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Video: The Digital Surveillance Crisis and Threats to Human Rights Defenders

21/10/2021 Asha

By Access Now

This event discusses how states, facilitated by private companies, are unlawfully deploying targeted surveillance technologies against civil society around the world.
The biennial General Assembly resolution on human rights defenders that will be considered at its 76th session offers is an opportunity to discuss the effects of digital surveillance on the activities and safety of human rights defenders and their rights to privacy and freedom of expression, and to adopt measures that would allow defenders to continue exercise their human rights unhindered.

Video: UN General Assembly Side Event

en | 1h 33min | 2021

Watch at YouTube

Also read:
● Pegasus Project: 161 Names Revealed By The Wire On Snoop List So Far (The Wire, Aug 2021)
● Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / Jul 2021)

The Prison Song of Surendra Gadling

17/10/2021 Asha

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

While out on temporary bail in August, the rights activist sang a song written by Kabir Kala Manch’s Ramesh Gaichor for his friends and colleagues about the sordid conditions in prison.
Mumbai: Surendra Gadling, a human rights lawyer from Nagpur, has always considered courtrooms his stage. Between serious arguments, he would casually break into songs of cultural and political resistance. He would be commonly found invoking political theories and remembering shahirs from the Dalit community amid serious legal arguments. His court appearances usually attracted an eager audience from among his peers and junior lawyers.
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Video: The Prison Song of Surendra Gadling

hindi | 11min | 2021

51- year-old Gadling, a well-known criminal lawyer in Nagpur, was once a cultural activist, who sang songs of political resistance. The 11- minutes- long rendition tells you what it means to be incarcerated in Indian prisons. From food, water, to medical care, everything is a struggle, Gadling narrates. The song was recorded by one of Gadling’s colleagues and was made available to The Wire after obtaining his consent.
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Also read: India’s Jail Stats: 7 In 10 Undertrials, 1 In 3 Dalit/Adivasi (IndiaSpend / Oct 2021)

Judicial probe plea on Stan Swamy arrest anniversary / Stan Swamy a Symbol for Justice & Hope

09/10/2021 Asha

Judicial probe plea on Stan Swamy arrest anniversary

09/10/2021

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

Over 150 rights activists staged a dharna for over two hours at the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi.
Protests and programmes were organised in Jharkhand, Kerala and Karnataka on Friday to mark the first anniversary of the arrest of octogenarian Jesuit priest and rights defender Father Stan Swamy who passed away in July this year in judicial custody.
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Dharna demands punishment of the perpetrators of Stan Swamy’s murder

By Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (Oct 8)

Oct 8, 2021. Dharna in front of Raj Bhavan in Ranchi

Various mass organizations and left parties demanding:
Punishment of the perpetrators of Stan’s murder!
Release all political prisoners!
Repeal UAPA!

Stan Swamy a Symbol for Justice & Hope

08/10/2021

By Jamsehdpur Jesuits

en | 3:15min | 2021
Fr. Jerry Cutinha, S.J, the Provincial of Jamshedpur Jesuits comes forward in recalling the footsteps of Stan Swamy as a symbol for Justice & Hope.
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by Teesta Setalvad (Oct 8):
LEST WE FORGET: A Day of Crime a Precious Life Lost! this day last yr, the Modi govt arrested Fr #StanSwamy via #UAPA. Never questioned in custody. Died in July, denied bail.

Testimony of Stan Swamy two days before his arrest

Oct 2020

Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha / by Stan Swamy

en | 7:48min | 2020
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Also read:
Why An Aged Defender Of The Deprived Faces Terror Charges (article 14, Nov 2020)

Video: Freedom For Varavara Rao

05/10/2021 Asha

en | 1h 5min | 2021

By Irish PEN and Scottish PEN

Join Irish PEN, Scottish PEN, Wales PEN Cymru and guests as we share readings, translations and updates on the case of revolutionary Indian poet, Varavara Rao.
This event was chaired by Professor Ignatius McGovern and featured a rare opportunity to hear from Rao’s nephew, Venugopal Nellutla, who published ‘The Making of Varavara Rao: An Intimate Portrait by a Nephew’ in 2020. The event includes a variety of poetry and prose readings from Áine Ní Ghlinn, Professor Bashabi Fraser, Leela Soma, Ifor ap Glyn, June Considine and Kate Ennals.
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Video: BK16 and the Incarceration of Justice / Film spotlights ‘price’ paid by Bhima Koregaon 16

18/09/2021 Asha

Video: BK16 and the Incarceration of Justice

18/09/2021

en | 13 min | 2021

By Karawan e Mohabbat

Tune in to find out who are #bk16 and why the state has left no stone unturned to charge them under the draconian #UAPA laws.
Watch video (08:00-22:01)

