Uwazi

On 2 April 2024, indigenous human rights defender Surju Tekam was arrested following a raid on his home by security forces in Chhattisgarh state, India. He is held under the regressive Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Arms Act and has been denied bail by the National Investigation Agency Court in Bilaspur. Surju Tekam's arrest stems from his vocal advocacy on behalf of peaceful local movements against increasing human rights violations, forcible land acquisition for corporate interests, and militarization in the state.

Surju Tekam is an indigenous human rights defender and the convenor of the Bastar Coordination Committee of Mass Movements (Bastar Jan Sangharsh Samanvay Samiti) and the Vice-President of Sarva Adivasi Samaj, a collective of all Adivasi organizations in Chhattisgarh. He has led major protest movements of the Adivasi community in Chhattisgarh against corporatization and militarization, and has been vocal against human rights violations by security forces, including extrajudicial executions, arrests of community leaders, and forced evictions.

On 2 April 2024, around 4:00AM, Surju Tekam’s residence was raided by security forces, and he was subsequently arrested under the UAPA and the Arms Act. He was produced before the NIA court in Bilaspur and denied bail. Surju Tekam’s family members allege that literature associated with the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) (CPI(M)) and weapons were planted in his residence by security forces. The police have alleged that Surju Tekam has been mobilizing Adivasis on behalf of Maoist organizations. He has been arrested under the UAPA and the Arms Act, making procuring his release on bail extremely difficult.

Arrests of indigenous human rights defenders in Chhattisgarh under accusations of Maoist links have been used as a means of persecution to stifle dissent and undermine their legitimate demands for the rights of Adivasi communities in the region. The arrest of human rights defender Surju Tekam in the period leading up to the national elections in India has raised concerns that it is aimed at silencing his advocacy against state abuse and violations.

Just a few days after the removal of Bolta Hindustan’s channel from YouTube on April 4, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued a directive for the removal of National Dastak’s YouTube channel as well.

The National Dastak took to X, formerly Twitter, and spoke on the decision. The notice by Google, which was sent to the media platform on Monday, April 8, stated that it could not specify why the channel was being banned as the government had declared that reason confidential. The media platform posted in response:

“नेशनल दस्तक को बंद करवाना चाहती है सरकार।। 3 अप्रैल को यूट्यूब ने नोटिस भेजा था।। आर्टिकल 19 को भी नोटिस है। ।।आचार संहिता में ये सब हो रहा है।। लाखों अखबार टीवी न्यूज चैनल चल रहे। बहुजनों के नेशनल दस्तक से इतना डर।”

(The government wants to shut down National Dastak. YouTube sent a notice on April 3, a notice was also sent to Article 19 . All this is happening under the Model Code of Conduct. Lakhs of newspapers and TV news channels are running. Why are they so afraid of Bahujan people’s National Dastak?)

The ban has been notified in adherence to the with Rule 15 (2) of the Information Technology Rules, 2021 with Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000. with Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000.

National Dastak describes itself as ‘online media’ and a voice of the oppressed, including Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, backwards, women, and farmers. The YouTube channel had over 9 million subscribers. This has raised questions about why the government, without providing an explanation, is targeting and censoring independent media which are run by and report issues of the marginalised.

Bolta Hindustan’s founder, Haseen Rahmani, had spoken to SabrangIndia earlier and stated how the “messenger is being punished’. The media platform’s channel was similarly banned without providing any reason due to confidentiality of the notice by the government. He further elaborated, saying the media platform will take the legal route if necessary, “Those who give hate speech are free, but if you do a story on these givers of hate speech, then you are punished.”

The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has suspended and debarred student leader Ramadas Prini Sivanandan citing various incidents, including the screening of a banned BBC documentary on campus, organising controversial events, and participating in protests.

Ramadas, who is also the general secretary of the Progressive Student Federation (PSF), has been barred for two years from all TISS campuses, including Mumbai, Hyderabad, Guwahati and Tuljapur.

The notice issued by the administration on April 18 highlighted Ramadas’s involvement in activities deemed as violating the institute’s disciplinary rules. These activities include conducting a Bhagat Singh memorial lecture with contentious guest speakers, staging protests outside the director’s bungalow late at night with loud slogans, and promoting the screening of the documentary Ram Ke Naam via social media platforms.

A committee appointed to find out if Ramadas violated the institute’s code of conduct recommended that he be suspended and debarred. As per the suspension order, TISS has allowed Ramadas to appeal against the decision within 30 days.

Ramadas is currently pursuing a PhD from the School of Development Studies at the institute and is a vocal advocate for social justice.

The suspension has sparked outrage among student groups, with PSF condemning the administration’s actions as an attack on student rights and freedom of speech. “These actions of the administration clearly highlight a trend of active support of the ruling BJP government at the cost of the future of students coming from marginalised backgrounds,” the PSF said in a press statement.

“The administration has been taking rampant actions against any form of student dissent, especially following its takeover by the central government last year and the appointment of new leadership in all high-ranking administrative positions. The crackdown on student voices resisting the policies of the BJP government is very much evident in these actions,” the statement added.

The showcause notice issued to Ramadas on March 16 pointed out his participation as a speaker at the Parliament March organised at Jantar Mantar. The PSF said the march was organised under the banner of the United Students of India, a joint platform of 16 student organisations.

The press statement also pointed out that Ramadas is a meritorious student who had received the National Fellowship for Scheduled Castes from the Indian government’s Ministry of Social Justice for excelling in the UGC NET examination. “Ramadas has unequivocally defended student rights on campus and worked hard to build joint platforms and alliances among all student organisations,” the statement added

Responding to the controversy, a TISS official said that such activities of the students malign the image of the institute and subsequently impact placements too. “The institute therefore acted against Ramadas as per rules since he failed to follow the disciplinary code of conduct.”

Bolta Hindustan, a Hindi language independent media platform, is now faced with a YouTube ban after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting gave a notice to Google’s legal team.

Allegations of press censorship arise as independent news platform Bolta Hindustan’s YouTube channel is banned just a week before India goes to vote.

The notice sent on April 3rd states that the Information Technology Act 2000 and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 has been violated. Furthermore, the notice is said to be confidential which means that it has not been disclosed why the channel has been banned. As per the channel, the ministry will give the final order soon.

