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Voices of poetry roar in solidarity with the call to release the poet Varavara Rao

Voices of poetry roar in solidarity with the call to release the poet Varavara Rao

A Message from Release the Poet Committee

04/11/2020

By Release the Poet

‘Unchain the Poetry’ was not a mere literary event or birthday celebration for us when we initiated it. Rather we conceived it as an expression of love, anger and conviction of the people on this side of barricade, as another form of resistance.
The overwhelming peoples’ response was indeed a signal to the state of fascism, which dares to confine the bravehearts of this land in prison for being righteous. Today, Poet Varavara Rao emerged as the flaming symbol of the imprisoned dissent. Thus this signal implies to all of the political imprisonment in India.
We salute the poets and activists for their expression of heartfelt love for their beloved poet and generous solidarity to the cause. Even after 12 PM last night (and still now) we are getting loads of poems and videos, which couldn’t be published by yesterday. But those are equally important.
HENCE WE WILL BE PUBLISHING ALL OF THOSE gradually from tomorrow as a continuation of the campaign.
And actually, the fight continues. So far the imprisonment continues – of VV, BK-16, Dr. GN Saibaba and all other political prisoners. We will not let it go, for sure.
As the ending line, for the impact created through this initiative RTPC expresses its indebtedness to Revolutionary Writers Association (RWA) in specific, and to all individuals & organisations at large, for their meaningful support.
Warmest Greetings from,
Release the Poet Committee
#releasethepoet #releasebk16 #ReleaseAllPoliticalPrisoners


Voices of poetry roar in solidarity with the call to release the poet Varavara Rao

03/11/2020

By Release the Poet

Salute Comrade, a glorious birthday! Our tribute will be in poetry, throughout the day.

Aruna Nellutla, VV’s niece, reads out for the poet
Ilika reads out for VV
Kodam Kumar reads out for VV
Shovana Nath reads out for VV
Amita Shereen reads out for VV
Baby Sau reads out for VV
Samiran Ghosh reads out for VV
Ipsa Shatakshi reads out for VV
Nalluri Rukmini reads out for VV
Kaushal Kishore reads out a poem for VV
Rahul Purakaystha recites VV
SAHAJA recites VV’s ‘Companion´
… and numerous others read out for VV

Watch videos on `Release The Poet´ fb page


A birthday behind bars: P Varavara Rao turns 80 years old

03/11/2020

Sabrang / by Sabrang India

Supreme Court has asked Bombay High Court to expedite Rao’s bail application hearing on medical grounds.
Today, November 3, Telugu revolutionary poet P Varavara Rao turns 80 years old. Perhaps if he was not in jail, his wife, daughters, nephews, nieces, would have made it into a day of big celebration. Perhaps he would have wanted to keep it low key instead, maybe just spend the day with his friends and family, sharing a meal, languid conversations, perhaps even a poetry reading or two. Instead the poet and activist will spend another day in jail. It just marks another year that he has been under punishment for his activism.
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Call: The Poetry of Freedom For the Caged Poet

31/10/2020

By Release the Poet

November 3 the People’s Poet Varavara Rao will turn 80. In this fiery time, he is the face of language of resistance. We are inviting the poets from across the country to recite in the honour of the prisoned poet, to reverberate his conviction in the air that day.
Publish the video of your recitation on your Facebook timeline on 3 November, 2020 and inbox the link to RELEASE THE POET Facebook Page or send it to the WhatsApp number given below (in that case, please don’t forget to use #ReleaseThePoet).
Or you can simply audio record your recitation and WhatsApp us along with your one still photograph. We will edit and publish that on our Facebook page (in this case, we need your audio recording and photograph by 2 November 10 P.M.).
Let the combined voices of poetry roar in solidarity with the call to ‘Release The Poet’.
On behalf of ‘Release The Poet’ –
Sabyasachi Deb & Rahul Purkayastha