Film spotlights ‘price’ paid by Bhima Koregaon 16

18/09/2021

The Telegraph / by Pheroze L. Vincent

Produced by the Delhi-based NGO Karwan-e-Mohabbat, the 13-minute film edited and narrated by Anam Sheikh starts with the funeral service of the 84-year-old Father Stan.
At the beginning, Father Stan Swamy appears on screen to say that what is happening to him is not happening to him alone. The film ends with the Jesuit declaring he is “ready to pay the price, whatever it may be”.
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Video: One Year Of Incarceration – Free Sagar Gorkhe, Jyoti Jagtap and Ramesh Gaichor

08/09/2021 Asha

By Kabir Kala Manch

Performance

41 min | Sep 8, 2021

Protest against the arrest of Sagar Gorkhe, Jyoti Jagtap and Ramesh Gaichor
Watch video (Kabir Kala Manch fb page) here

The crushing power of street performances from the margins:
A profile of Kabir Kala Manch’s Sagar Gorkhe, Jyoti Jagtap and Ramesh Gaichor

By The Polis Project and maraa

Kabir Kala Manch
Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) is an urban grass-roots performance group at the helm of a socio-political movement rooted in cultural struggles of the most marginalized communities in India. KKM was formed by working-class youth from low-income Dalit and Bahujan caste communities in Pune as a response to the 2002 pogrom in Gujarat.
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Webinar: Remembering Stan Swamy

20/08/2021 Asha

en + kannada | 2h 16min | 2021

By National Campaign to Defend Democracy

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I am not a Silent Spectator

Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolarable, Justice so out of reach
An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection

Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages

Access a free PDF copy of the book here

Tributes to Stan Swamy / Daily wage earners vow to follow Father Stan Swamy’s ideals

17/08/2021 Asha

Bilaspur, Aug 14

Daily wage earners vow to follow Father Stan Swamy’s ideals

17/08/2021

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

The spontaneous decision was taken during a resolution meeting organised by Jharkhand Krantikari Mazdoor Union at Adivasi Basti in Kadma
Daily wage earners in one of the urban slums in the steel city took a resolve to follow the ideals of Father Stan Swamy on the country’s 75th Independence Day on Sunday.
The spontaneous decision was taken during a resolution meeting organised by Jharkhand Krantikari Mazdoor Union (JKMU) at Adivasi Basti in Green Park, Kadma.
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TN Assembly condoles demise of Stan Swamy, Aadheenam

17/08/2021

The New Indian Express / by Express News Service

The members of the House observed silence as a mark of respect for the departed souls.
The State Assembly on Monday condoled the demise of human rights activist Stan Swamy, Periyarist V Anaimuthu, Madurai Aadheenam Arunagirinathar, Tamil scholar Ilankumaranar, Dr S Kameswaran and nine former MLAs including Tindivanam K Ramamurthi and E Madhusudanan.
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An artistic tribute to tribal activist Father Stan Swamy

16/08/2021

The Times of India / By The Times of India

A collection of artists came together on Independence Day in a virtual performance to honour Father Stan Swamy, the 84-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist who passed away in a Mumbai hospital on July 5 after being jailed in the Elgar Parishad case.
‘Kelvi Koothu’ or Dirge for Democracy, a two-hour event, had a line-up which included gaana artist G Isaivani of the Casteless Collective who was included in the BBC’s top 100 women list of 2020 and others like Gana Muthu, Muniammal, Kachha (Dholak), Citizens’ Choir, Kattiyakaari, Kalaimamani Muthuchandran’s Tholpaavai troupe, Rithvik Raja and Praveen Sparsh.
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Video: A dirge for Democracy (Justice Rocks)

tamil | 1h 58min | 2021

By Vettiver Collective

The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Happy Independence Day is a greeting, a celebration, an opportunity to renew our commitment to safeguarding the Constitution of India and a reminder that democracy survives only if citizens actively thwart moves to curtail freedom. #Kelvi Koothu or Dirge for Democracy is that satirical, artistic reminder that a passive citizenry will herald the death of democracy. #FatherStan #IndependenceDay #August15 Catch the fantastic artist line up of Gana Muthu, Muniammal, G. Isaivani, Kachha (Dholak), Citizens’ Choir, Kattiyakaari, Muthuchandran’s Tholpaavai troupe, Rithvik Raja and Praveen Sparsh at #KelviKoothu.
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Video: Justice for Mahesh Raut / New website launched: Justice for Mahesh

08/08/2021 Asha

hindi │ 1h 17min │2021

Video: Justice for Mahesh Raut

08/08/2021

By family and friends of Mahesh

Our friend Mahesh, is spending his fourth year in jail. Without trial! Who is Mahesh though? Why is his story important? And why is he a threat to the powers that are?
Join us for an evening where we will discuss all this and more. Friends, family, colleagues and journalists will talk about Mahesh and why he is still in jail.
We will also be launching a website which documents much of Mahesh’s story through this event.
We miss our friend and we really hope we will see #JusticeForMahesh very soon!
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Twitter: @justice4mahesh