solidarity – Page 8 – free them all

Who are the acclaimed ‘BK-16’? / HRDs and families await justice, five years down

22/06/2023 Asha

HRDs and families await justice, five years down

22/06/2023

cjp / by Sabah Maharaj

Faulty investigation and severe loopholes in investigation, surrounds the controversial BK-16 case. International outcry has not helped move the trial five years down even while the targeted languish, families await the return of their loved ones
In June 2021, European Union parliamentarians, Nobel Laureates, renowned academics, and internationally known figures wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, the then Chief Justice of India as well as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, and other authorities in India, demanding to the release of political prisoners arrested with relation to the Elgar Parishad and Bhima Koregaon incident.
Amidst contested accusations of an anti-India conspiracy, militancy, and violence, five long years have passed since the BK-16 have been imprisoned without trial.
Read more

Who are the acclaimed ‘BK-16’?

22/06/2023

cjp / by CJP Team

Five years have passed, and human rights defenders (HRDs) and their families continue to await justice.

Surendra Gadling
Status: Detained without trial
Charges:Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) since June 2018
Location: Taloja Central Prison, Mumbai
Gadling is a human rights lawyer and a Dalit activist. Over time, Gadling established himself as a keen advocate and a key figure in cases related to extrajudicial killings, police misconduct, false accusations, and injustices against Dalits and Adivasis in the region…
Read more

Also read:
● Five years behind bars for five activists – Without bail, without charges being framed, without justice! – Various statements

Fr Stan Swamy – Clear his Name. Silent Vigil in London

20/06/2023 Asha

By Jesuits in Britain / @JesuitsBritain

Fr Stan Swamy SJ died after being accused of terrorism and imprisoned in India.
The team @JesuitMissions are marching in London today to raise awareness and clear his name! #standwithstan
Please sign the petition here

Thread by Jesuits in Britain / @JesuitsBritain (June 20, 2023)
While the Indian High Commissioner was practicing yoga in Trafalgar Sq, we were @HCI_London demanding justice for Fr Stan Swamy SJ

The @HCI_London wouldn’t come to the door to speak to a group of priests and lay people, or accept our letter and petition calling for justice for Fr Stan Swamy

The facts are these:
– Fr Stan Swamy was 84 years old and suffering from Parkinson’s; in no position to ‘otherthrow’
@narendramodi
– Fr Stan died of Covid after being mistreated in jail
– We have proof that incriminating evidence was placed on his PC.
– India should clear his name

Vigil for Stan Swamy

20/06/2023

jesuit.org.uk / By Jesuits in Britain

This morning (20th June 2023) staff at the Indian High Commission in London refused to engage with Jesuits priests and laypeople who attempted to hand in a petition calling for justice for a priest who died of Covid whilst in Indian custody.
While the High Commissioner visited Trafalgar Square to view the celebrations marking the International Day of Yoga, British Jesuits and their supporters marched to the Indian High Commission in Aldwych where they held a peaceful vigil and then attempted to hand in a petition containing thousands of signatures calling for justice for Father Stan Swamy SJ.
However, as Met police officers looked on at the peaceful protest, Commission staff went through their own contortions as they refused to answer the door, or accept the petition.
Read more

By Justice for Father Stan Swamy / @FreeFrStanSwamy

Fr Stan Swamy – clear his name – silent vigil in London

15/06/2023

By Independent Catholic News

A silent demonstration, prayers and petition in support of Fr Stan Swamy will take place on Tuesday 20th June 2023.

Schedule
8 – 8.30am Parish Mass – Church of the Immaculate Conception
Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, Parish Priest
8.30 – 9am Coffee – Arrupe Hall, London Jesuit Centre (location tbc)
Welcome by Paul Chitnis, Director Jesuit Missions
9 – 9.15am Gather in courtyard outside London Jesuit Centre
Collect placards
9.15 – 10am Walk to High Commission of India
…
Read more

MP raises case of Indian Jesuit priest Fr Stan Swamy SJ in House of Commons

14/06/2023

By The Catholic Network UK

A Conservative Party politician has called on the Foreign Office to ”make representations” to the Indian government over the treatment and death in custody of an Indian Jesuit priest.
Speaking during Foreign, Commonwealth and Development questions in the House of Commons this morning, Simon Fell, Member of Parliament for Barrow in Furness, said that “Fr Stan Swamy, aged 84, died in custody with Parkinsons only a couple of years ago.”
In his lifetime, Fr Stan Swamy SJ stood with the excluded, championing the rights of indigenous people in India.
Read more