RTP WhatsApp▪️982 00 839 11

SC Asks Bombay HC To Consider Varavara Rao’s Bail Application At The Earliest

SC Asks Bombay HC To Consider Varavara Rao’s Bail Application At The Earliest

Supreme Court Asks Bombay High Court To Consider Varavara Rao’s Bail Application At The Earliest

29/10/2020

Live Law / by Radhika Roy

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Bombay High Court to list the bail application of 81-year-old poet P. Varavara Rao, who is an undetrail in the Bhima Koregaon case, before the appropriate Bench and hear it at the earliest.
A Bench comprising of Justices UU Lalit, Vineet Saran and S. Ravindra Bhat expressed concern about the bail application filed on medical grounds not having been listed before the Bombay High Court since 17 September and directed the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court to list the same at the earliest.
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SC asks Bombay HC to expedite hearing Varavara Rao’s bail application

29/10/2020

The Leaflet / by The Leaflet

The Supreme Court Thursday asked the Bombay High Court to expedite the hearing of the bail application filed by noted poet Dr. Varavara Rao on medical grounds.
It also expressed concern at the delay in hearing Rao’s bail application which was last heard by the High Court on September 17 when one of the judges in a two-judge bench recused himself from the case. The Court also directed the High Court to examine whether Dr. Rao would be required to be treated in a speciality hospital.
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SC Declines to Order Transfer of Varavara Rao to Hospital

29/10/2020

The Quint / by Vakasha Sachdev

The bench headed by Justice UU Lalit requested the Bombay HC to take up the matter urgently.
The Supreme Court on Thursday, 29 October, declined to grant bail on medical/humanitarian grounds to 80-year-old Varavara Rao, one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case.
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SC asks Varavara Rao family to approach Bombay HC again

29/10/2020

The Hindu / by Krishnadas Rajagopal

Apex court requests HC Chief Justice to list case for hearing at the earliest.
The Supreme Court on Thursday did not order the immediate release from jail of ailing poet-activist Varavara Rao even as it voiced concern over a month-long delay witnessed in the Bombay High Court to hear urgent pleas for his liberty and medical treatment.
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Yet again: Supreme Court refuses to send back Poet Varavara Rao to hospital!

Yet again: Supreme Court refuses to send back Poet Varavara Rao to hospital!

Statement by Release the Poet

This November 3rd Varavara Rao will turn 80. And coming November 17th it will be two years of him being taken to custody by the Pune Police for his alleged connection with Maoists in the fabricated Bhima Koregaon Case.

By now, we all are aware of his health conditions. Last July he was diagnosed with Covid-19 and was admitted to Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai.

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A citizen objects – On the arrests of men and women of conscience

A citizen objects – On the arrests of men and women of conscience

The Telegraph / by Shiv Visvanathan

My father was a brilliant metallurgist who worked for the Tatas. We lived in Jamshedpur and would go for long walks. He loved the forests around the city. I remember one evening as we walked, the Tata ‘mountains’ poured out their slag — molten and incandescent — as if the Tatas made sunsets. Then, a few minutes later, the Dalma hills lit up as the tribals burnt an area for jhum cultivation. Both were brilliant sights and my father watched entranced. He then said, almost cryptically, “Both have to survive. Justice is balance between the two.” For my father, Tata’s validity lay in the continuity of the tribe. It was a vision of a different world.
When I heard of the Jesuit Father, Stan Swamy, I sensed here was a man who understood that vision, grasped why the tribes and the tribal way of life had to survive.
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Hyderabad actvist asks NHRC to look into Varavara Rao’s case

Hyderabad actvist asks NHRC to look into Varavara Rao’s case

The New Indian Express / by Express News Service

He requested the commission to take steps to provide medical care to Saibaba.
Hyderabad: MA Satyanarayana Rao, a city-based activist, has approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), requesting it to look into the alleged human rights violations to jailed Delhi University professor GN Saibaba and revolutionary poet Varavara Rao. He requested the commission to take steps to provide medical care to Saibaba.
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NIA Claims Arrested Accused Were Attempting to Create a ‘Dalit Militia’

NIA Claims Arrested Accused Were Attempting to Create a ‘Dalit Militia’

