In addition to her legal battles, Sudha Bharadwaj also fought to seek justice for the marginalised in Chhattisgarh.
On Monday, November 1, Chhattisgarh celebrated 21 years of its statehood. On November 1, 2000, the state was carved out of Madhya Pradesh. It was a result of longstanding demand and sustained struggles of local organisations and the population. One of the organisations which played a key role in the formation of the new state is Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (CMM) or Chhattisgarh Liberation Front. The CMM was formed in the early 1980s under the charismatic leadership of trade union leader Shankar Guha Niyogi. He was murdered in September 1991. And one of those who decided to carry forward the unfinished work of Niyogi is his fellow comrade from early years of activism – Sudha Bharadwaj, a trade union activist, lawyer and teacher. Read more
We salute Sudha Bharadwaj and her fight for Justice (various statements)
by Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan (CBA) Raipur
When the government doesn’t have an answer to the storm of questions raised against it, it resorts to arresting those speaking the truth fearlessly. Shame! #ReleaseSudhaBhardwaj #FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners #RepealUAPA
by Tribal Army
We demand human rights activist sudha Bhardwaj to be released.
Happy Birthday Madam
by NAPM India
#SudhaBharadwaj is one of the finest trade unionists & public spirited lawyers who has always taken on unjust & powerful forces. We wish Sudha real liberation on her 60th. #3years of her incarceration & that of all political prisoners is a shame, a huge loss & unforgivable crime.
by Meera Sanghamitra
Working silently, yet resiliently for over three decades amidst adivasis, workers & oppressed sections in #Chhattisgarh, #Sudha has inspired an entire generation to understand the combined value of legal activism & on-ground unionizing. Happy birthday, Comrade. You are a star.
by Meena Kanasamy
History will remember her as a fierce lioness who stood up to this regime.
Chitrangada
It’s her 60th birthday tday & she is spending it in prison, where she has been since 3+ yrs, without bail or trial.
The Bombay HC finished hearing her last bail plea on 4th Aug. Still no ruling.
by AISA Delhi Universtity
Sudha Bharadwaj goes through her 4th birthday in Jail for fighting for the rights of people! While Criminals like Anurag Thakura and Kapil Mishra are not only Roaming free but are being awarded Ministries by the Government! #ReleaseAllPoliticalPrisoners #releaseBK16 #RepealUAPA
by CIVICUS
Today human rights lawyer & activist Sudha Bharadwaj will celebrate her 60th birthday in prison She was arrested on fabricated charges 3 years ago and has been denied bail. Call on the govt to #FreeSudhaBharadwaj immediately: https://web.civicus.org/India1121 | #StandAsMyWitness
No bail, no trial: Sudha Bharadwaj turns 60 in jail!
01/11/2021
Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia
The human rights defender has been accused of waging a war against the government and booked under terror charges in the Bhima Koregaon case
Trade Unionist, lawyer, professor, writer, Sudha Bharadwaj was arrested on August 28, 2018 and has been lodged in Byculla jail since then. She has been accused of criminal conspiracy, sedition under the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act charges of funding a terrorist activity, conspiracy, being a member of terrorist gang or organisation, and supporting a terrorist organisation.
Born on November 1, 1961, Bharadwaj has turned 60 today. This is the fourth birthday she has had to spend behind bars. Read more
Human rights defender Sudha Bharadwaj spends another birthday in detention
01/11/2021
By CIVICUS
Human rights defender and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj will be spending her 60th birthday in detention today, more than three years after she was arrested on baseless charges under a draconian anti-terror law. Global civil society alliance CIVICUS calls on the Indian government to halt the ongoing persecution against her and release Bharadwaj immediately and unconditionally. Read full statement
‘If You Try to Be Safe and in the Middle, You Will Never Succeed’
01/11/2021
The Wire / by Monobina Gupta
Note: This article was originally published on July 18, 2018, and was republished on November 1, 2021, Sudha Bharadwaj’s 60th birthday.