The team at Bolta Hindustan has stated that it was only in 2023 that they could set up a YouTube channel which brought their news to a wider audience and by March 2024, they had accumulated nearly 80 million views and gained 300,000 subscribers, a remarkable number. However, after receiving a notice by Google on April 3, the channel was shut down the following day.

Journalist Samar Raj from Bolta Hindustan has asked whether the content of Bolta Hindustan is more dangerous than the communal environment created by those in power.

Interestingly, this is not the first instance of online news platforms being banned recently. On February 8, Sabrang India reported a platform managed by senior journalist Ram Dutt Tripathi named Media Swaraj was banned without any explanation. However, after much public outcry and an appeal, the channel resumed its broadcast on YouTube. Interestingly, YouTube is slated to be the most used source of news for 93 % of Indian internet users.

Haseen Rahmani founder of Bola Hindustan spoke to Sabrang India after the ban, saying “Those who give hate speech are free, but if you do a story on these givers of hate speech, then you are punished.”

He describes the events, “Two days ago, we received a confidential email from the Ministry of Broadcasting via Google’s legal team informing us that our YouTube channel has been banned, they did not tell us why as is routine. Our appeal has also been rejected. Two months ago, our Instagram account was banned, a year before that our Facebook.”

“Currently, we are first seeking clarification from YouTube and subsequently from the Ministry of Broadcasting (PIB). If we do not receive a response, we will only take the legal route forward. Our team is made of alumni from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), and is very familiar with media ethics and boundaries. We do not engage in incendiary content but present the truth. Interestingly, 90% of our channel’s stories are exclusive and not covered elsewhere by mainstream media – perhaps this is why they tried to ban our channel, they don’t want these stories to be shown. Hate speech is circulating freely. However, they will punish those who cover these stories of hate speech. They will punish the messenger.”

Several people on X, formerly Twitter, have written in support of the media portal, using the hashtag #RestoreBoltaHindustanYT.

A Hindi news media platform, Bolta Hindustan was reportedly started in 2015 when mainstream media took a nosedive. According to its website, the platform asserts that it is committed to bringing its viewers unbiased news. It was started by media students who wanted to bring to light stories that were ignored in the mainstream media.

From 2015 to 2024, Bolta Hindustan published many crucial stories that were path-breaking such as stories on demonetisation, CAA-NRC, Hathras, COVID-19, migration during the lockdown, mob lynchings, and ongoing hate speech across the country.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict in the bail pleas of Gulfisha Fatima and Shifa-ur-Rehman, president of the Alumni Association of Jamia Millia Islamia University (AAJMI), booked in the police’s “larger conspiracy case” pertaining to the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots.

A division bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Manoj Jain reserved the matters after hearing the arguments by all the parties on both merits as well as the applicants’ pleas seeking parity with the bail granted to three other co-accused in the case — Asif Iqbal Tanha, Natasha Narwal, and Devangana Kalita. The three were granted bail by the Delhi High Court in 2021.

In the last hearing, the bench had asked the Delhi Police’s counsel to take instructions and state whether the investigation would continue or would be closed. On Tuesday, the counsel said the status of the probe could be explained by the investigation officer (IO).

“Ten days may be given so that the Investigating Officer is here and he can exactly explain the status of the investigation,” the counsel said. Stating that certain results from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) were awaited, the counsel said, “Supplementary charge sheets will come, because the moment FSL results come, those have to be placed by way of supplementary charge sheets before the trial court. There is no other way”.

On the filing of the fourth supplementary chargesheet in June 2023, the counsel said certain applicants had moved pleas under Section 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) seeking certain data, and the “stand of state was rather than giving it to one and not giving it to another, we would rather make it part of the supplementary chargesheet and file it before the court”.

On the issue of parity with the co-accused on bail, Senior Advocate Salman Khurshid, appearing for Rehman, said the police had not said a word on parity in the High Court “there are much more serious questions as far as Rehman’s character is concerned”.

The police’s counsel argued that parity also has to be seen in relation to the denial of bail to Umar Khalid, stating that the High Court had in its October 2022 judgment had taken a view that there was a conspiracy.

Khurshid submitted, “None of the witnesses have said that this was a conspiracy to bring the country into disrepute”.

“Violent protest is unacceptable. But to say that any form of protest, chakka jam, or sit-in amounts to conspiracy for a terrorist act would be destroying the very basis of the jurisprudence of liberty in the country. Liberty must prevail,” said Khurshid.

Meanwhile, appearing for Fatima Advocate Sushil Bajaj submitted his client is entitled to claim parity as no court has concluded that the bail granted to Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita in 2021 was wrongly granted.

Gulfisha Fatima and Shifa-ur-Rehman, along with several others, were booked under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the 2020 Delhi riots.

As violence erupted during the protests in Delhi against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 53 people were killed and over 700 injured in the riots.

In a fresh round of blocking social media accounts Read more at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/108250590.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

On March 18, three more farmers protesting at the Punjab-Haryana borders as a part of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ died, bringing the death toll since the protest started to a total of ten. Two of the deceased farmers were aged, between the age of 75-80, while the third farmer was 40-years-old. As provided by the report of Hindustan Times, the farmer union leaders have blamed the deaths of the farmers upon the toxic air emanating from tear gas shells fired by the police that the farmers are being forced to inhale on both Shambhu and Khanouri borders. Due to the tear gas shells, the farmers have allegedly been facing breathing issues.

More about the deceased farmers:

Farmer Balkar Singh, aged 76, belonged to the Ajnala block of Amritsar. As per a report of the Times of India, Balkar breathed his last breath on Monday at the Rajpura railway station while waiting for the Shan-e-Punjab Express. As per the report, he was going home due to his ill health. It has been reported that Balkar Singh had expressed his wish to go home for a few days as he was feeling unwell. In the TOI report, Rajpura government railway police (GRP) assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Sukhwant Singh has provided that Balkar Singh was moved to hospital after alert.

Responding to Balkar’s death, Sarvan Singh Pandher of the Kisan-Mazdur Mukti Morcha (KMM) said that “Balkar was part of the Shambhu since it was pitched, and he died waiting to get home to his three sons and a daughter.”

Another elder farmer name Bishan Singh, aged 75, of Khandoor village in Pakhowal block of Ludhiana district, died on the same day as Balkar Singh after suffering from cardiac arrest. As claimed by the farmers leaders Bishan was associated with Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur) farmer union and had stayed at Shambhu border since the beginning of farmers’ “Delhi Chalo” protest.