NIA Claims Arrested Accused Were Attempting to Create a ‘Dalit Militia’

21/10/2020

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

The NIA chargesheet has sidelined the Pune police’s earlier claim that the accused were plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mumbai: In the over 10,000-page chargesheet recently filed in the Elgar Parishad case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has stacked together statements by witnesses who have made claims ranging from arms training undertaken by a few arrested accused in the forests of central India to some trying to “reinvent Dalit militancy” in the country.
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Teltumbde brought Maoist literature, videos from abroad: NIA chargesheet

21/10/2020

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has alleged in its chargesheet filed in the Elgar Parishad case that former IIT professor Anand Teltumbde attended international conferences “under the guise of… academic visits abroad” and brought back Maoist literature and videos on “ideology, tactics, weapons” to show members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).
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CPI(M) gets Rs 3 crore a year from Maharashtra, MP & Chhattisgarh zone, says NIA chargesheet

21/10/2020

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

The National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) 10,000-page chargesheet in the Elgaar Parishad case relies on witness statements to draw up details about the banned CPI (Maoist), including its means of funding, training and recruitment.
According to a witness, members of the organisation collect Rs 350 per bag of tendua leaves – containing 1,000 pouches – as tax.
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NIA chargesheet claims triangular links between Delhi student front, accused and CPI (Maoist)

21/10/2020

Free Press Journal / by Bhavna Uchil

The chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad case has claimed a “concrete triangular link between a student’s organization functioning in New Delhi, arrested accused and CPI (Maoist) operating from the deep forest”.
It states that the issues related with the student front at JNU DSU are highlighted with some of the communication made with Maoist.
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Suppressing Dissent / Who is Really the Enemy of the People?

Suppressing Dissent / Who is Really the Enemy of the People?

Suppressing Dissent

20/10/2020

Medium.com / by Arun Simon

Dissent is rarely welcomed in any society. As power increases, appreciation of dissent decreases. Innumerable examples can be seen with dictators or absolute powers. It is also possible in religion, culture, and other domains… My country India, with all its high democratic values, is no different. The officially declared emergency(1975) may be the worst period in that line. But there are many unofficial competitors for the same today. The recent arrest of many social activists (latest in that line being Fr. Stan Swamy, a tribal activist) under a draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with many contemporary events raises serious questions.
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Who is Really the Enemy of the People?

20/10/2020

NewsClick / by Suhit K Sen

India will have to look to forces within the country to steer back towards political processes that incorporate opposition, dissent and diversity.
Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist, was arrested in Ranchi on 9 October. The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which carried out the arrest, claimed he was a member of the CPI (Maoist) organisation. It appears that anyone who works for Dalit rights, or is not in full agreement with the toxic ideology of the Sangh parivar, must be a Maoist.
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Other brothers behind Stan Swamy / Activists Under Detention for Their Words: Tharoor

Other brothers behind Stan Swamy / Activists Under Detention for Their Words: Tharoor

Other brothers behind Stan Swamy

18/10/2020

The Telegraph / by Jhinuk Mazumdar

The priest should be released, otherwise all minorities will come together and agitate in the country, the Imam of Nakhoda Mosque said.
The Centre should release Father Stan Swamy, otherwise all minorities will come together and agitate, an Imam of Nakhoda Mosque said at the end of a silent walk on Park Street expressing solidarity with the 83-year-old Jesuit priest.
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Tweet by Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, Oct 18: Jharkhand: MLA Bandhu Tirkey has written to President, home minister and PM asking for immediate release of Stan Swamy, closure of bhima-koregaon case, repeal of UAPA and amendment in NIA rules to respect federalism.