Sudha Bharadwaj has spent nearly three decades working with the most marginalised sections of people in the conflict-ridden state of Chhattisgarh. Away from the media glare, her ear firmly to the ground, the trade union activist and lawyer has been up against powerful corporates and state administrations headed both by the present BJP dispensation and before that, the Congress party. Read more
Will Provide Clone Copies Once Received From FSL, But Trial Shouldn’t Be Stayed: NIA
Four years after arrests in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Case, the National Investigation Agency has said that it will provide remaining copies of electronic evidence seized, but the trial in the case should go on.
Responding to pleas by lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj and journalist Gautam Navlakha to stay the proceedings or defer framing of charges until the clones copies are not provided, NIA claims they have yet to receive copies from the Forensic Science Laboratory. Read more
Today, Friday 1 October, SOLIFONDS and the Women’s Rights Group Zurich of Amnesty International Switzerland handed over several hundred signatures for a petition for the release of political prisoners (BK16) to the Indian Embassy in Berne, Switzerland. However, no one from the embassy was willing to receive the petition.
Indian trade unionist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj has been in prison for over three years – without evidence and without a trial. Sudha Bharadwaj is also known in Switzerland because she struggled for the direct employment of contract workers at the Swiss cement company Holcim in India, as ruled by law. She and 15 other human rights defenders, intellectuals, lawyers and cultural workers were accused of being involved in the violence at Bhima Koregaon and of planning a conspiracy against the government. Forged documents, which forensic investigations revealed had been smuggled into the computers of accused persons by hackers, serve as “evidence”. A trial has not yet taken place. …
Another COVID-19 Outbreak in Byculla Prison Highlights Lessons That Haven’t Been Learnt
28/09/2021
The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha
Rights activists Shoma Sen and Sudha Bharadwaj are lodged in this prison.
On September 17, a local health post in Mumbai’s E ward was notified about a sudden increase in “fever” cases inside Byculla women’s prison. The cause of the fever was unknown, but the prison authorities had seen this pattern many times in the past year. The ward authorities set up a fever camp two days later, on September 19. The initial figures suggested three women were down with COVID-19. In subsequent camps, another 36 people – including six children under the age of six – tested positive. The jail, with close to 300 women prisoners, was soon sealed. Read more
43 inmates, including at least four children, test positive in Mumbai’s Byculla prison
26/09/2021
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
The jail has not been declared a containment zone yet.
The number of inmates who contracted the coronavirus disease in Mumbai’s Byculla prison rose to 43 on Sunday. This includes at least four children, who continue to stay with their mothers…
The prison holds inmates like Elgar Parishad accused Sudha Bharadwaj, Jyoti Jagtap and Shoma Sen. Read more
Press Release
Friends and Family of Sudha Bharadwaj are extremely worried over the alarming and disturbing news of the rising Covid-19 infection in Byculla women’s jail forcing the authorities to seal the premise.
Last week, in a prison supervised phone conversation Koel Sen had with her mother Shoma Sen, former professor of English from Nagpur University, arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case and incarcerated for the last three years in Byculla prison without trial, it was informed that 20 inmates from the prison were infected, which appears to have now risen to 39!
Three women political prisoners, Shoma Sen, Sudha Bharadwaj and Jyoti Jagtap, all arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case for the past three years without trial and bail, are housed in the women’s prison of Byculla jail. Alarmingly, two out of the 20 infected are from the barrack that houses 40 senior women inmates, including 61-year-old Shoma Sen and 59-year-old Sudha Bharadwaj. The barrack of 40 senior citizen women inmates is fully vaccinated, however the virus infection of the two fully vaccinated women has sent fear and concern to all the women inside the prison and their family waiting for them in their homes. …
The situation has got precarious with COVID infection spreading in their barrack in Mumbai’s Byculla Jail. The Stan Swamy case should not be allowed to be repeated.