According to a separate TOI report, other farmers provided had that the deceased was facing breathing problems for the past few days after facing tear gas shells and smoke. He was moved to Rajpura’s govt hospital and declared dead after breathing issues.

Karamjit Singh Pakhowal block general secretary of BKU Ekta Sidhupur stated that “Bishan Singh faced breathing problems in the wee hours of Monday following which he was rushed to government hospital in Rajpura where doctors declared him dead.”

Pakhowal also provided details about the deceased and his family, and stated “He was unmarried. Bishan was the owner of only one acre of agricultural land and was in debt. He is survived by five brothers and their family members. The brother of the deceased has reached the hospital’s mortuary and a decision over his cremation will be taken soon.”

Rajpura senior medical officer Dr Bidhi Chand referred to both the aforementioned deaths and said that “Both Bishan Singh and Balkar Singh were brought dead to the hospital. The causes of their death will be cleared once we do the autopsy by Tuesday. For now, the bodies are in mortuary.”

The third deceased farmer was identified as Tehal Singh, who died at his residence in Mansa district. As per the report of TOI, Tehal Singh belonged to Bhathlan village in Mansa district, and died on early hours of Monday morning. As per the report, only hours prior to his death, the deceased farmer had returned from the Khanauri border protest.

Indian authorities must drop the charges against journalist Santu Pan, who was arrested live on air while reporting on allegations of abuse by West Bengal officials, and investigate the earlier assault of three journalists reporting on clashes related to one of those officials, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday.

On Monday, police arrested Pan, who works for the privately owned news broadcaster Republic Bangla, while he was reporting from a woman’s home in the village of Sandeshkhali, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of West Bengal’s state capital, Kolkata, and remanded him in police custody for three days, according to news reports. Pan’s arrest was captured in a video by Republic World.

Pan, who was freed on bail on Thursday, was reporting on weeks of protests by local women over alleged rape and sexual assault by officials with West Bengal’s ruling All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). One of the alleged assailants has fled, while another was arrested.

On Thursday, Calcutta High Court ordered a stay on further proceedings in the police investigation into Pan for violating multiple sections of the penal code. If charged and found guilty of criminal trespass, Pan could face imprisonment for up to three months; for house trespass, imprisonment for up to one year; for outraging the modesty of a woman, imprisonment for up to three years; for voyeurism, imprisonment for up to three years; and for criminal intimidation, imprisonment for up to two years.

The unrest in Sandeshkhali started on January 5, when hundreds of supporters of an AITC official attacked federal officials with the Enforcement Directorate who had arrived to conduct a raid on the official’s house over an alleged scam regarding government-subsidized food distribution, according to news reports. Several officials were injured, their vehicles set on fire, and their laptops and phones were looted, those sources said.

Journalist Ayan Ghoshal of the privately owned news broadcaster Zee 24 Ghanta and reporter Sandeep Sarkar and camera operator Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya of the privately owned news broadcaster ABP Ananda were stoned, beaten with sticks, and kicked, during clashes between crowds and officials in Sandeshkhali, those sources said, as well as Ghoshal. Their cameras and other equipment were stolen and broken, and their vehicles were damaged, those sources said.

Sarkar said in an interview with his outlet ABP Ananda that he was beaten by the crowd and forced to unlock his phone. When the crowd saw the photos that he had taken, Sarkar and his driver were beaten again, their car was damaged, and their video live streaming equipment was stolen, he said. The crowd also beat his colleague Chattopadhyaya and snatched and broke his camera, Sarkar added.

In an article in The Telegraph an anonymous journalist said that they were chased and beaten by people who snatched their camera and destroyed it. They are undergoing medical tests after vomiting, they added. Ghoshal told CPJ that his vehicle was the first to be targeted and damaged by the crowd with stones, bricks, and sticks.

“It is disturbing to witness the growing intolerance of press freedom in West Bengal,” said Kunāl Majumder, CPJ’s India representative. “Authorities in West Bengal must drop all charges against journalist Santu Pan, investigate the violence meted out against reporters covering unrest in Sandeshkhali, and ensure that the media can do their jobs without fear or interference.”

Indian authorities must drop the charges against journalist Santu Pan, who was arrested live on air while reporting on allegations of abuse by West Bengal officials, and investigate the earlier assault of three journalists reporting on clashes related to one of those officials, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday.

On Monday, police arrested Pan, who works for the privately owned news broadcaster Republic Bangla, while he was reporting from a woman’s home in the village of Sandeshkhali, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of West Bengal’s state capital, Kolkata, and remanded him in police custody for three days, according to news reports. Pan’s arrest was captured in a video by Republic World.

Pan, who was freed on bail on Thursday, was reporting on weeks of protests by local women over alleged rape and sexual assault by officials with West Bengal’s ruling All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). One of the alleged assailants has fled, while another was arrested.

On Thursday, Calcutta High Court ordered a stay on further proceedings in the police investigation into Pan for violating multiple sections of the penal code. If charged and found guilty of criminal trespass, Pan could face imprisonment for up to three months; for house trespass, imprisonment for up to one year; for outraging the modesty of a woman, imprisonment for up to three years; for voyeurism, imprisonment for up to three years; and for criminal intimidation, imprisonment for up to two years.

The unrest in Sandeshkhali started on January 5, when hundreds of supporters of an AITC official attacked federal officials with the Enforcement Directorate who had arrived to conduct a raid on the official’s house over an alleged scam regarding government-subsidized food distribution, according to news reports. Several officials were injured, their vehicles set on fire, and their laptops and phones were looted, those sources said.

Journalist Ayan Ghoshal of the privately owned news broadcaster Zee 24 Ghanta and reporter Sandeep Sarkar and camera operator Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya of the privately owned news broadcaster ABP Ananda were stoned, beaten with sticks, and kicked, during clashes between crowds and officials in Sandeshkhali, those sources said, as well as Ghoshal. Their cameras and other equipment were stolen and broken, and their vehicles were damaged, those sources said.

Sarkar said in an interview with his outlet ABP Ananda that he was beaten by the crowd and forced to unlock his phone. When the crowd saw the photos that he had taken, Sarkar and his driver were beaten again, their car was damaged, and their video live streaming equipment was stolen, he said. The crowd also beat his colleague Chattopadhyaya and snatched and broke his camera, Sarkar added.

