been speaking out against this injustice have also ended up in prisons … there are the well known sixteen democratic rights activists falsely implicated in what has come to be known as the Bhima Koregaon case. These sixteen were locked in prison between 2018 and 2020 on the basis of an essentially fabricated case prepared by the notorious National Investigative Agency against them under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
Read full statement


Also read:
● Security forces’ operations in adivasi areas compared with Russia-Ukraine war (Counterview.net / April 2022)
● In Jharkhand, Scheduled Tribes Still Battle Flimsy Criminal Cases Filed With Little Evidence (Indiaspend.com / Oct 2021)
● Gadling in jail. Reason? As lawyer-activist he has been ‘unpleasant’ to India’s topcops (Counterview.net / Dec 2020)
● Gadchiroli’s 300 Gram Sabhas Pass Resolution in Support of Activist Mahesh Raut (The Wire / Oct 2018)
● Condemn the State Sponsored Massacre Scripted as ‘Encounter’ in Gadchiroli and Bijapur in Central India (wssnet.org / May 2018)
● How corporate land grab is sought to be legitimized in Chhattisgarh by misusing legal framework (Counterview.org / Feb 2018)

Podcast #2 | Ideas Behind Bars: Shoma Sen

Podcast #2 | Ideas Behind Bars: Shoma Sen

en | 18:01min | 2023

By InSAF India

This is a podcast in which we discuss the ideas, thoughts, and works of thinkers, activists, artist and scholars from India who have ended up behind bars for their work, or whose work has been censored or silenced. This podcast is produced by InSAF India in collaboration with nether quarterly.

Works by Shoma Sen discussed*:
“The Village and the City: Dalit Feminism in the Autobiographies of Baby Kamble and Urmila Pawar.” The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, vol. 54, no. 1, 2019, pp. 38–51., doi:10.1177/0021989417720251. “Class Struggle and Patriarchy: Women in the Maoist Movement.” Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 52, no. 21, 2017, pp. 56–56.
* Direct quotations have been shortened for clarity.

Sound Editor: Ashish Kumar
Voice: Divya Nadkarni
Listen to the podcast


Also Read:
Mahesh Raut, Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson seek bail from Bombay HC on parity with Sudha Bharadwaj (India Today / March 2023)

Justice Revati Mohite Dere of Bombay HC recuses from hearing bail plea of Mahesh Raut, 3 others

Justice Revati Mohite Dere of Bombay HC recuses from hearing bail plea of Mahesh Raut, 3 others


By Bar & Bench (March 30):
Bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere of Bombay High Court recuses from hearing default bail pleas of Bhima Koregoan accused Mahesh Raut and 3 others.


Justice Revati Mohite Dere of Bombay HC recuses from hearing bail plea of Mahesh Raut, others

30/03/2023

India Legal / by India Legal

Justice Revati Mohite Dere of Bombay High Court on Thursday recused herself  from hearing the default bail petitions of Mahesh Raut and three others, who were arrested for their alleged involvement in the Elgar Parishad Maoists links case of 2018.
Earlier on March 1, the High Court had issued notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the default bail plea of Raut, Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson, who were arrested on June 6, 2018 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Read more


Also Read:
4 accused seek bail from Bombay HC on parity with Sudha Bharadwaj (India Today / March 2023)

Bombay High Court seeks NIA response to plea by Raut, Sen, Wilson and Dhawale for default bail

Bombay High Court seeks NIA response to plea by Raut, Sen, Wilson and Dhawale for default bail

Bombay High Court seeks NIA response to plea by 4 accused for default bail

01/03/2023

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

The four accused have challenged an order of a special NIA court rejecting their default bail pleas. They sought parity with Sudha Bharadwaj, a co-accused who was granted default bail by the High Court in 2021.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on a plea for default bail filed by four persons accused in the Bhima Koregaon case [Mahesh Raut & 4 others v. National Investigation Agency].
Read more


4 accused seek bail from Bombay HC on parity with Sudha Bharadwaj

02/03/2023

India Today / by Vidya

Four accused in the Elgar Parishad case sought bail in the Bombay High Court on parity with Sudha Bharadwaj, who was granted default bail in 2021 in the same case.
The Bombay High Court has issued notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and sought a reply to the bail petition of four Elgar Parishad accused – Mahesh Raut, Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson.
Read more


Also read:
NIA special court rejects default bail application of five accused (The Leaflet / June 2022)
Bombay HC grants default bail to Sudha Bharadwaj, but declines the same to eight other accused (The Leaflet / Dec 2021)