videos – Page 12 – free them all

Video: The Needle of Doubt is Now on All Matters, says Mihir Desai / India’s democracy in decline

12/02/2021 Rani

Video: Not Just Bhima Koregaon, the Needle of Doubt is Now on All Matters, says Mihir Desai

12/02/2021

hindi | 23:12min | 2021

Newsclick / Bhasha Singh in conversation with Mihir Desai

In a special offering by Newsclick, senior journalist Bhasha Singh spoke to Mihir Desai, a senior advocate at the Bombay High Court about the new revelation by The Washington Post in the Bhima Koregaon case which has revealed that offensive material was planted through a software on arrested political activist Rona Wilson’s laptop. The disclosure is important because it almost makes it clear that electronic evidence was planted in the Bhima Koregaon case and there is a strong sense of fear that it may happen in other cases as well.
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Also Read: Computer of Rona Wilson was compromised, malware planted from outside: US Forensic Firm report (Feb 10, 2021)

India’s democracy in decline

12/02/2021

Washington Post / by Joanna Slater and Niha Masih

The future of the world’s largest democracy is looking increasingly less democratic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most dominant Indian leader in five decades, while the country’s independent institutions have rarely appeared weaker…
One case in particular has become a litmus test for the rule of law and freedom of expression in India. Three years ago, police in a state controlled by Modi’s party began arresting activists under a stringent anti-terrorism law.
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Our battle for love must be militantly waged – and beautifully won / Video: Free BK16

30/01/2021 Rani

Arundhati Roy: Our battle for love must be militantly waged – and beautifully won

30/01/2020

Scroll.in / by Arundhati Roy

The text of Arundhati Roy’s speech at the Elgar Parishad 2021 on January 30.
I thank the organisers of the 2021 Elgar Parishad for inviting me to speak at this forum to mark what would have been Rohit Vemula’s 32nd birthday and the 1818 victory of the battle of Bhima Koregaon. Not far from here, Mahar troops fighting in the British Army defeated the Peshwa King Bajirao II under whom Mahars and other Dalit castes were cruelly persecuted and ritually debased in indescribable ways.
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Video: Free BK16 – Repeal UAPA

30/01/2020

hindi | 3:09min | 2021

By National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)

NAPM strongly condemns the imprisonment of senior social and human rights activists on false and baseless allegations in the name of ‘Bhima Koregaon Conspiracy Case’.
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Video: Keeping Hope, An Everyday Challenge: Imprisoned Activist Gautam Navlakha´s Partner

26/01/2021 Maya

en | 20:10min | 2021

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

An accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case, Navlakha is a civil liberties, democratic, human rights activist, and journalist. He has been charged with the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which many human rights activists across the world say is a tool used by the government to silence dissent. In this video, we speak to Navlakha’s partner, Sahba Hussain, and try to get some insight into his life – public as well as private.
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Book release: Sudha Bharadwaj speaks – A Life in Law and Activism [PDF copy]

24/01/2021 Maya

PDF copy: Sudha Bharadwaj speaks – A Life in Law and Activism

24/01/2021

By People’s Union for Civil Liberties

Sudha Bharadwaj speaks – A Life in Law and Activism

Publisher: Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)
Edition: January 2021
Language: English
Sudha Bharadwaj’s interview by: Darshana Mitra and Santanu Chakraborty
Pictures credit: PUCL
Cover Design / Layout: Vinay Jain
Paperback: 316 pages

Access a free PDF copy of the book here:
Sudha_Bharadwaj_speaks (2,1 MB)

Please download and share widely!
#RepealUAPA

Video – Book Release: Why is the state afraid of Sudha Bharadwaj?

24/01/2021

en + hindi | 2h 53min | 2021

By People’s Union for Civil Liberties and more than 100 other organizations

Topic: Why is the state afraid of Sudha Bharadwaj?
Sudha Bharadwaj, a renowned human rights lawyer, trade unionist, is one of 16 activists incarcerated in the infamous Bhima Koregaon case for more than 2 years. A long interview conducted with Sudha over several days before she was arrested is now being published as an online book “Sudha Bharadwaj Speaks – A Life in Law and Activism”, and will be released at this webinar by the well-known writer, Nayantara Sahgal. Sudha’s daughter, Maaysha, her lawyer Yug Chaudhary, social activist Harsh Mandar, historian Uma Chakravarti amongst other coworkers & colleagues, will also share their experiences and memories of working with her.
Watch video @ PUCL Facebook (videos)

Programme – click to enlarge

Videos: Persecution by Prosecution – PUCL and 100 Organisations demand: Repeal UAPA / Session Reports

22/01/2021 Maya

en | 2h 17min | 2021

The Leaflet / by People’s Union for Civil Liberties

PUCL India and over hundred organisations present:

Repeal UAPA – Persecution by Prosecution

Also watch:
► Why is the state afraid of Sudha Bharadwaj? (en + hindi | 2h 53min | Jan 2021)
► 100 Days of the incarceration of Fr. Stan Swamy (en + hindi | 3h | Jan 2021)

Session Report: Under UAPA, anything can be an offence based on flimsy evidence

22/01/2021

The Leaflet / by Megha Katheria

Bringing together lawyers, activists, and victims of UAPA, the second day of PUCL’s national consultation on repealing UAPA was packed with heart-wrenching stories of abuse and torture by the law. This underpinned the passionate launch of the campaign to repeal UAPA by PUCL and 100 other organisations. It is similar to the cohesive action by human rights organisations against TADA in 1990s and POTA in the early 2000s.
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Session Report: PUCL and 100 Organisations demand the repeal of the UAPA