In an article in The Telegraph an anonymous journalist said that they were chased and beaten by people who snatched their camera and destroyed it. They are undergoing medical tests after vomiting, they added. Ghoshal told CPJ that his vehicle was the first to be targeted and damaged by the crowd with stones, bricks, and sticks.

“It is disturbing to witness the growing intolerance of press freedom in West Bengal,” said Kunāl Majumder, CPJ’s India representative. “Authorities in West Bengal must drop all charges against journalist Santu Pan, investigate the violence meted out against reporters covering unrest in Sandeshkhali, and ensure that the media can do their jobs without fear or interference.”

Indian authorities must drop the charges against journalist Ashutosh Negi, who was arrested in connection with his reporting on a murder investigation in the northern state of Uttarakhand, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.

Negi, editor of the weekly Hindi newspaper Jago Uttarakhand, was arrested on March 5 from his home in Pauri town, 94 miles (151 kilometers) from the state capital of Dehradun, according to multiple news outlets and his lawyer, Navnish Negi (no relation), who spoke to CPJ by phone.

Although Negi was released on bail on Wednesday, he faces accusations under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes law, based on a complaint from an unnamed individual and allegations of a scuffle with police officers during his arrest, those reports added.

Immediately after Negi’s arrest, Uttarakhand Director General of Police, Abhinav Kumar, issued a statement accusing the journalist of being “part of a conspiracy” to “sow anarchy and discord in society” through his reporting and activism around the police investigation into the killing of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari in September 2022, news reports said.

Bhandari, a receptionist at a resort owned by the son of a former ruling Bharatiya Janata Party official, went missing and was later found dead. Despite initial arrests in connection with the case, including that of the official’s son, concerns persist over the pace and transparency of the investigation. Negi has extensively reported and shared his views on the police investigation on his news website and social media platforms, according to CPJ’s review.

“The police chief’s statement makes it abundantly clear that journalist Ashutosh Negi is being targeted for his work as a journalist and activist,” said Kunāl Majumder, CPJ’s India representative. “Authorities in Uttarakhand must drop all charges against him and ensure that the media can perform their duties without fear or interference.”

Navnish Negi accused the police of misusing the law to target his client and told CPJ that the accusation against Negi for violating Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes law was found to be false during a governmental inquiry 1½ years ago. A fresh allegation was filed against Negi in January to harass him, Navnish Negi claimed.

Kumar did not respond to CPJ’s email requesting comments.

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Udayram (27) s/o Hawa Singh is a video journalist from Hisar district in Haryana, who works with Janchowk web portal since the last several years. He often covers issues of farmers and labourers of Haryana’s rural areas.

Date of Incident: February 14, 2024 Place of Incident: Khanauri border, Data Singhwala village, tehsil Narwana, Disrict Jind, Haryana. Details of the Incident: Mr. Udayram has been covering the ongoing farmers protest in Haryana for the web portal Jan Chowk. On February 14, 2024, at about 2:30 PM, the Deputy Superintendent of Police of Jind invited the farmer leaders for discussions. Mr. Udayram also went to cover the story, accompanying the farmers who went to meet the SP. Mr. Udayram was being driven in a farmer leader’s car in a 8 car convoy to Khanauri border which had about 30 farmers. The convoy was escorted by a police jeep and taken to the site 300 meters ahead where the DSP was to meet members of the delegation. While the discussions were on, all of sudden police started vandalizing vehicles. The car in which Mr. Udayram was travelling was attacked by Para military force members, first they broke the glass then used sticks to damage the bodies of the vehicles. They were also carrying drilling machine with which they damaged the tyres of vehicles. When Mr. Udayram tried to stop the policemen vandalising the cars they threatened him that they will make holes in HRD’s body too with the drilling machine. When this delegation returned, they sat in a nearby house and complained about the attack to the DSP. However he denied that this act could be done by the police officials. Mr. Udayram told DSP that he has a video clip of police officials damaging the vehicles, then the police officials present there threatened him with a beating in front of DSP.

Kashmiri journalist Aasif Sultan has been rearrested in connection with an old case of unlawful activities filed by Srinagar district police in which he was named as an accused, his family and lawyer said.

The award-winning journalist was arrested hours after he was brought to his home in the Batamaloo locality of Srinagar from Ambedkar Nagar jail in Uttar Pradesh where he was in preventive detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA) since 2022.

Sources said that Sultan was initially summoned by Rainawari police station on Thursday (February 29) and later arrested. “The news has shocked his family who were hoping that his ordeal of more than five years had finally come to an end,” family sources said.

Sultan’s short-lived reunion with his family, which includes a six-year-old daughter who was an infant when her father was arrested, his ailing parents and wife, was prolonged by more than two months due to “procedural delays”.

According to reports, some Kashmiri detainees, who are set free by the courts, have to reportedly get clearances from the J&K administration before they can walk out of jails. The Telegraph reported, quoting sources, that this has become necessary after an amendment to the Public Safety Act.

Sultan was produced in a Srinagar court on Friday (March 1) and later sent to five-day police custody, “The case will come up for hearing again on March 6,” Adil Abdullah Pandit, his lawyer, told The Wire.

Pandit said that Aasif was arrested by Srinagar police in FIR No 19/2019, which was filed by Rainawari police station under Sections 147 and 148 (rioting and punishment for rioting), 149 (offence committed by any member of unlawful assembly) 336 (endangering human life) and 307 (attempt to murder) of Indian Penal Code, besides Section 13 (advocating, abetting or inciting unlawful activity) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

He said that the case relates to the 2019 incident of rioting at Srinagar’s Central Jail wherein the inmates had allegedly ransacked the barracks after some argument with the prison staff which later turned violent. Inmates had alleged that the desecration of the Holy Quran led to the flare-up, a charge denied by the jail administration.

“At that time, Aasif was lodged in the same jail under FIR No 73/2018, in which he has already been granted bail by the court,” Pandit said.

The FIR No 73/2018 at Batamaloo police station in Srinagar, in which Sultan was accused of harbouring terrorists at his residence in 2018, marked the beginning of his ordeal. The police booked him under Sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and some sections of the Ranbir Penal Code (now Indian Penal Code) and he was later arrested.

At the time of his arrest, he was working with the now defunct, monthly English magazine Kashmir Narrator.

