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Tag: Varavara Rao

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.

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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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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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Varavara Rao denied medical care: Family

Varavara Rao denied medical care: Family

Mumbai Mirror / by Shruti Ganapatye

Jailed activist and poet Varavara Rao is being looked after by co-prisoners Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira rather than competent medical authorities in Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai, his family have said.
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Stop the Incarceration and Targeting of Dissenters and Activists in India

Stop the Incarceration and Targeting of Dissenters and Activists in India

Statement by Progressive International

Members of the PI Council ring the alarm on arbitrary arrests and the breakdown of justice in India.
The conduct of the Indian Government is unacceptable in the international framework for the protection of human rights and runs counter to the Indian Constitutional framework.
The members of Progressive International call upon the Indian government to immediately stop persecuting non-violent protestors wrongly accused and booked by the police. 
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Rights bodies protest in Kolkata, alleges BJP govt trying to crush democratic movements

Rights bodies protest in Kolkata, alleges BJP govt trying to crush democratic movements

THE ROADS WERE NEVER QUIET!

By Release The Poet

CDRO called to observe Sept 22nd as a protest day countrywide against the ‘witch-hunts’ & undemocratic arrests of Bhima Koregaon-15 & others. The city of Kolkata reciprocated too.
Few glimpses of 22nd’s on-road protest, joined by 20+ organisations at Bowbazar, Kolkata.

Rights bodies protest in Kolkata, alleges BJP govt trying to crush democratic movements

Outlook / by pti

Kolkata, Sep 22 (PTI) Several Left-wing outfits and rights bodies staged a demonstration in Kolkata on Tuesday against the arrest of activists by the BJP-led government at the Centre, which they alleged was using the NIA to crush democratic movements.
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