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Statement by CMM-MKC and other workers unions: On the granting of bail to advocate Sudha Bharadwaj

Statement by CMM-MKC and other workers unions: On the granting of bail to advocate Sudha Bharadwaj

By CMM-MKC and other workers unions

Press Statement
On the granting of bail to advocate Sudha Bharadwaj by the Bombay High Court

On the 1st of December 2021, after having spent three years in jail on fabricated charges in the Bhima Koregaon case, Human Rights activist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj was granted bail by the Bombay High Court. We the undersigned unions and workers collectives welcome the judgement. It is a great relief for the working people of Chhattisgarh who have consistently campaigned against the illegal arrest of Sudha Bharadwaj and continuously demanded her release. It is important to note that Sudha Bharadwaj was granted bail because the chargesheet against her was not produced before the appropriate court within the legally specified time limit. There were 8 others along with Sudha Bharadwaj arrested under the same case whose bail was rejected on the same day. We express our deep disappointment at the courts decision to reject their applications for bail. It is amply clear that the 16 Human Rights activists, lawyers, artists and writers were arrested under false and fabricated charges in the Bhima Koregaon case. We the undersigned unions have condemned these arrests from the very beginning.

The granting of bail to Sudha Bharadwaj is most certainly a jolt to the current pro-corporate, brahminical, fascist central government, as is evident from how promptly they moved the Supreme Court to challenge the bail order. The very day after the judgment of the Bombay High Court was pronounced, the National Investigating Agency (NIA) was ready with their appeal to the Supreme Court to act against the granting of bail to Sudha Bharadwaj. They seem determined to ensure she is not released under any circumstance. All recent events have in any case pointed clearly to the fact that the NIA is not an independent invesitgation agency but in fact one that works simply like an arm of the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP). The NIA has been indiscriminately wielding the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) legislation against anyone who dares to exercise their democratic right to protest against the BJP. In such a scenario, we place all our hope and faith in the Supreme Court that it will uphold the democratic fabric of the country, uphold the notion of justice and grant Sudha Bharadwaj bail at the earliest.

It must be mentioned that Father Stan Swamy, one of the 16, aged 84, lost his life in custody while awaiting bail. Apart from the aforesaid Bhima Koregaon case, the draconian UAPA legislation was recently used once again to silence the democratic voices of the people of Chhattisgarh by arresting Human Rights Adivasi activist Hidme Markam on March 9 this year, at a program marking International Womens Day in Dantewada, Bastar. Hidme Markam has spent the last several years speaking out against the environmental destruction wrought by the government and large mining companies in Bastar. She has raised her voice against militarization and sexual violence against women in Bastar continuously perpetrated by the police and palamilitary.

The UAPA has been indiscriminately used to incarcerate dalits, adivasis and minorities in the country. Seveal arguments have been made and facts brought to light that clearly indicate why such a draconian legistaltion must be withdrawn. We the undersigned unions strongly and unequivocally support the demand to repeal the UAPA. We sincerely hope that Sudha Bharadwaj will be released from the four walls of prison and that she will be amongst us soon. We shall continue to campaign for the release for all those, who like her, have been arrested for fighting to uphold democratic values in this country, and further resolve to strengthen our campaign to demand the repeal of the UAPA.

Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (Mazdoor Karyakarta Samiti), Mahila Mukti Morcha, Nagari Nikay Janvadi Safai Kamgar Union, Pragatisheel Cement Shramik Sangh, Loktantrik Ispat evam Engineering Mazdoor Union, Jan Adharit Power Plant Workers Union, Jan Swasth Karamchari Union

As Sudha Bharadwaj Spends 4th Birthday in Jail, a Reminder That UAPA Enables Her Incarceration

As Sudha Bharadwaj Spends 4th Birthday in Jail, a Reminder That UAPA Enables Her Incarceration


Chhattisgarh, Nov 1, 2021

The Wire / by Mahtab Alam

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.
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Sudha Bharadwaj speaks – A Life in Law and Activism (PDF copy)