Also read:
● Fabricating Evidence Against Life and Liberty: Tampering with Fr. Stan Swamy’s computer and its implications for Bhima Koregaon case (Press Release by Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy / Dec 2022)
● Hackers Planted Files to Frame an Indian Priest Who Died in Custody (Wired / Dec 2022)
● Fight to clear Fr Stan Swamy’s name ‘will continue’ (UCA News / Dec 2022)

CPJ calls on Biden administration to press India prime minister on media freedom during visit

14/06/2023 Asha

By Committee to Protect Journalists (CPI)

Ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S. from June 21 to 24 and meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, the Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday issued the following statement calling on the U.S. government to urge India to end its media crackdown and release the six journalists arbitrarily detained in retaliation for their work:
Read full statement

Also read:
Number of Jailed Journalists at New Global Record, Seven Behind Bars in India (The Wire / Dec 2022)

Gautam Navlakha has a tremendous archive of writings from the 1980s to the present, documented by The Friends of Gautam Navlakha.
To read some of his recent writings and a full list of his articles with Economic & Political Weekly, the NewsClick newsportal and the platform Sanhati visit: Gautam Navlakha – Journalist, Human Rights Defender, Political Prisoner

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

06/06/2023 Asha

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

CASR: 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)

Stan Swamy’s birth anniversary celebrated in Bagaicha / Fellowship for rights defenders

26/04/2023 Asha

Stan Swamy’s birth anniversary celebrated at his center

26/04/2023

Matters India / by P M Antony

Bagaicha, April 26, 2023: Friends and associates of late Jesuit social scientist Father Stan Swamy on April 26 observed his 86th birth anniversary at a center he founded near Ranchi, capital of Jharkhand state in eastern India.
Father Stan, as he was popularly known, died on July 5, 2021, as an undertrial prisoner at Mumbai, western India.
For his 86th birth anniversary, about 70 friends of Stan gathered at Bagaicha to cherish his memories, works and get energized and inspired by his life and works towards creating a more just and democratic society.
Read more

Father Stan Swamy’s acquaintances launch fellowship for rights defenders

28/04/2023

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

‘Most of us are aware of Stan Swamy’s work and contribution to defending human rights, especially the Adivasis’ right to jal, jungle aur zameen’
Friends and acquaintances of Father Stan Swamy have on his birth anniversary launched a fellowship for rights defenders like him and individuals involved in social work.
Read more

by Cedric Prakash / @CedricPrakash (April 26, 2023)
Today birth anniversary of #stanswamy He is fondly remembered by many as a brother, friend, mentor, guide, companion, human rights defender, crusader for justice & more! He was institutionally murdered on 5 Jul 2021; he will never die he LIVES in the hearts of many FOREVER !

Earthly Birthday Greetings to Stan Swamy in Heaven

26/04/2023

Countercurrents.org / by Cedric Prakash

Dear Stan,
It is your birthday today here on earth! You would have completed eighty-six years, if you were around. Well, that was not to be; on 5 July 2021 you were murdered by a brutal and fascist regime, which did not want a human rights defender like you to continue living! This is your second earthly birthday up above. Not sure how you will be celebrating it!
Read more

Swamy and Friends: A Poem by Keki Daruwala

26/04/2023

LiveWire / by Keki N. Daruwalla

This poem was originally published on July 9, 2021 and is being republished on April 26, 2023.

Beyond the Gangetic plain and the Jumna,
they had their world, women dancing in the night
tapping their earth-and-sky-world into rhythm;
their days ruled by taboo and totem
long before Freud had heard of them;
cults flowered, and shamans held the long stick

Indian Jesuit who died in jail hailed for exemplary life

26/04/2023

UCA News / by UCA News reporter

84-year-old Father Stan Swamy was arrested on false charges and denied bail despite suffering from multiple ailments
The birth anniversary of Father Stan Swamy was observed in India by exhorting the youth to follow the Indian Jesuit priest’s path of dedicating life to the poor indigenous people.
“Usually, after death, one is buried. But Father Swamy was sown. His ideals and sacrifices have to be taught to people,” said Justice K Chandru, a retired Madras High Court judge in Tamil Nadu, the home state of Father Swamy.
Read more