About three years later, a court in Srinagar granted him bail in the case on April 5, 2022, citing the failure of the investigators in providing evidence that linked Sultan to any militant group while ordering his release.

However, before he could walk out of jail, authorities invoked the controversial Public Safety Act against Sultan, while accusing him of “harnessing known militants”, “criminal conspiracy” and “aiding and participating in militant activities”.

He was taken into preventive detention under the PSA and later shifted to Uttar Pradesh.

The PSA dossier strangely accused Sultan, who was awarded the John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award in 2019, of being an “over-ground worker of Hizbul Mujahideen” who, while in jail, joined Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, an Al-Qaida affiliate.

The dossier also claimed that Sultan was an over-ground worker of The Resistance Front, a militant group which was formed months after Sultan’s arrest in 2018 and which authorities believe is an offshoot of Pakistan Lashkar-e-Toiba terror outfit.

However, the detention of Sultan under the controversial Act was quashed by J&K high court in December last year, which termed the allegations against him as “unsustainable” and urged the authorities to end his “illegal” detention.

“It is unambiguously clear and evident from the perusal of receipt of grounds of detention and other relevant record that only five leaves have been given to detenu,” Justice V.C. Koul observed in his judgment.

The court also pointed out that the detaining authorities in Kashmir didn’t provide Sultan with the copies of the FIR, witness statements or other investigation material of the case, which formed the basis for his preventive detention under the PSA.

Responding to the death of the 22- year-old farmer Shubhkaran Singh during the ‘Dilli Chalo’ Farmers’ march, Aakar Patel, chair of board at Amnesty International India, said:

“The death of Shubhkaran Singh occurred amid a ruthless crackdown by the state authorities on the farmers protests in India. Authorities must carry out a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the cause and circumstances of the death of the protestor, and ensure the suspected perpetrators are brought to justice through fair trials without recourse to death penalty.

“With more protests planned for the coming days, authorities must do all in their power to ensure that people can peacefully voice their concerns, without fear of injury or death. The Government of India must respect, protect and facilitate the right to freedom of peaceful assembly in line with its international human rights obligations.

“The price of protest must not be death.”

Indian authorities must do all in their power to ensure that people can peacefully voice their concerns, without fear of injury or death.

Aakar Patel, chair of board at Amnesty International India Background: Farmer Shubh Karan Singh’s death on 21 February 2024 at the border of Punjab and Haryana is the first since the protests began on 13 February. As per media reports, the cause of death was a bullet wound to the head as shared by medical superintendent of Patiala based Rajindra Hospital. The postmortem report is awaited.

At least 13 more people were being treated for injuries and as per statement from the police, approximately 12 police were also injured in clashes with the protestors.

Over 200 farmers’ unions are participating in the ‘Dilli Chalo’ march raising twelve demands including the legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for all crops which the Government had promised in 2021.

Previously, Amnesty International has raised concerns on the increasing threat to the right to peaceful protest due to excessive use of force, blanket bans, internet shutdowns and arbitrary arrests of protestors in the Farmers’ march.

The police have arrested 10 people after journalist Nikhil Wagle’s car was attacked in Pune last week. However, Wagle himself was subjected to a new FIR filed against him after the attack for violating a police notice

In Pune, a car taking Maharashtra journalist Nikhil Wagle, and activist Vishwambhar Choudhary, and human rights lawyer Asim Sarode was brutally attacked on February 9 by people who are believed to be workers in the BJP. The three were en route to a Nirbhay Bano rally in Pune.

After the attack, a second FIR was filed against Wagle at the Parvati police station in Pune where he and several others, which includes organisers of the Nirbhay Bano event in Pune, are now subjects of an FIR. The FIR is based on charges for violation of a police notice. The list of named people in the FIR has members of various political parties, such as Dhiraj Ghate, the Pune unit chief of the BJP along with 250 party members, Arvind Shinde, the Congress party city chief, Prashant Jagtap representing the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, and Sanjay More from Shiv Sena. Furthermore, the social media site X was also trending with people calling for his arrest.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, ten members of the BJP were arrested in Pune in connection with the assault on senior journalist Nikhil Wagle. The arrested people have been identified as Deepak Pote, Ganesh Ghosh, Ganesh Sherla, Raghvendra Mankar, Swapnil Naik, Pratik Desarda, Dushyant Mohol, Datta Sagre, Girish Mankar, and Rahul Paygude. Several charges have been filed against them which include sections of the Indian Penal Code related to rioting and voluntarily causing harm.

Prior to the attack, BJP Pune’s president Dheeraj Ghate reportedly commented on the incident on X, associating Wagle with ‘naxalism’. There is thus far no news or reports of Ghate being arrested as of yet.

Meanwhile, the Indian Express has reported that Nikhil Wagle’s team, with Vishwambhar Choudhary and Asim Sarode, has called for the arrest of Dheeraj Ghate and other party figures purportedly after the attack on Wagle.

On February 11, Sunil Deodhar from the BJP called for the arrest of journalist Nikhil Wagle who according to him has made “objectionable” remarks directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani.

According to reports, Deodhar has stated that he has lodged a formal complaint with the Pune police on February 8 against Nikhil Wagle, which he has done because of “offensive tweet” by Wagle posted on February 6. The FIR, filed at Vishrambaug police station, books Wagle for charges against his remarks under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 500 (defamation) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief).

According to the report, Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar stated that an investigation into the matter is currently ongoing. Furthermore, a senior police official has stated to the newspaper that there are no immediate plans to arrest Wagle in connection with the case and the decision to arrest him will only be made after the investigation is complete.

Wagle’s car was brutally attacked on February 9 in Pune with scores of people hitting his car with hockey sticks, stone, and iron rods resulting in smashed windows of the car and injured passenger. Wagle was informed about a tense atmosphere after he made a tweet by the police.

The police have issued a public statement saying that they had asked Wagle not to leave for the event until all the protestors were detained. However, the police has stated, that due to traffic the detaining people began to take time, but Wagle did not take note and left for the event and even ‘changed routes.’ However the police has stated that they had plainclothes police personnel following him for his safety. About the attacked they have stated that, “When the car was attacked, the plainclothes policemen standing between agitators and Wagle’s car tried to stop the attack, but heavy traffic and bystanders ruled out the possibility of using force of evacuating him and his car immediately.”

