Arrest of Activists

Under  `House  Arrest’   in  Indian  democracy

The  term   `house  arrest’  does  not  find  any  mention  in  the CrPC (Criminal  Procedure  Code)   or  the IPC  (Indian  Penal  Code).  But  certain   judges  have  invented  this  term  to  justify  their  decree,  presumably   by  falling  back  upon   an  Article  in  our  Constitution.   Article  142  empowers  the  Supreme  Court  to  “pass   such  decree  or  make  such  order  as  is  necessary  for [Read More...]

Human rights’ activists on trial

The supreme court has extended the house arrest of five human rights activists who were arrested last week. However, when the case comes before it on 12th September, it would be a enormous service to nation if it could reflect on the larger picture of the country in which human rights activists are branded, framed, arrested and sent to jail[Read More...]

Rat  poison

  There  is  a  nation-wide  scare  about  a plot  to  kill  our  beloved  prime  minister  Narendra  Modi-ji  by  Maoists.  Thanks  to  the  ever  alert  police  force  of  Maharashtra  –  and  aided  by   our  even  more  alert  national  investigative  agencies  –  the  conspirators  have  been  apprehended  before  they  could  carry  out  their  plot.  But  it  is  a  matter  of  grave  concern [Read More...]

Twist in the Tale: Maharashtra Police Press Conference on August 31 on Nationwide Raids and Arrests 

  The Press Conference Parambir Singh, ADG (Maharastra Police), flanked by his two deputies – Shivaji Bodkhe, JCP, Pune and the investigating officer, Shivaji Pawar, ACP, in a press conference in Mumbai, inaugurated a distinctly new storyline, incorporating and retaining only fragments of the earlier official versions, on the nationwide raids and arrests carried out on August 28.

Rally against the arrests of activists held in Vancouver

The members of Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI) held a rally against the recent arrests of five political activists in India. The Friday rally organized at Holland Park in Surrey was attended by the representatives of various progressive groups. The speakers unanimously condemned the the arrests of revolutionary poet Varavara Rao, Human Rights lawyer Sudha Bhardawaj, besides authors and[Read More...]

Open  letter  to  Pune  Police  Commissioner

Dear  Shri  K.  Venkateshan I  feel  terribly  sorry  about  your  future  career.  You  missed  a  chance  of  winning  a  police  medal  –  or  even  a  Padmashri.  Even  though  you  got  custody  of   the  five  rights  activists  (Varvara  Rao   Gautam  Navlakha,  Sudha Bharadwaj,  Vernon  Gonzalves  and  Arun  Ferreira) –  you  failed  to  bump  them  off  in  a  false  `encounter’,  the  oft-repeated [Read More...]

Arrest of Activists: Time To Ask Some Serious Questions

A few serious questions have been raised about the arrest of activists. People are talking about their caste and connections and suggesting that ‘India’ is ‘waking’ up because of their castes, as most of them are savarnas or brahmins but I think it is a generalisation without understanding the realities. Yes, a number of them may be well connected with[Read More...]

Joint Statement of Rights Groups on the Arrest of Public Intellectuals

  On 28th August 2018, simultaneous raids were conducted by Police on the premises of prominent human rights and civil liberties activists and public intellectuals – Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj (National Secretary, PUCL) in Faridabad, Father Stan Swamy in Jharkhand, Senior Writer and Poet VaravaraRao, his two daughters – Anala and Pavana, ‘The Hindu’ journalist KV Kumaranath, English and Foreign Languages[Read More...]

Arrest and Prosecute Sambhaji Bhide and Release Intellectuals/Activists

The action of Pune police arresting a number of progressive intellectuals and human rights activists in various parts of the country is highly condemnable. The world knows that the violence perpetrated on thousands of Dalit men and women on 1st Jan. 2018 in Bhima-Koregaon, Maharashtra, was planned and wickedly executed by certain ‘Hindutvwadi’ persons. One of them Milind Ekbote was arrested[Read More...]