Bhima Koregaon accused activists Shoma Sen and Sudha Bharadwaj who are languishing in the Byculla Jail of Mumbai after being accused of conspiracy against the state by the National Investigating Agency(NIA), are facing a serious danger to their lives. At least 20 persons have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 at Byculla women’s jail, according to Koel Sen, daughter of activist Shoma Sen. Read more
Inmate found COVID-19 positive in barrack holding Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sen
20 women, 5 children test Covid positive in Byculla women jail, 10 in male ward
25/09/2021
The Indian Express / by Express News Service
A prison official said that those who tested positive have been shifted to a nearby school. One of the prisoners, who is a senior citizen, has been shifted to a civic hospital. There are over 450 prisoners in Byculla prison. Read more
Inmate found COVID-19 positive in barrack holding Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sen
23/09/2021
The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal
Both of them have tested negative on the RTPCR test, says DIG.
A senior citizen inmate, lodged in the same barrack as Sudha Bharadwaj and Shoma Sen at the Byculla jail, was found COVID-19 positive on Thursday.
Confirming it with The Hindu, DIG Yogesh Desai said, “One senior citizen who was given one dose of vaccination has tested positive and has been shifted to a temporary COVID Center next to the jail.”
He said Ms. Sen and Ms. Bharadwaj have tested negative on the RTPCR test. Read more
Days after special NIA court rejects Shoma Sen’s medical bail plea, daughter alleges two co-prisoners tested Covid-positive
23/09/2021
The Leaflet / by The Leaflet
More than 20 COVID cases reported in Byculla women’s jail.
At least 20 persons have allegedly tested positive for COVID-19 at Mumbai’s Byculla women’s jail, according to Koel Sen, daughter of activist Shoma Sen who is presently lodged in the jail. Earlier on Thursday, September 23, 2021, Koel reportedly spoke with her mother Shoma over an official call supervised by the jail superintendent, where she was informed of the same. Read more
NIA Court refuses medical bail to four Bhima Koregaon accused; citing past precedent, two other accused activists seek laptops in jail
22/09/2021
The Leaflet / by Sabah Gurmat
Shoma Sen, Vernon Gonsalves, Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde had applied for bail.
On Tuesday, 21 September 2021, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai rejected the bail applications filed on behalf of four of the senior citizens accused in the Bhima Koregaon case…
Notably, three of the Bhima Koregaon accused – Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira and Surendra Gadling – were also produced in-person at the special NIA court in Mumbai. The three argued before court by themselves. Read more
NIA Court rejects medical bail to Shoma Sen
22/09/2021
Sabrang / by Sabrang
She was arrested in June 2018, and has been in jail since then, with no relief.
… Further, as per media reports, the court has also rejected the applications filed by co-accused Sudha Bharadwaj, Hany Babu and Gautam Navlakha for a copy of the draft charges filed by National Investigation Agency (NIA) that has reportedly submitted a list of seventeen draft (proposed) charges against the 15 accused, including the serious charge of waging a war against the country, which is punishable with death or imprisonment for life (section 121 of the Indian Penal Code)… Read more
Shoma Sen
Rona Wilson
Gautam Navlakha
Hany Babu
Sudha Bharadwaj
Special NIA Court Rejects Professor Shoma Sen’s Interim Medical Bail Plea In Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Case
22/09/2021
Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim
A special NIA court on Tuesday refused interim medical bail to Shoma Sen, a former professor at Nagpur University, who was arrested in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgaar Parishad caste violence case in 2018…
Meanwhile, the court has extended co-accused researcher Rona Wilson’s interim bail by three days…
Lastly, the court rejected an application filed by accused Gautam Navlakha, Hany Babu and Sudha Bharadwaj seeking a copy of draft charges submitted by NIA. Read more
Shoma Sen
Anand Teltmumbde
Gautam Navlakha
Vernon Gonsalves
NIA court reject medical bail pleas of four Bhima-Koregaon case accused
21/09/2021
The Hindu / by Sonam Saigal
The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Tuesday rejected the medical bail applications filed by senior citizens Shoma Sen, Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha and Vernon Gonsalves.
Special Judge D.E. Kothalikar rejected the pleas by relying on recommendations from the high-powered committee set up to decongest prisons owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more