Speaking to Sabrang India after the incident, Nikhil Wagle narrated about how the events took place, “The fact that we survived was a chamatkaar (miracle). We were about to die, but got saved. This was a mob lynching. We were surrounded in all directions and chased. I’ve been attacked even before this, but this was the worst.” Further, he says that the attack took place in police presence, “The police came with us, but the police did not protect us.”

“The police stopped us at Asim Sarode’s house – this was a house arrest. They kept telling us to stop for half an hour, ten minutes more. But finally I decided to leave and I told the police I have committed to the people.” He further goes on to say that the stone-pelting started soon after they took to the road.

Meanwhile a BJP leader from Pune has reportedly stated that the party workers agitated against Wagle because of his own statements. According to the Indian Express, BJP spokesperson Sandeep Khardekar has said that, “Both actions are condemnable. The attack on Wagle’s car is condemnable, and his disparaging remarks against PM Modi and LK Advani are even more condemnable. Our party workers would not have done what they did if they were not instigated by Wagle’s objectionable comment. Wagle stooped very low but no one took him to task. Why are people silent on his derogatory comment?”

Indian police have used tear gas and water cannon for a second day to stop farmers demanding minimum crop prices from marching on the capital Delhi.

The capital is ringed by razor wire, cement blocks and fencing on three sides to block their entry.

Mostly from Punjab state, the farmers are still 200km (125 miles) from Delhi - thousands of security forces are deployed to block their way.

Farmers say the government broke its word after protests two years ago.

In 2020, farmers blockaded national highways around the capital - their year-long protest was a major challenge and forced the authorities to roll back controversial agriculture reforms, but farmers say other demands have not been met. The government has invited farm leaders to hold talks.

The new protests come months before general elections in which the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of PM Narendra Modi is seeking a third consecutive term.

Video footage on Wednesday morning showed thousands of riot police and paramilitary troops deployed along Delhi borders to keep the protesters away.

Farmers allege that plastic and rubber bullets had been used against them, and they criticised the media, saying a perception was being created that farmers were "terrorists" or aligned with opposition parties.

"We have nothing to do with anyone else," farm leader Sarwan Singh Pandher told reporters. "Our demands have been the same from the very beginning."

At the Shambhu border point between Haryana and Punjab states north of Delhi, farmers have been distributing protective eyewear to protesters facing police tear gas shells.

Earlier, Mr Pandher told ANI news agency that there were approximately 10,000 people at the Shambhu border. Calling the attack on the farmers "shameful", he said, "we are farmers and labourers of the country and we do not want any fight".

Mr Pandher appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi "to give us a law for MSP".

Minimum support price (MSP) is a guaranteed price that allows farmers to sell most of their produce at government-controlled wholesale markets, or mandis. The farmers are also demanding that the government fulfil its promise of doubling their income, and withdraw court cases filed against farmers during the previous protest.

Farm leaders say at least a dozen farmers have been detained by the police since Tuesday, the day the protest march began after two rounds of talks between farm unions and federal ministers failed to break the deadlock.

On Wednesday, federal minister Anurag Thakur asked farmers to resume talks. "When we have met most of your [farmers'] demands, a solution can be found on the rest through discussions," he told news channel NDTV.

Farm leaders said they were open to continuing talks after hearing about the offer through media. "Our priority is that the talks are held in Chandigarh or anywhere near the protest site," said one of their leaders, Jagjit Singh Dallewal.

More than 200 unions are participating in the march and the farmers aim to reach the capital after crossing the state of Haryana.

On Tuesday, images from the city of Ambala, 200km north of the capital, showed thick clouds of tear gas. At Shambhu, clashes broke out between police and protesters as they tried to press past the barricades. Police dropped tear gas on the crowd using drones.

Several protesters were injured. Security personnel also suffered injuries from stones thrown at them by protesters.

Disruption was reported across Delhi as authorities diverted traffic and blocked roads.

The protesters have received some support from the Punjab and Haryana High Court which has said that as citizens of the country, the farmers had the "right to move freely".

India's opposition leaders have also extended support to them and condemned the government's attempt to stop them from reaching Delhi.

Congress party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge said on Tuesday that they would enact a law to guarantee minimum price for the farmers if the party was voted to power in the elections.

In a demonstration against caste-based discrimination and unjust actions by the DU administration, Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad joined supporters rallying in favor of terminated teacher Ritu Singh on Friday. The march had been planned well in advance, scheduled for January 19 to mark the death anniversary of Rohith Vemula.

During the protest, Delhi Police briefly detained Chandrashekhar Azad and some students from Delhi University. However, they were later released. Dr Ritu Singh, formerly an ad-hoc professor in the psychology department at DU, has been staging a sit-in for the past 140 days after being terminated from her position. Singh had previously worked at DU's Daulat Ram College.

On Friday, the Bhim Army Chief Azad arrived amidst tight security arrangements made by Delhi Police. Barricades were set up on all routes leading to the North Campus.

This march had also witnessed the presence of Supreme Court advocate Mahmod Pracha. Delhi Police had removed tents and other belongings from Ritu Singh's protest site few days ago.

Dr. Singh had taken to the social media and sought community's support in the massive demonstration on January 19. Ritu alleges that the DU administration discriminated against her due to her Dalit identity. Dr Singh had levelled serious allegations against Daulat Ram College's principal, Savita Roy, four years ago. In 2020, she had protested for removing Roy from the post.

Few DU students participating in the march on Friday, stated that they had come to extend support and stand with Dr Ritu Singh in her fight against injustice, emphasizing that while Savita Roy has not been arrested, the protest led by Dr. Ritu is being suppressed. The case is presently in the court.

In a shocking turn of events, Dr. Ritu Singh, an adjunct teacher in the Department of Psychology at DU's Daulat Ram College, has been taken into custody by the Delhi Police.

The arrest follows her 125-day-long protest over alleged unfair dismissal from her teaching position. The #JusticeForDrRitu trend on social media has brought this issue to the forefront, raising questions about the administration's actions and police conduct.

The controversy dates back to Dr. Ritu Singh's tenure at Daulat Ram College, where she previously accused Principal Dr. Savita Roy of discrimination due to her Dalit identity. Driven by these allegations, Dr. Ritu engaged in a prolonged demonstration outside the college, leading to her recent arrest by the Delhi Police.

