solidarity – Page 52 – free them all

Former CICs call for release of Telugu poet & journalist P Varavara Rao [read letter]

31/05/2020 Maya

National Herald / by NH Web Desk.

Shailesh Gandhi and Prof M Sridhar Acharyulu have written a letter to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray calling for 80-year-old P Varavara Rao’s release, pointing out several grounds to do so.
Two former Central Information Commissioners, Shailesh Gandhi and Prof M Sridhar Acharyulu have written a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray calling for the release of renowned Telugu poet, journalist and lecturer P Varavara Rao, who is in judicial custody for the last 18 months in Bhima Koregaon case for an alleged attempt to murder Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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Denial of bail: Will courts inquire into their writings, speeches?

31/05/2020 Maya

Counterview / by Vidya Bhushan Rawat

It is deeply disturbing that 81-year-old poet Varavara Rao has been denied bail and has now been admitted to a hospital in Mumbai. Reports suggest that the prison in Taloja, Navi Mumbai, where he was lodged, has several Covid-19 patient. The family and friends of Varavara Rao have protested in Hyderabad, as they were not even allowed to visit him.
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EU sub-committee expresses serious concerns about recent arrests [read letter]

30/05/2020 Maya

Scroll.in / by Malini Subramaniam

The subcommittee also questioned India’s use of UAPA to silence activists such as Safoora Zargar, Khalid Saifi, Meeran Haider and Sharjeel Imam, among others.
The European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressing concern about the recent arrests of activists Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha by the National Investigative Agency, and urged India to immediately release all political prisoners in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The activists are accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.
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Scribes’ unions want Varavara Rao released on bail

28/05/2020 Maya

The New Indian Express / by Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Leaders of the Indian Journalists Union (IJU) and Telangana State of Union of Working Journalists (TSUWJ) on Wednesday requested the Maharashtra government to consider releasing writer Varavara Rao on parole, keeping in mind his health condition and COVID-19 situation in the State.
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Appeal: Save our father Varavara Rao – Release him immediately from Taloja Jail

27/05/2020 Maya

Varavara Rao greeting family members, 2018 (Photo: DC)

South Asia Citizens Web / by P Sahaja, P Anala, P Pavana

To
The Governor, Maharashtra,
The Chief Justice, High Court of Maharashtra,
The Chief Minister of Maharashtra,
We, P Sahaja, P Anala, P Pavana, daughters of the famous revolutionary poet P Varavara Rao, who is incarcerated in Maharashtra jails (in Yerawada, Pune jail till February 2020 and in Taloja, Navi Mumbai jail since then) in a fabricated case, are perturbed to see the news that a prisoner died in Taloja jail due to Covid-19, as admitted by the government in a PIL case in Mumbai High Court yesterday.
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CITING HEALTH, VARAVARA RAO’S DAUGHTERS URGE MAHARASHTRA CM UDDHAV THACKERAY FOR HIS PAROLE

The New Indian Express / by Express News Service

Earlier, at least 40 prominent writers had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting the release of Rao amid the crisis.
MUMBAI: Family members of poet, writer and activist Varavara Rao, jailed in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon case, appealed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to release him on parole amid the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the state and in its prisons.
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Open Letter: Release human rights defenders at risk in the context of COVID-19

26/05/2020 Maya

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

By International Federation for Human Rights

Dear Home Minister,
We, the undersigned organizations, write with great concern regarding the situation of student activists Safoora Zargar, who is four months pregnant, Meeran Haider, Shifa-Ur-Rehman and Sharjeel Imam, all detained under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). …
Their situation is not unique. For example, on 14 April 2020, the authorities also detained human rights activists Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha under the UAPA for allegedly inciting caste-based violence during a 2018 demonstration in Bhima Koregaon, Maharashtra state. Nine other activists have been detained since 2018 in relation to the same case. They are known for their work defending the rights of Adivasi and Dalit communities and should all be released immediately.
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Citizens Appeal: Release Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sen From Covid-19 Hit Byculla Jail [read letter]

24/05/2020 Maya

Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sen

The Citizen / by Concerned Citizen

660 concerned citizens from all walks of life have written to the High Powered Committee comprising Justice AA Sayed, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Sanjay Chahande, Director General of Prisons SN Pandey, Maharasthra urging them to temporarily release Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj and Professor Shoma Sen from Byculla Jail, Mumbai, due to rampant COVID-19 spread within the prison.
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Media coverage of the letter

25/05/2020

Over 600 citizens call for temporary release of Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sena from jail

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

They have been booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for their alleged role in the Bhima Koregaon violence case.
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Over 600 Citizens Call for Temporary Release of Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sen From Byculla Jail

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

The signatories pointed out that Bharadwaj and Sen were suffering from multiple ailments, making them vulnerable to COVID-19.
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Video: Angela Davis in Solidarity with UAPA Prisoners

24/05/2020 Maya

en | 4:32 min | 2020

By Collective Delhi

The COVID 19 Lockdown has exposed how the ruling regime considers repressing democratic voices as an ‘essential service’. UAPA and Sedition laws have been used to for a witch-hunt of those who stand by secular, progressive ideals. Peasant and working class organizers, democratic rights defenders, lawyers, journalists and others have also been arrested under these colonial-era laws.
Angela Davis, activist in prison abolition movement and anti-racism revolutionary, speaks in solidarity with those being targeted today under UAPA.
Watch video

Devanur Mahadeva: Release Anand Teltumbde immediately

15/05/2020 Maya

Times of India / by TNN

Mysuru: Dalit writer and activist Devanur Mahadeva oined hundreds of activists and rationalists from across the country on Thursday, demandingthe immediate release of activist and writer Anand Teltumbde.
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DSS STAGES PROTEST, DEMANDS RELEASE OF DR ANAND TELTUMBDE

14/05/2020

City Today / by CTBUREAU_HS

Mysuru: Dalita Sangharsha Samiti (DSS) staged a silent protest alleging the government has arrested scholar Dr Anand Teltumbde purposefully and demanded his immediate release.
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AI India: FREE SHOMA & SUDHA!

13/05/2020 Maya

By Amnesty International India

Shoma Sen & Sudha Bharadwaj are in Byculla jail where an inmate has been tested positive for #COVID19. The Indian Government must stop punishing them for speaking truth to power and release them immediately.

AI UK: FREE THE BHIMA KOREGAON 11

By Amnesty International UK

Eleven prominent activists are locked up in India after false accusations by the government.
The Bhima Koregaon 11 (BK11) have fought bravely for the rights of the poorest and most marginalised communities in the country. Far from being anti-national, the ‘Bhima Koregaon 11’ are for many, national heroes.
They should be celebrated, not treated like criminals. Email India’s Home Minister demanding their immediate release.
Send instant e-mail here