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Tag: UAPA

Narendra Modi’s Government Is Using False Charges of Terrorism to Repress Its Opponents

Narendra Modi’s Government Is Using False Charges of Terrorism to Repress Its Opponents

Jacobinmag / by P.M. Tony & Lotika Singha

Radical priest Stan Swamy was one of India’s leading social activists. Modi’s government is to blame for his death while awaiting trial on bogus terror charges, but the clampdown won’t snuff out the inspiring legacy of Swamy’s work with Adivasi communities.
Under the rule of Narendra Modi, the Indian state has launched a sweeping authoritarian clampdown on political dissent. One of the manifestations of this onslaught has been the jailing of opponents on trumped-up charges of terrorism and conspiracy.
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PUDR: When The Process becomes The Punishment

PUDR: When The Process becomes The Punishment

Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) / by PUDR

Tomorrow, 14th April 2022 marks the completion of two years of PUDR activist Gautam Navlakha’s surrender before the NIA. One of sixteen accused in the infamous Bhima Koregaon case, Gautam has been imprisoned in Taloja Central Jail, Navi Mumbai since 25 May 2020.  For more than six months now, since 12 October 2021, the nearly 70 years old Gautam, an undertrial suffering from multiple health problems has been in solitary confinement in one of 33 cells in the ‘anda’ circle, the High Security Area of Taloja Jail, a space meant to segregate those guilty of heinous crimes.
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Also read:
● How the ‘anda cell’ is used to discipline prison inmates (The Indian Express │ Oct 2021)
● System of solitary confinement, ‘Anda Cell’, inside the jail be stopped (Groundxero │ Oct 2021)

‘Blot on democracy’: Shashi Tharoor moves Bill to repeal UAPA

‘Blot on democracy’: Shashi Tharoor moves Bill to repeal UAPA

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

In his private member’s Bill, the Congress MP described the law as a ‘tool of abuse’ as its conviction rate since 2014 has been only 2.4%.
… To buttress his arguments against the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Tharoor has mentioned in his Bill, the cases related to tribal rights activist Stan Swamy and Kerala-based journalist Siddique Kappan, who were charged under the Act.
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Bombay HC to hear Anand Teltumbde’s appeal challenging rejection of bail on April 7

Bombay HC to hear Anand Teltumbde’s appeal challenging rejection of bail on April 7

Bombay HC to hear Anand Teltumbde’s appeal challenging rejection of bail on April 7

31/03/2022

The Leaflet / by Sabah Gurmat

On Thursday, the Bombay High Court’s division bench of Justices S.B. Shukre and G.A. Sanap decided to post the matter of Bhima Koregaon (Elgar Parishad) accused Anand Teltumbde’s plea challenging his rejection of bail, to April 7. The 71-year old Teltumbde is an academic and activist who has been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UAPA], and the High Court had been hearing his bail plea as well as a petition challenging the conditions for bail under Section 43D(5) of the UAPA.
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Anand Teltumbde’s bail hearing commences before Bombay HC

30/03/2022

Sabrang / by Sabrangindia

Apart from arguing for bail, Dr Anand Telmumbde, a renowned academic, will through his counsel, also be challenging the constitutionality of Section 43(D)(5 of the Unlawful Practices Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
Behind bars since April 14, 2020, Dr Anand Teltumbde a well-known academic, will through his counsel, Mihir Desai interrogating the anomalies in investigation and prosecution by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) apart from seriously questioning the mode and matter of garnering evidence in connection with his name being tragged into the Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case.
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Bhima Koregaon case trial not likely to begin soon, says activist Anand Teltumbde as he seeks bail

31/03/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

His lawyer told the Bombay High Court that the NIA has claimed Teltumbde is a member of a terrorist group but he has not been charged with any acts of violence.
The trial in the Bhima Koregaon case is not likely to begin anytime soon, activist Anand Teltumbde told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday as he sought bail, reported PTI.
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NIA can’t label me terrorist in absence of direct evidence, Teltumbde tells HC

30/03/2022

Free Press Journal / by Narsi Benwal

A bench of Justices Sunil Shukre and Govind Sanap was hearing a plea filed by Teltumbde through senior advocate Mihir Desai, seeking bail.
One of the prime accused in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case – academician Anand Teltumbde on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that the NIA, which is investigating the case, has labelled him as a terrorist without attributing any direct evidence against him. He accordingly, sought bail.
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21 European MPs Express Concern at Treatment of Rights Activists / Solidarity at International Women’s Day