The arrest took place when Delhi Police forcibly removed Dr. Ritu and her supporters from the protest site, citing the lack of permission for the demonstration. The incident, caught on video, has triggered widespread condemnation on social media, with users expressing solidarity using the hashtag #JusticeForDrRitu.

The ongoing dispute between Dr. Ritu and Principal Dr. Savita Roy centers around accusations of unprofessional conduct in the classroom. Dr. Ritu claims that she was unfairly dismissed due to her Dalit background, alleging that the principal never allowed certain students named by her to attend her classes.

In contrast, Dr. Roy asserts that Dr. Ritu engaged in disruptive behavior during lectures, leading to student dissatisfaction. The matter is currently sub judice.

Social media platforms are flooded with posts denouncing the actions of Delhi Police and questioning the fairness of Dr. Ritu's arrest. Users are sharing videos and testimonials, including one from a tribal army veteran, illustrating the alleged high-handedness of the police in handling the situation.

The arrest has sparked outrage among netizens, with many accusing the police of authoritarianism and illegal detainment. Youth from various walks of life are rallying behind Dr. Ritu Singh, demanding transparency, justice, and accountability from both Delhi University and the police force.

As #JusticeForDrRitu continues to trend on social media, the case is now under intense public scrutiny. The incident raises broader questions about academic freedom, the treatment of Dalit individuals, and the role of law enforcement in handling peaceful protests.

The battle for justice for Dr. Ritu Singh unfolds amidst a growing chorus of voices seeking accountability and fairness in the face of perceived injustice.

In a shocking incident, a broadcast journalist was chased from his home on Wednesday night, waylaid by six unidentified men on the main road in Palladam's Tiruppur district and hacked with sickles even as he was on the phone with a police personnel frantically seeking help.

Nesa Prabhu, a reporter with News7 Tamil television channel, is now battling for his life at a private hospital in Coimbatore, 450 km from Chennai, with reports suggesting that he has about 62 cuts in his body. The journalist’s colleagues said his condition was “critical.”

The incident sent shockwaves across Tamil Nadu with journalists protesting outside the Coimbatore Collectorate and at various places across the state, including in Chennai, demanding action against the accused.

While there was no word of condemnation from the government even after 18 hours, Opposition Leader Edappadi K Palaniswami, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai, and leaders of other political parties termed the attack on a journalist as a classic case of “break down of law and order situation” in the state and asked the DMK dispensation to “wake up” to the reality.

Tiruppur District Police said they have begun investigation into the case and have secured footage from CCTVs from a petrol bunk and a restaurant in the area where the reporter was brutally attacked. The police said they have formed four special teams to nab the accused.

The incident took place at around 9 pm on Wednesday, four hours after Nesa Prabhu called the police helpline seeking protection as he informed them that two people had come to his village, T Krishnapuram, in a vehicle that had no number plate and enquired about him. Chilling audio conversations between the journalist and police show how scared Nesa Prabhu was after being chased by the gang from his home.

The journalist had in the past few days reported about state-owned TASMAC liquor outlets in Palladam area functioning beyond their working hours and other stories, including an argument between a man and police. His colleagues said Nesa Prabhu called the police control room at around 4 pm on Wednesday following which he was asked to go to the police station and file a formal complaint.

In one of the conversations with the police, the journalist is heard telling them that four people had come in an SUV and a motorcycle – both had no number plate – separately and enquired about him from his village residents.

In another conversation, a recording of which was accessed by DH, the reporter is heard giving graphic details of the people who were following him in a two-wheeler after hiding near the restaurant.

“What is the registration number? What is the colour of the two-wheeler? What is the make of the vehicle?” – the reporter patiently answers every question posed by the police personnel on the other side. Nesa Prabhu also tells the police that people who chased him can be identified from the CCTV footage, besides pleading with the men in khaki to come and save his life.

It is believed that Nesa Prabhu kept the police on the line while he escaped from his home and came to the main road where was chased once again.

“Six people are chasing me,” Nesa Prabhu tells the police personnel who ask him whether he has come to a safe place. “Yes, I am in a safe place,” he tells police, hiding near the petrol bunk.

“They are six people and how many times do I keep hiding? I can’t even sleep properly. If there is someone with me, I will go and attack them. We can catch them as they can be identified from CCTV footage,” the journalist tells the police personnel, who tells him that he will inform the inspector of police.

Within a few seconds, the reporter shouts on the phone, “sir, they have come.” “What are you saying,” asks the policeman. “I am coming to the station. Please come, I can see five cars. They have come. My life is over,” Nesa Prabhu tells the policeman, before he was hacked by the gang.

Several journalist bodies, including Chennai Press Club, condemned the incident and asked the government to swing into action immediately and bring to book the perpetrators.

Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the brutal crackdown and arrest of human rights defenders associated with the Damkondawahi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti by police authorities in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra. On 20 November 2023, the police initiated a crackdown on a nine-month long peaceful protest against corporate mining in the Etapalli Subdivision of the Gadchiroli District. They beat protestors, seized their mobile phones and belongings, destroyed huts and shelters, and detained a number of protestors including human rights defenders and community leaders. As part of this crackdown, 21 peaceful protesters have been arrested on fabricated charges and remanded to judicial custody. Front Line Defenders express its solidarity with the protest movement and the human rights defenders and community leaders facing persecution as a result of their legitimate and peaceful human rights work.

The Damkondawahi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti is a protest movement led by Madia-Gond Adivasis — a people recognised by the Indian government as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG). The protest movement advocates against corporate mining in the Etapalli Subdivision of the Gadchiroli District. In 2007, Lloyds Metals and Energy Private Limited (LMEL) was given clearance to begin iron ore mining in an area of over 348.09 hectares of land in the village of Surjagarh in Gadchiroli. This decision was taken without any public consultation with the local community, namely the gram sabhas (village councils), as is mandated by the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 and the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act 1996. On 10 March 2023, LMEL was granted environmental clearance to expand its excavation from 3 to 10 million metric tonnes per annum. The area being excavated by LMEL for iron ore mining encroaches on lands granted to Adivasis as part of their community forest rights under the Forest Rights Act 2006.