Azim Premji University students stand in solidarity with Dalit activists arrested under UAPA

18/04/2023 Asha

News Trail / by NT Correspondent

Students demand justice for 16 Dalit activists who have been behind bars for three years without official charges under the UAPA
In a powerful display of solidarity and support, over 50 students from Azim Premji University in Bengaluru gathered on Monday to demand the release of 16 Dalit activists who were arrested in 2018 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
These activists, who were advocates for marginalised groups, were accused of inciting violence during a celebration in Bhima Koregaon. Despite no official charges being brought up against them three years later, they remain behind bars.
Read more

Also read/watch:

● Report: UAPA – CRIMINALISING DISSENT AND STATE TERROR (PUCL / Sep 2022)
Download report
● Video: Sudha Bharadwaj talks about “Fighting in the Courts and on the Streets: The Situation of Precarious Workers” (Azim Premji University Colloquium / 2016)

Invitation to Stan Jayanti Day at Bagaicha (April 26)

17/04/2023 Asha

By Justice for Father Stan Swamy / @FreeFrStanSwamy

Click to enlarge poster

Also read/watch:
● Jesuit priest accused of terrorism was victim of digital hacking (Independent Catholic News / Apr 3, 2023)
● Fabricating Evidence Against Life and Liberty: Tampering with Fr. Stan Swamy’s computer and its implications for Bhima Koregaon case (Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy / Dec 22, 2022)
● Hackers Planted Files to Frame an Indian Priest Who Died in Custody (Wired / Dec 13, 2022)

Video: Testimony of Stan Swamy, two days before his arrest on 8 October 2020.

en | 7:48 min | Oct 6, 2020
Watch video

Podcast #2 | Ideas Behind Bars: Shoma Sen

16/04/2023 Asha

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)

Release Gautam Navlakha Immediately! Release all political prisoners. / BK16 Solidarity

14/04/2023 Asha

By Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)

Today, 14 April 2023 marks four years, seven months and eighteen days since Gautam Navlakha’s arrest on 28 August 2018. A well-known human rights activist, respected journalist and writer of long standing, Gautam has now been incarcerated for three years since 14 April 2020 when he surrendered at the NIA office in Delhi.
Read more

Also read:
● Protest the Arrests of Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde: Demand release of the 11 arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case (PUDR / April 2020)
● Protest and Solidarity Statements on the arrests of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha (free-them-all.net / April 2020)

#BK16: Solidarity in New York, Berlin and Amsterdam

14/04/2023

By IndienKoGruppe / @IndienKoGruppe (April 14):

Freedom for political prisoners in India. “Dissent is the safety valve of democracy” (Supreme Court of India) Solidarity from New York, #FreeBK16

#BK16 solidarity from Berlin Freedom for political prisoners in India. Dissent is no crime, it is “the safety valve of democracy”

Ambedkar Jayanthi in Amsterdam, in solidarity with Bhima Koregaon activists in jail. #FreeBK16

Petition by Amnesty International: Act now to demand the release of the BK16!

Since 2018, Indian authorities have arrested 16 activists under a draconian anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case. 11 of them continue to languish in prison without trial. The repression of activists must end.
…
INDIAN AUTHORITIES MUST RELEASE ALL IMPRISONED ACTIVISTS IN THE BK16 CASE!
Act now to urge the Union Home Minister of India, Amit Shah to:
– Drop all charges against the 16 activists and immediately release the 12 who remain in detention
– Pending their release, ensure that they are granted prompt, regular, and unrestricted access to medical care and other basic necessities
– Repeal or substantially amend the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

A Requiem for Fr Stan Swamy

04/04/2023 Asha

Herald Goa / by Jairam N Menon

Authorities everywhere – from classrooms to corporate boardrooms to national capitals – love silent spectators. Silent spectators look after their own interests, and if they see something that is wrong, they may sympathise but turn their eyes away. They are susceptible to the usual blandishments – an out-of-turn promotion, a plum posting etc. If nothing works, they are easy to intimidate. Outliers, on the other hand, are different. They come with a spine of steel. Authority finds them hard to understand, let along manage.
Read more

I am not a Silent Spectator – Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolarable, Justice so out of reach

An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection

Indian Social Institute, Bangalore | by Stan Swamy | August 2021
Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages
Access a free PDF copy of the book here