Sudha Bharadwaj speaks – A Life in Law and Activism (PDF copy)

By People’s Union for Civil Liberties

Sudha Bharadwaj speaks – A Life in Law and Activism

Publisher: Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)
Edition: January 2021
Language: English
Sudha Bharadwaj’s interview by: Darshana Mitra and Santanu Chakraborty
Pictures credit: PUCL
Cover Design / Layout: Vinay Jain
Paperback: 316 pages

Access a free PDF copy of the book here

Happy Birthday Sudha Bharadwaj – Various Solidarity Statements

Happy Birthday Sudha Bharadwaj – Various Solidarity Statements

Happy Birthday greetings from Chhattisgarh

By Ajay T.G.

Video: Happy Birthday Sudha didi

en / hindi | 2:09 min | 2020


Watch video

By Pragatisheel Cement Shramik Sangh (PCSS)

Video: Happy Birthday Sudhaji, from Pragatisheel Cement Shramik Sangh

hindi | 1:30min | 2020


Some of the tweets of today

Radhika: #SudhaBharadwaj is a ray of hope and light for thousands of workers and adivasis, who face oppression day in and out. She is an inspiration to all young people who want to work for justice and take forward Babasaheb’s ideas. Happy birthday Sister Sudha. #FreeSudhaNow #FreeBK16

***

Meera Sanghamitra: As I wish our dear Sudha a very happy birthday, I also imagine what a loss it is that a gem of a person has been deprived of working with all women, workers & adivasis closest to her heart for almost #800days now!
The World Salutes you Comrade.
#FreeSudhaBharadwaj #FreeBK16

***

Medha Patkar: sudha bhardwaj is behind the bars on her birthday for the 3rd time….her advocacy and commitment to the causes of the poor and courage to face the fascist forces … only to save the country…is a celebration of dedication…with heartfelt wishes Sudhaji.

***

Suchitra Vijayan: “We need groups organized to fight; they’re the ones who can make a dent.” It’s Sudha Bharadwaj’s birthday today; she’s has spent over two years in prison with no evidence. Read about her remarkable life and work. #FreeSudhaBharadwaj #FreeBK16

***

Chitrangada: “Contract workers like us could not dream of going up against such big companies in court if not for her standing by us.” “If not for her, hum aadivasiyon ko company paani mein bahaa deta.” On #SudhaBharadwaj ‘s birthday, a reminder of what her clients say

***

Joy: Sudha Bharadwaj. Born in US, Schooling in Cambridge. Gave up US Citizenship. IIT Kanpur Alumnus. Left top Job. Studied Law and practiced in High Court to protect rights of Poor. Now she is in Jail for over 2 Years as she crossed path of Government from exploiting the Poor.

***

Pranesh Prakash: Sudha Bharadwaj is one of the many courageous prisoners of conscience that the Indian state has jailed while under trial over trumped up charges. At the same time @amnesty, which was originally set up to campaign for prisoners of conscience has effectively been banned in India.

***

Neha Swetambari: It will be a movie script. IITian… left US passport. professor of law …was offered judge post in HC.single mom. yet worked tirelessly for underprivileged. As of now, she needs to be out though #SudhaBharadwaj especially if no evidence is presented till date.

***

Srinivas Kodali: Is 800 days good enough time to be imprisoned without trail with no evidence for an imaginary conspiracy plot in a democracy? #FreeSudhaBharadwaj

***

Jhuma: This is how the state rewards lawyers who care. #SudhaBharadwaj in prison for 2 years now without a trial.

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iStandWithFarmers: @PMOIndia if you are back from the photoshoot at the zoo, pl know that it has been more than 800 days since #SudhaBharadwaj had been jailed with no trial. All she was doing was strengthening the democracy at the grassroots, the same democracy which you were elected to represent

***

Gautam Bhatia: On Sudha Ji’s third birthday in jail, re-reading this piece about her: “The Sudha Bharadwaj the government doesn’t want you to know.”

