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G.N. Saibaba’s Lifelong Campaign Was Against the Violence of Silencing

G.N. Saibaba’s Lifelong Campaign Was Against the Violence of Silencing

The Wire / by Rona Wilson

Activist Rona Wilson, incarcerated in the Elgar Parishad case that has still not gone into trial, pens a note for a friend.

“I have lived all my conscious life on the campuses of learning and teaching in search of knowledge, love and freedom. In the course of this search, I learnt that freedom for a few was no freedom.”

– G.N. Saibaba, from Why Do You Fear My Way So Much? Poems and Letters from Prison

The untimely death of G.N. Saibaba (fondly known as Sai among his friends and well-wishers) when he was about to start his life afresh after acquittal betrays the brutality and inhumanity that the state had meted out to him during his long incarceration.
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Also read/watch:
▪ G.N. Saibaba’s Life Is Not Just a Chronicle of His Times, but Also What the Times Refused to Chronicle (The Wire / Oct 2024)
▪ Was the trial judge who convicted G.N. Saibaba biased? We will never know, and that is part of the injustice (The Leaflet / March 2024)
▪ Five Years of Incarceration – and the Audacity of Hope (The Wire | Rona Wilson | Jul 2023)

▪ Video: State’s Job is to Serve People, Not Punish Them: G N Saibaba


en | 38:33 | 2024

Newsclick / by Newsclick Team

Former DU professor G.N. Saibaba, who passed away in Hyderabad on Saturday, had recounted his harrowing ordeal during 10 years in jail at a press conference in New Delhi in March this year.
Watch video

‘Target dissenting individuals’: NIA conducts raids across Bengal in alleged Maoist link probe

‘Target dissenting individuals’: NIA conducts raids across Bengal in alleged Maoist link probe

Counterview / by Our Representative 

In the predawn hours of October 1, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) executed raids at 12 locations throughout West Bengal, targeting the residences of several activists in connection with alleged “Maoist links.” The agency confiscated mobile phones and laptops belonging to numerous individuals during these searches, which reportedly resulted in significant property damage. 
Several activists received notices to report for further questioning at the NIA’s office in Ranchi.
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Also read:
▪ India: Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee on the deterioration of civic space (CIVICUS /Jul 2024)
▪ McCarthyism in INDIA?: The Return of The Urban Naxal Bogey! (The Crossbill /Jul 2024)
▪ Chronology Samajhiye: 5 Days, 4 Agencies Under Modi Govt Control Target Opposition, Journalists, Activists (The Wire | Soumashree Sarkar | Oct 6, 2023)

Ajay Kumar targeted for role as anti-displacement activist, opponent of ‘corporate loot’

Ajay Kumar targeted for role as anti-displacement activist, opponent of ‘corporate loot’

Counterview.net / by Campaign against State Repression (CASR)

The Campaign against State Repression (CASR) unequivocally condemns the arrest of human rights activist and Advocate Ajay Kumar by National Investigation Agency early morning 3 am from Chandigarh.
…
Ajay was actively involved in the Forum Against the War on People to oppose the attack by state forces and corporate-sponsored militia, Salwa Judum, on the Adivasi peasants of central India under Operation Green Hunt. He was also founding member of Vistapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan (VVJVA), a conglomeration of more than 50 organisations from across the country seeking to challenge the forcible displacement of peasants particularly Adivasis, for the furtherance of corporate loot and land grab. VVJVA works against the forceful displacement of peasantry, particularly Adivasis for building big dams, industrial projects, mines, Special Economic Zones, highways, National Parks, Smart City projects etc. Ajay Kumar worked alongside the likes of Dr. B.D. Sharma (retired IAS officer), K.N. Pandit (trade union leader), Dr. B.P. Kesari, Father Stan Swamy, Sudha Bhardwaj, Dr. G.N. Saibaba and J. Madhuri in the formation of this forum in 2007.
Read full statement