Click to enlarge

Activists Under Detention for Their Words: Tharoor

17/10/2020

News 18 / by pti

Pune: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said a large number of people, including activists Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj and Anand Teltumbde, are under detention for their words, although none of them is accused of hitting anyone or possessing a gun. He also said that words and ideas may outlast power and authority.
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Varavara Rao’s wife moves Supreme Court for his immediate release on medical grounds

Varavara Rao’s wife moves Supreme Court for his immediate release on medical grounds

Hindustan Times / by Kanchan Chaudhari

The wife of 82-year-old activist and poet Dr Varavara Rao, P Hemlatha, moved a writ petition in the Supreme Court (SC) for Rao’s immediate release on medical grounds. The petition says his custody amounts to cruel and inhuman treatment, violating Article 21 of the Constitution of India and is violative of his dignity in custody.
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‘Dr. Varavara Rao’s Health Condition Feeble’: Wife Moves SC For His Release On Medical Grounds

Live Law / by Sanya Talwar

Dr. P. Varavara Rao’s wife, Pendaya Hemlatha, has moved the Supreme Court in a writ petition for the immediate release of her husband basis medical grounds…
Filed on behalf of Senior Advocate Sunil Fernandes, the writ petition preferred under Article 32 of the Constitution states that Rao’s immediate release is pertinent from Taloja Central Jail, Maharashtra as his health condition is very feeble and that he suffers from various co-morbodities and not every person with Covid19 has similar symptoms.
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Media reports about the new 10,000 page chargesheet in the Bhima Koregaon case

Media reports about the new 10,000 page chargesheet in the Bhima Koregaon case


Drawing by Arun Fereirra

Chargesheet in Elgar Parishad case: CPI Maoist documents, letters on ‘anti-fascist front’ cited by NIA

14/10/2020

The Indian Express / by Deeptiman Tiwary

The agency last week submitted its first chargesheet in the case, which was filed in connection with the violence on January 1, 2018, in Pune.
Literature on 50 years of Naxalbari, CPI Maoist press releases, a guide on encrypted data communication on GSM network, a mini manual of “urban guerrilla”, “information literature related to weapon, bomb, mortar” and letters discussing issues like raising a militant “anti-fascist front” in the wake of attacks on Dalits and minorities — these are among key evidences cited by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against activists such as Stan Swamy, Hany Babu, Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde in the Elgar Parishad case.
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Milind Teltumbde organised weapons training in forests: NIA claims in its charge sheet

14/10/2020

National Herald / by IANS

Absconding accused Milind Teltumbde had organised arms training in the Korchi forest area of Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli for three activists of the banned organisation Kabir Kala Manch, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) claimed in its charge sheet filed in the Bhima Koregaon case last week. The three activists were Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor and Jyoti Jagtap…
The NIA also claimed that Delhi University Associate Professor Hany Babu, who was arrested from his residence in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida in July this year, was in contact with Paikhomba Meitei, Secretary I&P Military Affairs KCP (MC), an organisation banned under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
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NIA chargesheet says Stan Swamy received Rs 8 lakh for CPI-Maoist activities

13/10/2020

ANI / by Nishant Ketu

Stan Swamy, who was arrested last week from Ranchi in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon case, possessed Maoist propaganda material and received Rs eight lakh to carry out activities of the banned CPI-Maoist, NIA has said in its chargesheet.
The NIA said it among the documents seized from Swamy’ residence were “guide of encrypted data communication on GSM network”, “an essential underground handbook”, “letter between comrades for using encryption, “mini-manual of urban guerilla”.
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This is what NIA’s Bhima Koregaon chargesheet says about Stan Swamy

13/10/2020

India Today / by Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu

Stan Swamy is a Jharkhand-based Jesuit priest. He has been booked for criminal conspiracy under the Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act (UAPA). Here’s what the NIA chargesheet says about him.
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Gautam Navlakha Was In Touch with ISI Lobbyist, Says NIA Chargesheet

13/10/2020

News 18 / by Arunima

The NIA in its Elgar Parishad investigation has found a link between Pakistan’s ISI and the CPI-Maoist. The agency in its chargesheet has called activist Gautam Navlakha the link between the two.
The agency filed its first chargesheet in the special NIA court in Mumbai last week against eight people. Besides Navlakha, it named Hany Babu, Stan Swamy, Anand Teltumbde, Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, Jyoti Jagtap and Milind Teltumbde under several sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Prevention Activities Act.
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