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Sabrang: On occasion of activist Sudha Bharadwaj’s birthday, watch our video where activist Teesta Setalvad talks about her work, the undemocratic nature of her arrest and the conditions of women activists nationwide and globally. #HappyBirthdaySudha

***

The Wire: “Since they cannot fight her in court, they are calling her a Maoist. “They don’t have evidence, so they are converting the process itself into punishment,” wrote Smita Gupta, 2 years after Sudha Bharadwaj was arrested in Bhima Koregaon case.

***

Indias Tribals~Adivasi: Sudha Bharadwaj gave up her US citizenship to work for #tribal rights in Chhattisgarh. On occasion of Sudha Bharadwaj’s birthday today, take a look at her article on the #Adivasi people that she wrote back in 2015.

dialecticsoupy: release sudha bharadwaj. release all political prisoners.
artwork by sarah_modak


BEING SUDHA BHARADWAJ

By Release the Poet

Her 59th birthday.
And 3rd birthday in Jail!
What did she do to deserve this?

Sudha Bharadwaj threw off a cushy comfortable life that she could pursue easily being born and grown up to illustrious parents. At the age of 18 she denounced her US citizenship. Being an IIT graduate, she still could have chosen a less risky and easier life. But she opted for walking with the people, stand by the people in their rightful fight.
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Industriall Global Union: Calling for the release of sister Sudha Bharadwaj

Industriall Global Union: Calling for the release of sister Sudha Bharadwaj

By IndustriALL

Calling for the release of sister Sudha Bharadwaj, leader of Industriall Global Union affiliate Pragatisheel Cement Shramik Sangh Union

Geneva, 28 August 2020

Honourable President,
I am writing to you on behalf of IndustriALL Global Union,, which represents more than 50 million workers in the mining, energy and manufacturing sectors in 140 countries, including in India to call upon you to release our colleague and union activist, leader of Pragatisheel Cement Shramik Sangh union affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, who is kept in prison based on arbitrary and unclear accusations for already two years in India.

Full statement – click to enlarge
Sudha Bharadwaj urges court to stop harassment of her visitors

Sudha Bharadwaj urges court to stop harassment of her visitors


pic: Sudha Bharadwaj addressing a program in Chhattisgarh (CMM archive)

Hindustan Times / by Shalaka Shinde

Pune: A lawyer and civil rights activist, Sudha Bhardwaj was arrested from her house in Faridabad in August 2018 on charges of being an ‘urban Maoist’.
Sudha Bhardwaj, 58, one of the nine people arrested in the Elgar Parishad case, appealed to a court here on Monday to direct the police to stop “harassing” her visitors.
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Who is Vernon Gonsalves?

Who is Vernon Gonsalves?

By Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy

Characterised by a loose cotton half sleeve shirt, loose trousers, spectacles, a jhola and a hearty laughter, Vernon Gonsalves comes across as an effervescent wise man. Gonsalves gets along well with everyone from the age of six to sixty. His demeanour reflects an inner happiness. He started a band in college, but gave it up to be a part of people’s movements. His songs still hold the flavour of 70s rock.
Vernon’s pen is as sharp as his vision for an equitable, just society without distinctions of class, caste, race, with principles of gender equality and justice at its core. He is an acute political observer and makes nuanced arguments about complex sociopolitical-economic issues. Vernon has shown a keenness to understand the latest undercurrents in progressive politics.
He was born to a Mangalorean Catholic couple and grew up in a chawl in a modest locality in Byculla in Mumbai. Vernon was always good with academics and won a gold medal in Commerce from Mumbai University. Subsequently, he left his corporate job in Siemens to work with trade unions, workers, slum dwellers and the working class in Mumbai. During this period, he taught in prominent colleges in Mumbai including Ruparel College, HR College of Commerce and Economics, and Akbar Peerbhoy College of Commerce and Economics. Very few know that, in college he wanted to be a musician. Rumours say that he had also started a band but could not find meaning in it.
Around 1983, he moved to Chandrapur near Nagpur to work with unorganised sector workers including the coal-mine workers in the area. In 1984, he married fellow activist Susan Abraham. It was a union of two unique and fiercely independent minds. They worked in Chandrapur for a decade. After their son Sagar was born in 1994, they returned to Mumbai.
On 19 August 2007, the Maharashtra ATS arrested Vernon from his residence in Andheri, Mumbai. His arrest was falsely shown as from the residence of his co-accused S. Shridhar in Govandi. They were charged with being “top-level” Naxalites having explosives in their possession. For some months prior to this, Vernon had been working for the rights of tribal communities in the Maharashtra district of Chandrapur. 20 cases were filed against him. He spent nearly six years in jail while his trial dragged on as an undertrial. He was acquitted in 18 cases, convicted in one against which his appeal is pending in the Nagpur HC while the application for discharge in the last case in Gujarat is pending before the High Court.
During his years as an undertrial in jail, Vernon spent most of his time writing. He is now working on a collection of prison writings. He edited a set of short stories written while imprisoned, one of which, “Jailbird Jabbar” was written in a typical staccato Bambaiya patois style. He also translated stories by Annabhau Sathe from Marathi to English for Aleph Publication’s “A Clutch of Short Stories.” After his release he wrote articles on prevailing law, rights of Dalit and tribal communities, the condition of prisons in India, land grabbing by the nexus of Corporates and the Government, misuse of the criminal justice system by the governments against marginalised communities, and scrapping of UAPA. One of his last published articles titled “Harsher Punishments and Retributive Criminal Justice” is a landmark commentary on the trends of crime control vis-a-vis justice system in the country.
Vernon’s son Sagar sums what everyone close to him feels about him:
“Among the many things that I admire greatly about my father is his commitment to his beliefs and ideals.To stand up for what is right and help those whose rights are denied – he has always done that and will continue to do so. This did not deter him the last time and will not do it now as well. He has an unbreakable spirit and will always stay true to what he believes in.”

 

WHO IS VERNON GONSALVES?

By India Civil Watch

Vernon Gonsalves is trade unionist, activist, an academic (former professor of business management in a college in Mumbai) and a writer, who writes extensively on Dalit and adivasi rights, the conditions of prisons in India and the routine violation of rights of prisoners. Along with Arun Ferriera, he has authored a number of popular articles on the condition of Indian jails, the abuse of authority by Indian police, and draconian laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), a piece of ‘anti-terror’ legislation with a wide ambit and vague concepts, which allows its misuse against academics, lawyers and human rights defenders. Equally importantly, their writings expose the hypocrisy of democracy in India.

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Still in Jail, Inspite of Bail: The Case of Reliance Workers

Still in Jail, Inspite of Bail: The Case of Reliance Workers

Thozhilalar Koodam / By Thozhilalar Koodam

In January 2018, 5 electricity workers from Bombay were arrested on fabricated charges under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). After the police failed two deadlines for filing a chargesheet against them, and the prosecution did not even notify them of the extensions to their imprisonment, the High Court of Maharashtra ordered the sessions court to grant them bail on procedural reasons. This order was served in December 2018, 11 months after their arrests. But the sessions court has imposed conditions on bail that the workers have been unable to meet, thus leaving them in Jail for over two months since the bail was granted.
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Joint Trade Union Call: Drop the false charges against Prof. Anand Teltumbde Immediately

Joint Trade Union Call: Drop the false charges against Prof. Anand Teltumbde Immediately


We stand together to strongly condemn the baseless allegations and defamatory and concocted charges pressed against Prof. Anand Teltumbde by the Pune police, under the Unfair Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA), to wrongly frame him in the Bhima Koregaon case and to accuse him for plotting the assassination of the Prime Minister.
The police forces of the State of Maharashtra led a witch hunt of human rights activists, poets, teachers, lawyers and trade union leaders on 28 August 2018 across several locations in the country. It has viciously attacked those who fight for the rights of the working class, Dalits and the poor and marginalised and raise their voice against state repression. 
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