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Tag: UAPA

Arrests in Bhima Koregaon case frame a transformation in India’s polity and police force

Arrests in Bhima Koregaon case frame a transformation in India’s polity and police force


Watch music video: Wake Up Call

The Indian Express / by Christophe Jaffrelot

The current usage of the expression “urban Naxal” owes much to Bollywood film director Vivek Agnihotri, who defines an “urban Naxal as an intellectual, influencer or activist who is an invisible enemy of India”. The idea of such a conspiracy was propagated, however, by the Sangh Parivar.
In October, Stan Swamy, an 83-year old Jesuit priest, was sent to judicial custody in the Bhima Koregaon case. His is the latest arrest in a case that illustrates a significant transformation in India’s polity and the country’s police force.
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Call to Dalits, minorities to join protest / Webinar report: Stand With Stan

Call to Dalits, minorities to join protest / Webinar report: Stand With Stan

Call to Dalits, minorities to join protest

28/10/2020

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

Representatives of Christian and rights organisations hint at urgent need for the convergence against the current ‘fascist’ forces.
Christian organisations and human right groups have called for Dalits, tribal and minorities to join hands with other concerned citizens and protest attempts by the central government to silence voices of dissent by misusing the anti-terror law UAPA.
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Bhima Koregaon Case: A Critical Appraisal: Our Call – Free them All

27/10/2020

Countercurrents / by Dr Prakash Louis

Background to Bhima Koregaon Event
The 1818 Battle of Koregaon is of importance for Dalits. On 1st January, 1818, 800 troops of the British Army, with large number of Mahars, Dalit Community of Maharashtra predominant among them, defeated a numerically superior force of the Peshwa Baji Rao II …
On 1st January, 2018, like every year, lakhs of Dalits poured into Bhima Koregaon. The commemoration has a record of being conducted peacefully and the village’s residents have a history of social harmony. But this year, tensions had begun to build in a neighbouring village over the question of which community had conducted the last rites of Maratha ruler Sambhaji – the Mahars or the Marathas.
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Webinar report: Stand With Stan

27/10/2020

Countercurrents / by Indian Christians for Democracy

A webinar was organised with major initiative of Indian Christians for Democracy on 25th October, Sunday, 2020 from 11.00 to 1.00 pm …
The objectives of the webinar were 1) Keep pressure on for the release of all falsely accused and arrested; 2) False accusation, detention and arrest becomes a debating point and the government gives up this practice; 3) Nation-wide demand for the repeal of UAPA.
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Court takes cognizance of NIA’s supplementary chargesheet; says prima-facie material exists

Court takes cognizance of NIA’s supplementary chargesheet; says prima-facie material exists


Ranchi, Oct 2020

Free Press Journal / By Staff Reporter

The seven accused Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha, Hany Babu, Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, Jyoti Jagtap and Stan Swamy have been charged for criminal conspiracy among other offences under the IPC and under sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
The court noted that in view of the aforesaid allegations and considering the material available on record, it finds that there is prima-facie material on record against the accused persons to take cognizance of the offences. Hence, cognizance is taken.
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PUCL and opposition political parties demand release of Stan Swamy and repeal of UAPA

PUCL and opposition political parties demand release of Stan Swamy and repeal of UAPA


+++ Read report of the virtual press conference organized by the PUCL / Watch the various video statements given during the press conference +++

PUCL and opposition political parties demand release of Father Stan Swamy and repeal of UAPA

22/10/2020

Frontline / by Anupama Katakam

A multi-party press conference organised by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) condemned the arrest of Father Stan Swamy, a tribal rights activist and social worker based in Ranchi, Jharkhand. Swamy is the latest victim of the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) mission to hunt down people reportedly linked to the Bhima Koregaon incident, which the agency says was orchestrated by Maoist groups…
Leaders from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren have demanded Swamy’s release and said a movement to repeal the archaic and dangerous Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), under which activists, intellectuals and lawyers have been arrested, must gain momentum.
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‘Today it was Stan Swamy, tomorrow it will be us’: Opposition leaders call for repeal of UAPA

21/10/2020

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Hemant Soren, MPs Shashi Tharoor, Supriya Sule and Kanimozhi urged the people to speak up against the Centre’s attempts to ‘chip away at the rights of people’.
Opposition leaders on Wednesday expressed solidarity with 83-year-old Jesuit priest and human rights activist Stan Swamy, who has been detained under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence case along with several other activists.
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Opposition leaders condemn arrest of activist Stan Swamy, demand repeal of UAPA

21/10/2020

The New Indian Express / by Express News Service

Leaders from the Congress, Left and DMK slammed the arrest of octogenarian Stan Swamy over alleged links with the Bhima Koregaon case.
NEW DELHI: Leaders from across the political spectrum called for the repeal of UAPA and said there was an urgent need for Opposition parties to unite to fight the ruling party in order to protect the country’s constitutional values.
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Report and Videos of the PUCL Press Conference: The Bhima Koregaon Conspiracy Case

Report and Videos of the PUCL Press Conference: The Bhima Koregaon Conspiracy Case

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

By People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)

Report of the Virtual Press Conference held on 21st October, 2020 organised by the PUCL

Opposition Leaders, Civil Society denounce arrest of Stan Swamy and other activists in Bhima Koregaon case;
Call for repeal of UAPA!