21 European MPs Express Concern at Treatment of Rights Activists / Solidarity at International Women’s Day

21 European MPs Write to Modi Expressing Concern at Treatment of Rights Activists

08/03/2022

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

The MEPs highlighted three particular cases: the arrest of 16 activists in the Elgar Parishad case, the arrest of 13 activists in connection with the protests against the CAA and the detention of Kashmiri activist Khurram Parvez.
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by FLD Brussels (March 8)

Members of @Europarl_EN sent a letter to high level authorities in #India raising the alarm over the dramatic escalation in arrests of HRDs under the #UAPA, incl the #BhimaKoregaon case, CAA protesters & #KhurramParvez, which they condemn in the strongest terms.

Read full letter & signatories at the website of MP Alviina Alametsä
Read full letter

click to enlarge

Rally at International Women’s Day, Berlin (Germany)

08/03/2022

By India Justice Project

On #InternationalWomensDay we remember especially the #womenpoliticalprisoners incarcerated by the Indian govt. In speaking out against their imprisonment, we speak out, too, for the multitudes of people whose struggles they have taken on and carry forward.

Banner: Free all political prisoners in India
The Security Playbook Used To Erode Democracy In Modi’s India & How The Tide Might Turn

The Security Playbook Used To Erode Democracy In Modi’s India & How The Tide Might Turn

article 14 / by Shamik Bag

By using security laws, deploying surveillance technology, and leveraging potent national interest narratives, Narendra Modi’s Hindu-first government has targeted critics and eroded the rule of law in India—often in violation of the Constitution, using legal loopholes and grey areas. Through the lens of the notorious Bhima Koregaon case, we investigate these tactics in-depth, and report how citizens are fighting to preserve the world’s largest democracy.
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High Court seeks assistance of Attorney General in Teltumbde’s UAPA challenge

High Court seeks assistance of Attorney General in Teltumbde’s UAPA challenge

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

The plea filed by accused Anand Teltumbde has challenged the provisions under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act pertaining to bail and misuse of the term “front organisation” by NIA.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday sought the assistance of Attorney General for India KK Venugopal in a plea filed by Bhima Koregaon accused Anand Teltumbde challenging provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
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How Modi has Depressed Indian Democracy

How Modi has Depressed Indian Democracy

Intpolicydigest.org / by Manas Nag

In July of last year, Stan Swamy, a prominent tribal rights activist, passed away at a hospital in Mumbai. The 84-year-old became India’s oldest political prisoner and remained in custody for eight months while his bail plea on medical grounds was repeatedly rejected. Riddled with Parkinson’s disease, Swamy’s health deteriorated to the point where he could not feed himself. He was eventually moved to a hospital in May where he contracted COVID-19. Swamy was charged and arrested in 2020 under a draconian anti-terror law called the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) – an accusation he categorically denied.
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UAPA and the many victims of the Republic of India

UAPA and the many victims of the Republic of India

AskIndiaWhy / by AskIndiaWhy

January 26 is India’s Republic Day, when the government will conduct an elaborate parade under the vanity of national pride as the world’s largest democracy — supposedly guaranteeing liberty, equality and freedom of speech. 
India’s Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) was established in 1967 with the purpose of centralising political power to prevent “unlawful activities” and upkeeping the integrity of India’s sovereign democratic status.
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Also watch/read:
● Video: International Solidarity Statement, 73rd Republic Day of India (InSAF / Jan 2022)
● On R-Day, Diaspora Groups Call for Release of Anti-CAA Protestors Charged Under UAPA (The Wire / Jan 2022)

India’s government unleashing controversial UAPA as means of silencing civil rights activists

India’s government unleashing controversial UAPA as means of silencing civil rights activists

Daily Maverick / By Anandaroop Sen

In this interview, Anandaroop Sen, a senior lecturer in history at the University of Cape Town, talks to Kavita Srivastava, the President of the Rajasthan Chapter of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties and one of India’s most respected activists, about the clampdown and what it represents for the future of human rights in India.

Anandaroop Sen (AS): Could you begin by giving the context in which the 16 Indian academics, activists, lawyers, popularly known as the Bhima Koregaon 16 (BK 16) have been imprisoned by the Narendra Modi-led BJP government for the last three years.
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