Also read:
▪ TU activist Anirudh Rajan, lawyer Ajay Kumar in custody: Wounded reputation of world’s largest democracy? (Counterview / Sep 10, 2024)
▪ Student Activist’s Room Raided in Prayagraj by NIA Over Alleged Naxal Links (The Wire / Aug 2024)
▪ Senior activist Ajay Kumar’s arrest ‘imminent’ in same vein as Rona Wilson, Stan Swamy (Counterview / Jan 2024)

Senior activist Ajay Kumar’s arrest ‘imminent’ in same vein as Rona Wilson, Stan Swamy

Senior activist Ajay Kumar’s arrest ‘imminent’ in same vein as Rona Wilson, Stan Swamy

Counterview / by Counterview Desk

The civil rights coalition, Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), even as condemning the “intensifying harassment” of activist, writer, lawyer and intellectual Ajay Kumar and is family by India’s investigative agencies, has said that “the arrest of Ajay Kumar under fabricated charges is imminent”, and may happen in the “similar vein” to that of his former associates like Prof GN Saibaba, activist Rona Wilson, late Father Stan Swamy, trade unionist Sudha Bharadwaj, others.
Read more/full statement

Also read:
▪ Stifling of right to protest, freedom: Open letter to CJI Chandrachud (SabrangIndia / Jan 2024)

In Jail for 5 Years, Activist Mahesh Raut Gets Regular Bail in Bhima Koregaon Case [read order]

In Jail for 5 Years, Activist Mahesh Raut Gets Regular Bail in Bhima Koregaon Case [read order]

In Jail for 5 Years, Activist Mahesh Raut Gets Bail in Elgar Parishad Case

21/09/2023

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

The 36-year-old tribal rights activist is one of the first five persons to have been arrested in the controversial case, on June 6, 2018.
Five years after 36-year-old tribal rights activist Mahesh Raut was arrested for his alleged role in the Elgar Parishad case, the Bombay high court on Thursday, September 21, granted him bail.
The National Investigating Agency (NIA), which is handling the investigation in the case, sought two weeks’ time to appeal in the Supreme Court. The HC, however, granted a week’s time.
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Bhima Koregaon: Bombay High Court grants regular bail to Mahesh Raut

21/09/2023

The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala

The operation of the Order granting bail to Mahesh Raut is, however, directed to remain in suspension for a week to enable the NIA to appeal.
On Thursday, the Bombay High Court granted regular bail to forest rights activist Mahesh Raut.
A division Bench of the high court comprising Justices A.S. Gadkari and Sharmila U. Deshmukh, however, has stayed the Order for one week.
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Bombay High Court grants bail to Mahesh Raut; sixth accused to get bail [read order]

21/09/2023

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

Raut is the sixth person to get bail in the Bhima Koregaon case after Sudha Bhardwaj, Varavara Rao, Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to Mahesh Raut, one of the accused persons in the Bhima Koregaon riots case of 2018.
A division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Sharmila Deshmukh passed the order.
The Court stayed its order for a week after the National Investigation Authority (NIA) sought time to file appeal against the same before the Supreme Court.
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Read order

No Materials Prima Facie Indicating UAPA Offences Against Mahesh Raut: Bombay High Court [read order]

21/09/2023

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

Observing that the material against forest rights activist Mahesh Raut couldn’t lead to a prima-facie inference that he had indulged in a ‘terrorist act’ under Section 15 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, the Bombay High Court granted him bail in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad larger conspiracy case.
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Bhima Koregaon Case: Bombay High Court Grants Bail To Mahesh Raut, Stays Bail For One Week At NIA’s Request

21/09/2023

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Bombay High Court granted bail to Mahesh Raut an accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad larger conspiracy case making him the sixth person to get bail in this case. However, the High Court stayed the order granting bail for one week at the request of the National Investigating Agency (NIA), which sought for a stay of two weeks.
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Bhima Koregaon Case: Mahesh Raut, youngest accused, granted bail by the Bombay HC!

