solidarity – Page 35 – free them all

NPRD seeks NHRC Intervention on Stan Swamy

17/11/2020 Maya

By National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD)

Press Release
Nov 17, 2020
The National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) has petitioned the National Human Rights Commission seeking its intervention to provide reasonable accommodations to Fr. Stan Swamy, who is lodged in the Taloja Jail, Maharashtra.
83-year old Stan Swamy is a person living with Parkinson’s, which is a condition recognised as disabling as per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. As per various laws and conventions to which India is a signatory, it is obligatory that Stan Swamy be provided with requisite age & disability appropriate accommodations, assistive aids including straws and sippers as also human care assistance as required.
The full text of the letter addressed to the NHRC Chairman yesterday is being released herewith.

(Muralidharan)
General Secretary, NPRD
…

Appeal to the Civil Society of India on two years of Varavara Rao’s arrest

17/11/2020 Maya

Release the Poet / by Release the Poet Committee

730 Days without ‘Personal Liberty’! Now the Supreme Court itself is in the People’s Courtroom.
Today, on 17th November 2020, it completes two years of Varavara Rao’s arrest in the alleged Bhima Koregaon case. Since then the people’s poet is in jail with alarming health adversities. His bail pleas or applications for a proper hospitalization were repeatedly opposed and rejected, making the situation worrying for his family, comrades & peoples at large.
Even prior to and after his arrest, the list of witch hunts was far from being short! …

The NIA and Father Stan Swamy: Hunting down a Samaritan

16/11/2020 Maya

Frontline / by Anupama Katakam

The NIA arrests Father Stan Swamy for alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon incident, but the actual reason for the state’s witch-hunt is his strident opposition to corporate exploitation of tribal areas.
In a more tolerant time, Father Stan Swamy would have been commended for the work he does. A nation that should be proud of his contribution has instead arrested the 83-year-old Jesuit priest on false charges so that an agenda can be fulfilled. Father Swamy has spent 60 years living and working with the most marginalised tribal communities in the Bihar and Jharkhand belt. A social worker, activist and educator, his story is what legends are made of.
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Jharkhand MP writes to President demanding Fr. Stan Swamy’s release

16/11/2020 Rani

Jharkhand MP writes to President demanding Fr. Stan Swamy’s release

16/11/2020

Sabrang / by Sabrangindia

Alleging that the NIA was using under-handed methods to imprison innocent activists, MP Vijay Hansdak demanded the release and closure of the case against Fr. Stan.
“Father Stan Swamy’s arrest by the NIA [National Investigation Agency] is malicious and spiteful as he and his associates have been constantly denying any link with Maoists. The allegation against him about his links in the Bhima Koregaon case is also false and fabricated. I, on behalf of people of Jharkhand, would like to appeal to take immediate concrete action to stop the proceedings of all the false allegations against Father Swamy and release him. I also appeal to release all those innocent social activists and intellectuals who have been arrested on false allegations,” Hansdak wrote in his letter.
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Jharkhand MP letter to Kovind for Stan Swamy release

15/11/2020

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

Rajmahal MP and JMM leader Vijay Kumar Hansdak has become the first parliamentarian from Jharkhand to come out in support of octogenarian Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, who has been arrested and jailed for his alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon violence and Maoist links.
In a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind on November 10, Hansdak, son of former Congress MP Thomas Hansdah, has sought the immediate release of the elderly priest and closure of the “false” case lodged against Fr Swamy.
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What About Personal Liberty Of Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand Teltumbde, VV Rao & Stan Swamy?

15/11/2020 Rani

SC Protects Arnab’s Personal Liberty, Why Not Sudha Bharadwaj’s?

15/11/2020

Kashimir Pen / by Web Desk

Leading human rights and constitutional lawyer Karuna Nundy applauded the Supreme Court for acting out its self-professed role as ‘sentinel on the qui vive’ and protecting personal liberty when ordering Arnab Goswami’s release on interim bail – but had some tough questions about the consistency of the court’s approach.
She noted that even though the Republic editor-in-chief had not only damaged people’s reputations by calling them terrorists and anti-nationals, and actually influenced the taking of state action against them – from Umar Khalid to the Bhima Koregaon accused – it was still a good thing that his case was heard on a priority basis by the apex court.
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Video: SC Protects Arnab’s Personal Liberty, But What About Sudha Bharadwaj’s?

13/11/2020

en | 7:32min | 2020

The Quint / by The Quint

Supreme Court advocate Karuna Nundy explains why there are concerns over the consistency with which the apex court will apply its order granting Arnab Goswami interim bail, with Sudha Bharadwaj’s case a prime example.
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Video: What About Liberty Of Anand Teltumbde, Varavara Rao, Stan Swamy, Asks Kapil Sibal

12/11/2020

en | 11:23min | 2020

NDTV / by NDTV

The Supreme Court’s order on Wednesday in the Arnab Goswami case has major implications beyond just this one instance. Justice Chandrachud observed, “Forget Arnab Goswami for a moment, we are a Constitutional court…. If we as a Constitutional Court do not lay down law and protect liberty, then who will?” He went on to add, “If we don’t interfere in this case today, we will walk on path of destruction. You may differ in ideology but Constitutional courts will have to protect such freedoms…” The remarks come at a time when thousands languish in jails in want of bail. These include the old and the infirm, like 81-year-old Varavara Rao accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case and Father Stan Swamy who suffers from Parkinson’s.
After the Supreme Court’s observations that ‘constitutional courts have to protect freedoms’, will this set a precedent in other pending cases as well? We speak to senior advocate and Congress MP Kapil Sibal who was in Supreme Court in connection with this case.
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‘Humanity is bubbling in Taloja prison,’ Stan Swamy says in letter to friends