21/01/2021

The Leaflet / by Parvathi Sjiv

In a session packed with human stories of abuse and misuse of law where activists and commoners were abused, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) began a three-day session on January 20th with over 100 other organisations comprising advocates, activists and others who spoke about the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
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Video: 100 Days of the incarceration of Fr. Stan Swamy, SJ and the brutal face of the Indian State

15/01/2021 Rani

By Stand with Stan Campaign and 100 other civil society organisations

A programme in solidarity with the 16 human rights defenders arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case

Date: Jan 15, 2021
en + hindi | 3h | Jan 2021
► Watch video @ PUCL fb page

Moderator: Apoorvanand, Teacher and Writer
Special Address: Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders
Speakers: Mihir Desai, Xavier Dias, Dayamani Barla, Aloka Kujur, Virginius Xaxa, Dorothy Fernandes
Performances:
Mallika Sarabhai, “I Shall Rise” (Maya Angelou’s poem)
Santhali Dance by Shikari Pada Santhal Pargana and other cultural expressions from Jharkhand
Performance video of arrested artists from Kabir Kala Manch

More programmes: …

Video: Stand with Father Stan Swamy – A live chat hosted by Teesta Setalvad

15/01/2021 Rani

en | 40:56min | 2021

CJP / by CJP

CJP secretary Teesta setalvad in conversation with, Human right activist and Jesuit priest, Father Cedric Prakash and, former principal of St Xavier’s College, Father Frazer Mascarenhas to discuss the arrest of octogenarian human rights defender Fr Stan Swamy.
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Video: Tribute to Political Prisoners January 1, 2021

01/01/2021 Maya

en / hindi | 6min | 2021

By National Alliance of People’s Movements

As we enter a new year, 2021, full of challenges and possibilities, we look back and remember many of our comrades and follow-travellers who remain incarcerated and persecuted. Their only ‘crime’: trying to make this country a better place, with rights and justice for all of us, especially for those marginalized and oppressed.
To that spirit of resistance and resilience, we dedicate this video and our energies over the coming year. Stand with all those persecuted, jailed and vilified for standing with the human rights of others.
#FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners #EndStateRepression

In solidarity,
National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)

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How Does an 83-Year-Old Jesuit End Up in Prison? / Video: In Conversation with Fr Stan Swamy

24/12/2020 Rani

Solidarity poster & Crib in Mumbai

Christmas message: Where are we heading to?

25/12/2020

The Telegraph / by Fr J Felix Raj, SJ

It is now a global festival that has transcended the perimeters of religion and symbolises different sentiments – love, friendship, hope, benevolence, forgiveness and amity.
This Christmas, I remember my fellow Jesuit, Fr. Stan Swamy. December 25 is his 79th day in jail. I wonder how he is celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ at Taloja.
As a true Jesuit, I am confident that he is reaching out to the fellow prisoners and sharing with them the joy of the newborn divine Baby Jesus, and if the jail authorities do not ask him to appeal to the court for permission, he would distribute some sweets and wish them all a Feliz Navidad.
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How Does an 83-Year-Old Jesuit End Up in Prison?

24/12/2020

The New York Times / by Nikhil Kumar

Father Stan Swamy spent decades fighting for the rights of India’s marginalized people. In October, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government imprisoned him under antiterrorism laws…
Before he was arrested in October under India’s antiterrorism laws, Father Swamy spent decades championing the welfare of the Indigenous tribespeople who account for around a quarter of the population in Jharkhand, one the country’s most resource-rich yet impoverished states.
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In Conversation with Father Stan Swamy

24/12/2020

Countercurrents / by Vidhya Bhusan Rawat

None would ever have imagined that an octogenarian Stan Swamy would face such a harsh treatment for his committed work for the Adivasis of Jharkhand. When the governments of the world over honor activists who work in tiring circumstances and devote their time to areas far away from their places than we must realise that it is not for money or fame but for pure committment and convictions. Father Stan Swamy was born in Trichy and as a Tamilian Christian he had enormous opportunities for him but he dedicated over thirty years of his life to the service of Adivasis in Jharkhand.
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Video: In Conversation with Father Stan Swamy

en | 34 min | 2017

This conversation was recorded about three years back at the Ranchi office of Father Stan Swamy when I visited Jharkhand. Hailing from Trichy district in Tamilnadu, Father worked tirelessly for the Adivasis in different parts of the country. He was also associated with Indian Social Institute, Banglore but his love was Jharkhand where he dedicated his entire life since 1990s.
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For those dividing Indians to rule them, adivasis are clearly not farmers / Video: Protesting farmers

16/12/2020 Maya

Drawing by Arun Ferreira

The Wire / by Nandini Sundar

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) decided to mark December 10, International Human Rights Day, by remembering several prominent activists arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), especially those arrested in the name of Bhima Koregaon, and the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act…
Mahesh Raut, one of the youngest of those arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, is a graduate of TISS and was a PM Rural Development Fellow in Gadchiroli.
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Video: Protesting Farmers Demand Release of Arrested Intellectuals and Activists

hindi | 11:30min | 2020

The Wire / by Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta

Why do farmers wish to broaden the scope of their protest?
Farmers protesting at the border on International Human Rights Day demanded the release of all activists who have been arrested. The Wire‘s Political Affairs Editor Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta spoke to the farmers to find out why they wished to broaden the scope of their protest.
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