21/09/2023

Sabrangindia.in / by SabrangIndia

After 5 years of incarceration, court grants bail as Section 16, 17, 18 of UAPA not made out, order stayed for one week as NIA seeks time to file appeal with the Supreme Court.
Mahesh Raut, the youngest accused in the Bhima Koregaon Elgar Parishad Violence case, has been granted bail by the Bombay High Court. On September 21, 2023, a division bench of Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Sharmila Deshmukh passed the bail order.
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Elgaar Parishad case: Mahesh Raut sixth to secure bail; 8 others still in jail

22/09/2023

The Indian Express / by Omkar Gokhale

The High Court had initially allowed a regular bail plea of Mahesh Raut but stayed its order for a week after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sought a stay for 14 days so that it can approach the Supreme Court.
… Of the total 16 accused who were held, six of them (including Raut) have received bails from either the High Court or the Supreme Court. Among the accused who are still in custody are Gautam Navlakha, who is under house arrest.
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Who is Mahesh Raut? Bombay HC grants him bail in Elgaar Parishad Case

23/09/2023

The Statesman / by Statesman Web

The Bombay High Court has recently granted bail to Mahesh Raut in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case, with the condition that the order will be stayed for a week upon the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) request.
Raut, a dedicated land rights activist working in the Gadchiroli region of Maharashtra, had initially sought regular bail in 2022 after his bail plea was rejected by the special NIA court in November 2021. Let’s take a closer look at Mahesh Raut and his background.
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Also read:
● Gonsalves and Ferreira bail judgment: A step in the right direction but where will we go from here? (The Leaflet / Aug 2023)
● Gadchiroli’s 300 Gram Sabhas Pass Resolution in Support of Activist Mahesh Raut (The Wire / Oct 2018)
● Mining In Gadchiroli – Building A Castle Of Injustices (Countercurrents / by Neema Pathak Broome and Mahesh Raut / June 2017)

Frivolous conspiracy cases on Jharkhand’s anti-displacement activists: FACAM

Frivolous conspiracy cases on Jharkhand’s anti-displacement activists: FACAM

Bacha Singh, Damodar Turi during protests

Counterview / by Counterview Desk / FACAM

Civil rights group Forum Against Corporatization And Militarization (FACAM), even as condemning the alleged harassment of Jharkhand activists by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), has said that they are being intimidated because they have “opposed corporate loot of people’s resources.”
…
It is a malicious plot of the state machinery to suppress democratic voice against corporate loot and displacement of adivasis
Among Bhima Koregaon political prisoners, most were actively opposing the state-corporate expropriation of people’s resources, displacement and state repression. Father Stan Swamy himself played an instrumental in formation of Visthapan Virodhi Janvikas Andolan (VVJA) and was active in Pathalgadhi Movement to ensure the autonomy and sanctity of gram sabha.
Read full statement

Also read
● Narendra Modi’s Government Is Using False Charges of Terrorism to Repress Its Opponents (Jacobinmag / April 2022)
● This Organisation In Jharkhand Is Holding The State Accountable (Youthkiawaaz / April 2022)
● NIA Opposes Stan Swamy’s Bail; Calls PUCL, Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan ‘Maoist Fronts’ (The Wire / Jan 2021)

Jharkhand Jan Sangharsh Morcha is holding the state accountable

Jharkhand Jan Sangharsh Morcha is holding the state accountable

Youthkiawaaz / by Harsh

Established just a few months ago, Jharkhand Jan Sangharsh Morcha (JJSM) is currently acting as an umbrella for over two dozen provincial-local people’s organisations of Jharkhand to raise voices against injustice, exploitation, corruption and to resolve the public problems in the region …
“Father Stan Swamy, who was one of the founder members of Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan, lived for the Adivasi and moolnivasi communities of Jharkhand.
Taking inspiration from him, various people’s organisations have formed this front as a tribute to him to fulfil his dream of bringing all the movements of Jharkhand on one platform,” says Satyam, a social activist associated with the front.
Read more

Also read
● Narendra Modi’s Government Is Using False Charges of Terrorism to Repress Its Opponents (Jacobinmag / April 2022)

Narendra Modi’s Government Is Using False Charges of Terrorism to Repress Its Opponents

Narendra Modi’s Government Is Using False Charges of Terrorism to Repress Its Opponents