15/11/2020 Rani

Pic: Bangalore, Nov 12

Excerpts from a letter written by Fr. Stan Swamy SJ, from the prison, with the help of Arun Ferreira

By Fr Stan Swamy

Dear friends
Peace!
Though I do not have many details, from what I have heard, I am grateful to all of you for expressing your solidarity support.
I am in a cell approximately 13 feet x 8 feet, along with two more inmates. It has a small bathroom and a toilet with Indian commode. Fortunately, I am given a western commode chair.
Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira are in another cell. During the day, when cells and barracks are opened, we meet with each other.
From 5.30 pm to 06.00 am and 12 noon to 03.00 pm, I am locked up in my cell, with two inmates. Arun assists me to have my breakfast and lunch. Vernon helps me with bath. My two inmates help out during supper, in washing my clothes and give massage to my knee joints. They are from very poor families.
Please remember my inmates and my colleagues in your prayers.
Despite all odds, humanity is bubbling in Taloja prison.

Jesuit priest’s letter from Taloja Central Jail

15/11/2020

The Telegraph / by Pheroze L. Vincent

Excerpts from the letter by the Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist from Ranchi, whose full name is Stanislaus Lourduswamy, have been widely circulated on Facebook this Diwali…
Jesuit priest Father David Solomon, director of the Ranchi NGO Bagaicha — a workspace for activists where Swamy lived and worked — confirmed the authenticity of the excerpt.
He said the rest of the letter’s contents were not being disclosed as they included personal information. Nor has the identity of the recipient been revealed for fear of harassment of priests and institutions run by them.
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‘Humanity is bubbling in Taloja prison,’ Stan Swamy says in letter to friends

14/11/2020

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The 83-year-old suffers from Parkinson’s disease and needs help with chores.
Jailed human rights activist Stan Swamy wrote to his friends about fellow inmates who help him with his chores and said that despite all odds, “humanity is bubbling in prison”. Excerpts from the letter were shared on social media by Swamy’s friend, human rights activist John Dayal.
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Varavara Rao’s personal liberty: Will Justice Chadrachud’s order set a precedent?

14/11/2020 Rani

Counterview / by Vidya Bhushan Rawat

The Bombay High Court has rejected the bail of poet and author Varavara Rao, who is incarcerating in Mumbai’s Taloja Central Jail for over two years in the Bhima Koregaon ‘conspiracy’ case, in which a chargesheet has not yet been filed. Rao is 80 plus and cannot walk without help. He is suffering from various ailments. The court has “directed” the government to get him treated. It seems the government is willing to spend money on his treatment but is not ready to give him bail.
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Also Read: VARAVARA RAO DENIED BAIL TILL NOV 17, BOMBAY HC DIRECTS IMMEDIATE MEDICAL EXAMINATION

Political Prisoners – X

13/11/2020 Maya

Indian Cultural Forum / by ICF Team

A Turkish folktale, lately popular worldwide, relates that there was once—upon a time—a copse of trees that mistook an axe for a friend. “Look, it’s got a wooden handle!” cheered the trees. “The axe is one of us!” Pretty soon, those became famous last words. Variants of the plot are found in Hebrew and Kannada, Urdu and Greek, for when a folktale goes global we often discover it was global all along.
In The Leaflet (October 25), Annie Domini asks how we can “accurately recapture the evil of a State that finds solidarity to be a crime”.
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Campaign: Jharkhand drive against Centre’s `rights violations´

10/11/2020 Maya

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

Tribal groups in state launch campaign.
At a meeting held on Sunday evening at Bihar Club in Ranchi, over 50 representatives unanimously decided that the arrest of Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, 83, by the National Investigation Agency on fabricated charges, denial of bail and delay in grant of permission to use a straw and sipper cup for drinking to a person suffering from Parkinson’s disease has exposed the Centre’s desperation against those who raise voices for tribal, minorities and Dalits. They said people at village level need to be made aware about the government’s agenda.
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We stand with Stan / Tura Churches appeal for release of arrested Priest

10/11/2020 Rani

Pic: Arrupe International Residence, Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific, East Asian Pastoral Institute

We stand with Stan

10/11/2020

Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific / Arrupe International Residence, East Asian Pastoral Institute, JCAP, Jesuits in South Asia

Many of us have been inspired by Fr Stan Swamy SJ through his talks and writings as the former director of the Bangalore Indian Social Institute and an unflinching Adivasi human rights activist in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha, India. His recorded remarks: “I am ready to pay the price whatever be it” inspires us to engage more avowedly in the struggle for a green and just world.
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Rally: CHALLENGES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

10/11/2020

By Indian Social Institute

On 12 Nov’20, ISI-B, Archdiocese of Bangalore, CRI, PUCL, DSS & CSOs jointly organizing a Public Rally and Protest on CHALLENGES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS. Rally starts @ 3.00 pm from Gandhi Statue to Freedom Park, Bengaluru.
For updates click here

Click to enlarge poster

Tura Churches appeal for release of arrested Jesuit Priest

09/11/2020

The Shillong Times / by Shillong Times Correspondent

Submits memo to PM Modi.
The Tura Based Christian Churches (TBCC) a combined religious body comprising of various Christian denominations of the town on Monday dashed off a memorandum to Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi appealing for the immediate release of Jesuit Priest, Fr Stan Swamy who was earlier arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
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