► The videos of speeches of speakers are available here
► The documents are available here

Introduction
PUCL organised a virtual Press Conference on 21st October, 2020 to condemn the illegal arrest of Fr. Stan Swamy of Jharkhand and 15 other activists in the Bhima Koregaon case. The Press Conference was to create a platform for different civil society groups and political parties to jointly condemn the brazen abuse of UAPA by the Central Government against dissenters and demand repeal of draconian anti-human rights laws like UAPA and anti-sedition law. The following is a summary of the speeches made by different speakers.
…

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UN High Commissioner Bachelet dismayed at restrictions on NGOs and arrests of activists in India

UN High Commissioner Bachelet dismayed at restrictions on NGOs and arrests of activists in India

By United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner

News Release
GENEVA: – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday appealed to the Government of India to safeguard the rights of human rights defenders and NGOs, and their ability to carry out their crucial work on behalf of the many groups they represent…
Read full statement

How the Right Is Starting a Psychological War by Targeting the Old and Ageing

How the Right Is Starting a Psychological War by Targeting the Old and Ageing

How the Right Is Starting a Psychological War by Targeting the Old and Ageing

13/10/2020

The Wire / by Ajay Gudavarthy

The right seems to believe that given the cultural codes of Hindu way of life, dispensing with the old will meet less protest and resistance from the society – creating a scope for more fear and less resistance.
… It began with the murders of Govind Pansare, Narendra Dabholkar and Kalburgi – all of them into their 70s, and more recently the arrest of Varavara Rao, and now Stan Swamy, both into their 80s.
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There is an environment of fear in India. The State must renew the commitment to rights

12/10/2020

Hindustan Times / by Hindustan Times

The action against a range of intellectuals and activists and journalists – Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand Teltumbde, Stan Swamy, Apoorvanand, Harsh Mander are among the better-known examples – indicates that the space for free expression and dissent is jeopardised.
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NCRB 2019 data shows 165% jump in sedition cases, 33% jump in UAPA cases under Modi govt

12/10/2020

The Print / by Leah Verghese

In recent years, sedition and UAPA have been weaponised against critics of the govt. National Crime Records Bureau’s recently-released data confirms this.
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Video: We Stand With Stan Swami / Protests in Jamshedpur, Patna & Bangalore (pictures)

Video: We Stand With Stan Swami / Protests in Jamshedpur, Patna & Bangalore (pictures)


en | 3:28min | 2020

By Karwan e Mohabbat

The NIA arrested the 83-year-old, human rights activist and Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy on 8th October, 2020. They have accused him of having active links with Maoists and linked his name with the Bhima Koregaon case. Stan Swamy has spent more than 3 decades fighting for the rights of tribals in Jharkhand. The charges against him are vicious and inhuman.
#WeStandWithStanSwamy
Watch video

Protests in Jamshedpur, Patna and Bangalore

11/10/2020

By Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha

Protest in Jamshedpur today by several organisations against Stan Swamy’s arrest and attack on democracy. The main demands were to release Stan and all political prisoners and repeal UAPA, NSA & 124A.

Click to enlarge pics

Protests happening across the country against Stan Swamy’s arrest.
This is Patna, Bihar and Bangalore, Karnataka.

IIM Director on UAPA: Progressive Society will Not have Law that Inflicts Punishment Without Guilt

IIM Director on UAPA: Progressive Society will Not have Law that Inflicts Punishment Without Guilt

News 18 / by Eram Agha

Expressing displeasure at the amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act (UAPA) 2019, Errol D’Souza, the director of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad said that a progressive society will not have such a law…
Persecuted Prisoners Solidarity Committee as mentioned in the tweet of the director was founded with the motive of fighting for the adivasis and marginalized in the armed conflict zones of central and eastern India. Activists, academic Stan Swamy, Sudha Bharadwaj, Partho Sarothi Ray are associated with the platform.
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Branding Innocent Citizens As Terrorists: UAPA, A Law On Loose

Branding Innocent Citizens As Terrorists: UAPA, A Law On Loose

The Logical Indian / by Abha Singh

Abha Singh, a former civil servant and an advocate, writes on how UAPA has been misused to arrest those who disagreed and criticized with the policies of the State.
What do Varavara Rao, an 80-year-old Marxist poet from Telengana, Sudha Bharadwaj, a 60-year-old civil rights activist who spent 30 years working for the marginalized in Chhattisgarh, Hany Babu, an English professor in DU, Arun Ferreira, a lawyer in Mumbai, young student activists Natasha Narwal, Safoora Zargar, Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid have in common?
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