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SC Decision To Send Gautam Navlakha And Anand Teltumbde To Jail Is Cruel And Disappointing

SC Decision To Send Gautam Navlakha And Anand Teltumbde To Jail Is Cruel And Disappointing

By Amnesty International

Amid the spread of COVID-19, the Supreme Court of India’s order directing the arrest and imprisonment of two human rights defenders, Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha within a week, is disappointing. The order is also at odds with the court’s previous ruling where it directed the states to decongest the country’s overcrowded prisons to prevent the spread of the pandemic, thereby posing a risk to the health of the two activists, said Amnesty International India today.
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Campaign by AI: Demand The Release Of The Bhima Koregaon 9 Now!


In 2018, as part of a massive crackdown on human rights defenders in India, nine prominent activists– Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sen, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Arun Ferreira, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Vernon Gonsalves and Varavara Rao were arrested by the Pune Police.
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Video: Bhima Koregaon 9: Heroes Who Fight For Your Rights

en | 6:18 min | 2019
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Condemn the SC’s denial of relief & stand in solidarity with all voices for peoples’ rights!

Condemn the SC’s denial of relief & stand in solidarity with all voices for peoples’ rights!

CASR posters, 2018

By Campaign Against State Repression (CASR)

The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) calls on all democratic organisations and individuals to come together and condemn the denial of relief for Prof. Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha, stand in solidarity with all such voices of democracy and demand the immediate release of all political prisoners. Our unity at this time of crisis is all the more urgent and necessary for our silence in the time of injustice is bound to render us voiceless in the days to come. Let us unite and demand:
1. Immediate reprieve from arrest of Prof. Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha.
2. Immediate release of all political prisoners lodged in jails all over the country, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. Immediate release of all under-trial prisoners and persons convicted on minor charges to decongest prisons.
4. Action (with restraint in light of COVID-19) against the perpetrators of violence in the Bhima Koregaon case including Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote.
5. Repeal of all draconian laws like UAPA, NSA and PSA, among others.
Read full statement

UK Organisations condemn imminent arrest & demand release of all political rights activists

UK Organisations condemn imminent arrest & demand release of all political rights activists

aisa solidarity posters

Documented by Countercurrents

The police in the State of Maharashtra, India, acting at the behest of the central BJP Hindutva government, is forcing the arrest of Professor Dr Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha under August 2018 fabricated charges, accusing them of involvement in violence that occurred at Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018. …
To redeem the situation Indian government and the judiciary must:
– Grant bail to Dr Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha
– Immediately release all falsely implicated in the Bhima Koregaon case
– Release all Political Prisoners
– Repeal UAPA, NSA, AFSA and all other draconian laws
Read full statement

Koel Sen Pleads For Her Mother’s Release From Jail During A Pandemic

Koel Sen Pleads For Her Mother’s Release From Jail During A Pandemic

Amnesty International India / by Koel Sen

The last time I met my mother – Professor Shoma Sen, was on 29 February 2020 at the Byculla District Jail in Mumbai for 15 minutes. All meetings at the jail have been cancelled in the wake of the nation-wide lockdown announced from 25 March 2020. On Sunday, 5 April 2020, many heeded the Prime Minister’s call to light candles and show solidarity against the novel coronavirus. Meanwhile, some of us, families of the Bhima Koregaon arrestees, remained in the dark about the future of our loved ones.
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How 2-minute Phone Call Keeps Jailed Activists In Touch With Families

How 2-minute Phone Call Keeps Jailed Activists In Touch With Families


Drawing by Arun Ferreira

The Outlook / by Preetha Nair

Why is the Maharashtra government sitting on the Supreme Court order? Are they waiting for people to die in prison? ask kin of activists.
It had over a month since jailed activist Varavara Rao’s family had heard from him. They were anxious and desperate to know how the 80-year-old poet-activist-journalist, who has been languishing in prison for alleged links to Maoists, was doing.
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A letter to Anand Teltumbde, on his way to jail

A letter to Anand Teltumbde, on his way to jail

The Wire / by Vijay Prashad & Sudhanva Deshpande

‘You are being sent to jail because you are part of a tidal wave of dissent against this government and what it has done to Indian democracy.’

Dear Anand,
On Monday, there will probably be a knock on your door. Police officers are likely to arrive to arrest you. They will carry with them a range of papers, a file overflowing with notes that refer to the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Indian Penal Code.
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Court rejects bail pleas of Shoma Sen and Varavara Rao

Court rejects bail pleas of Shoma Sen and Varavara Rao

Drawing bei Arun Ferreira

The Free Press Journal / by Bhavna Uchil

A special court on Tuesday rejected the temporary bail pleas filed by civil activists Shoma Sen and Varavara Rao – accused in the Elgar Parishad case, on the grounds of the coronavirus pandemic.
Special NIA judge RR Bhosale observed while rejecting the bail pleas that the charges against the accused under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) are serious and the UAPA was not covered under the government notification for release of prisoners.
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Varavara Rao, Shoma Sen file for bail on medical grounds citing coronavirus outbreak

Varavara Rao, Shoma Sen file for bail on medical grounds citing coronavirus outbreak

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

Others seek directions to jail authorities for permission to talk on phone since prison visits are stopped.
Citing the spread of coronavirus, poet P Varavara Rao and retired professor Shoma Sen, among the nine persons accused in the Elgaar Parishad case, have sought temporary bail on medical grounds from a special court. The court Monday heard the arguments on their bail pleas. An order in the matter is likely to be passed Tuesday.
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ACTIVISTS SAY THEY ARE VULNERABLE TO COVID-19

31/03/2020

Mumbai Mirror / by David Delima

While Varavara Rao says he has respiratory problems, Shoma Sen says she has high blood pressure; a special court to pass order today … Activist and lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj, who has been in jail since August 2018, had also filed an application for bail, but the National Investigation Agency stated it had not received a copy of her application.
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Activists seek bail for political prisoners

Activists seek bail for political prisoners

The Hindu / by Staff Reporter

“COVID-19 outbreak an occasion to look at overcrowded prisons in country.”
A group of activists and intellectuals has sought bail or parole for political prisoners lodged in various jails.
In a letter to the Central and State governments, eminent persons such as writers Arundhati Roy, K. Satchidanandan and Meena Kandasamy, journalist B.R.P. Bhaskar and academics Dilip Menon and Benjamin Zachariah pointed out that the COVID-19 outbreak was also an occasion to look at the overcrowded prisons in the country.
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INTELLECTUALS APPEAL FOR RELEASE OF PRISONERS

30/03/2020

Kashimr Times / by KT News Service

New Delhi: About two dozen intellectuals, writers and academics of the country have made an urgent appeal to the government to ease the over-crowded prisons in view of the outbreak of Covid19 and also in keeping with the recent Supreme Court directive. They have sought release on bail or parole of at least some of the prisoners including political detenues from across the country.
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ACADEMICS SEND OPEN LETTER SEEKING BAIL FOR VARAVARA RAO, SUDHA BHARADWAJ

31/03/2020

The New Indian Express / by Prajanma Das

The Supreme Court has already directed the state governments to consider granting bail to remand prisoners, accused of committing crimes punishable with a maximum of seven years imprisonment.
Former Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba, Poet Varavara Rao, Dr Shoma Sen, Sudha Bharadwaj and several others including Padma and Veeramony in Tamil Nadu are in prison — either awaiting trial or are political prisoners of the state.
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