Jacobinmag / by P.M. Tony & Lotika Singha

Radical priest Stan Swamy was one of India’s leading social activists. Modi’s government is to blame for his death while awaiting trial on bogus terror charges, but the clampdown won’t snuff out the inspiring legacy of Swamy’s work with Adivasi communities.
Under the rule of Narendra Modi, the Indian state has launched a sweeping authoritarian clampdown on political dissent. One of the manifestations of this onslaught has been the jailing of opponents on trumped-up charges of terrorism and conspiracy.
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Umar Khalid statement that he was invited to Elgar Parishad among additional evidence submitted by NIA

Umar Khalid statement that he was invited to Elgar Parishad among additional evidence submitted by NIA


Drawing by Arun Ferreira

Umar Khalid Claims He Was Invited To Elgar Parishad By Former Judge Of Bombay High Court

17/04/2022

Live Law / by Live Law News Network

The National Investigating Agency (NIA) submitted a bunch of additional documents and witness statements to the court in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Case, in which student rights activist Umar Khalid claims that he heard that BJP-RSS persons had attacked visitors at the Bhima-Koregaon, near Pune.
On January 1, 2018 several Dalit’s had gathered to commemorate a 200th anniversary of the battle in which the British, with the support of Dalits, defeated the Peshwa army.
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Former Bombay High Court judge Justice BG Kolse-Patil invited me to Elgar Parishad: Umar Khalid to NIA

15/04/2022

Bar & Bench / by Neha Joshi

The statement by Khalid forms part of the additional documents which the central agency submitted to the Special NIA Court in Mumbai in the Bhima Koregaon riots case of 2018 allegedly linked to the Elgar Parishad event.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has recorded statement of former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student and member of Unite against Hate organisation Umar Khalid in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case of 2018 allegedly linked to the Elgar Parishad event of December 31, 2017.
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Umar Khalid statement among additional evidence submitted by NIA to court

15/04/2022

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

In the evidence submitted to the court, the NIA has included the statement of Khalid, recorded in the office of the deputy superintendent of Tihar jail in New Delhi, where he is lodged in connection with the Delhi riots case.
Nearly two years since the last arrests were made in the Elgaar Parishad case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) last week submitted before the special court additional evidence running into seven volumes, including the statement of student activist Umar Khalid and documents related to Stan Swamy, the Jesuit priest who passed away last year while in judicial custody.
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Heard of BJP-RSS attack day after being at Elgar Parishad, says Umar Khalid

15/04/2022

The Times of India / by Rebecca Samervel

Among the additional documents submitted as evidence against the accused in the Elgar Parishad case is the statement of former JNU student leader Umar Khalid, who said that a day after attending the Elgar Parishad meeting in Pune, where he delivered a speech, he came to know that BJP and RSS members attacked those who had come to visit Koregaon Bhima.
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Bombay High Court Grants NIA Time To Respond In Anand Teltumbde’s Bail Appeal

Bombay High Court Grants NIA Time To Respond In Anand Teltumbde’s Bail Appeal

Bombay High Court Grants NIA Time To Respond In Anand Teltumbde’s Bail Appeal

20/10/2021

Live Law / by Sharmeen Hakim

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted the National Investigation Agency (NIA) two weeks to respond to Dalit scholar Anand Teltumbde’s bail appeal.
Teltumbde has filed two petitions; the first is an appeal against the special court’s order rejecting his bail application and the second is a petition challenging the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
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Bombay HC asks NIA to respond to Anand Teltumbde’s bail plea in two weeks

20/10/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The activist has filed another petition challenging the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
… The central agency has accused Teltumbde of being the convenor of the Elgaar Parishad conference held on December 31, 2017, that led to Bhima Koregaon violence the next day. It has alleged that the activist was an active member of the CPI (Maoist) and was “deeply involved in furtherance of its furtherance of its agenda.”
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Also read: Anand Teltumbde Moves Bombay High Court Challenging Stringent Bail Conditions & ‘Vague Terminology’ In UAPA (Live Law, Sep 2021)