On 11 March 2023, Adivasi communities from over seventy villages, most of whom belong to the Madia-Gond community, came together under the collective Damkondawahi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti to oppose the iron ore mining by LEML, which has posed an existential threat to their lands, livelihood, culture and environment. Despite their ongoing protest, in June 2023, six new mines, spanning 4,684 hectares, were leased to five companies —Omsairam Steels and Alloys Private Limited, JSW Steels Limited, Sunflag Iron and Steel Company Limited, Universal Industrial Equipment and Technical Services Private Limited, and Natural Resources Energy Private Limited. If allowed to operate, these mines could potentially displace at least 40,900 people.

On 20 November 2023, a large police contingent arrived at the protest site in Todgatta and unleashed a violent crackdown on the peaceful protestors. The police singled out the leaders of the protest movement and forcefully searched their belongings. Eight human rights defenders and leaders of the protest, namely Mangesh Naroti, Pradeep Hedo, Sai Kawdo, Gillu Kawdo, Laxman Jetti, Mahadu Kawdo, Nikesh Naroti, and Ganesh Korea, were forcibly taken away by the police in a helicopter and their phones seized. The police also vandalized small huts and shelters at the protest site. Videos emerging from the incident reveal the police lathi-charging protestors and reprimanding those who attempted to document police action. Several protestors sustained serious injuries due to police violence.

21 protesters, including human rights defenders and community leaders, are currently imprisoned, accused of various offences including rioting, criminal conspiracy, assaulting a public servant during discharge of their duty, wrongful restraint, and unlawful assembly. It is crucial to note that the First Information Report (FIR) 0074/23 against the human rights defenders was registered on 21 November 2023 which means that the human rights defenders were illegally detained without formal charges for almost an entire day, and their whereabouts were unknown to their family members. Those arrested are currently being held in Chandrapur Jail and have been remanded to judicial custody where they are to be held until 5 December 2023.

The crackdown took place a few weeks after the human rights defender and lawyer Lalsu Nogoti provided a video statement at the 54th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission and spoke about the struggles and demands of Madia-Gond Adivasis and other traditional forest dwelling communities. As a member of the Madia-Gond Adivasi community himself, Lalsu Nogoti has been vocal about the attacks faced by indigenous populations through the colluding forces of corporatization, militarization and state repression. On the day of the attacks, Nogoti and other human rights defenders participated in a public discussion on the issues faced by communities organised by the Forum Against Corporatization and Militarization (FACAM) in New Delhi.

The police claimed that protesters had disrupted the inauguration of a new police station in Wangeturi village and had violently attacked police officials. They also alleged that the protests are a means to advance Maoist agendas and requested that the arrested human rights defenders be placed in police custody for interrogation. Targeting peaceful indigenous movements on the basis of fabricated Maoist conspiracies is part of a wider trend by Indian authorities which seeks to criminalize these communities and undermine their calls for human rights—a pattern that has also been observed by the Indian Ministry of Tribal Affairs in their high-level committee report.

Front Line Defenders has previously raised concerns over the criminalization and legal persecution of indigenous movements in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand. Protest movements such as the Damkondawahi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti embody the struggles of India’s Adivasi communities who have been consistently marginalized, persecuted and denied access to their constitutionally guaranteed rights. The Madia-Gond Adivasis are inextricably tied to their lands and forests, which not only serve as their source of livelihood but also encompass their traditional, cultural and spiritual beliefs and practices. Corporate mining in the region has severely impacted the community’s access to their lands and forests. Moreover, the pollution this has given rise to has led to several debilitating health issues within of the community. We urge the authorities in India to cease the targeting of human rights defenders associated with the Damkondawahi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti and to uphold India’s commitments to recognise the rights of indigenous populations as per international law.

Indian authorities must drop all investigations into freelance journalist Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek over his reporting on allegations of anti-Muslim bias in the police force, return his mobile phone, and cease the harassment of his colleagues at Maktoob Media news website, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

On October 31, Kerala police initiated a criminal investigation against Sydeek for “giving provocation with the intent to cause a riot” under Section 153 of the Penal Code and took his mobile phone, the outlet’s deputy editor Shaheen Abdulla and Sydeek told CPJ by phone.

The investigation was in relation to Sydeek’s October 30 news report for Maktoob Media, in which Muslim men who were detained following an explosion at a Jehovah’s Witnesses convention last month accused the police of anti-Muslim bias, according to Abdulla and news reports. A former member of the congregation claimed responsibility for the blast in which six people died, those sources said.

“Launching a police investigation into Maktoob Media journalists over a report accusing the police of anti-Muslim bias sets a perilous precedent,” said Kunal Majumder, CPJ’s India representative. “Kerala police must drop their investigation into reporter Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek, return his phone, and allow the press to publish news that is in the public interest.”

On November 16 and 17, the police interrogated Sydeek and Maktoob Media’s founder and editor Aslah Kayyalakkath and took a statement from Abdulla, those news sources and Sydeek said. Sydeek and Abdulla told CPJ that the police took Sydeek’s mobile phone and refused to provide a “hash value,” a unique identifier to ensure the device was not tampered with.

Additionally, Sydeek accused the police of threatening him with additional legal actions including invoking non-bailable sections of the law.

Abdulla said that Maktoob Media had been singled out for reporting on an important story that sought to hold the police accountable and described the police investigation as “arbitrary.”

Sydeek told CPJ that he followed due process while filing his report, including by reaching out to police for comment and quoting them in his story.

CPJ emailed the Kerala director general of police Shaik Darvesh Saheb but did not receive any response.

Forty-six protesters, including students and alumni from the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), students from Osmania University (OU) and University of Hyderabad (UoH) were detained by the police on Monday, even before they could sit on an indefinite hunger strike to protest the alleged inaction of the university management in the recent sexual harassment case reported on campus.While EFLU students were picked up from inside the campus, OU and UoH students who came to express their solidarity, were detained right at the entrance of EFLU. Some professors have also joined students in their protest, which was announced on Sunday following the VC’s letter addressing students over the “efforts” being taken by his office and the administration after the October 18 sexual assault incident.OU police confirmed that all the students picked up from EFLU have been released and that an FIR was filed against 31 UoH students under section 188 (violation of electoral codes) for taking out a rally.“There was no sign of violence, but police entered the campus and detained several students even before we could sit in protest,” said student adding that even as several students were detained, five started their indefinite strike with six others on a relay hunger strike.Students alleged that since October 18, the VC has not addressed students. They said that on Monday at around 2 pm, the proctor and registrar came out and said that the administration was not going to approve any of their demands and asked the students to call off their protest.“When we refused to budge, the police resorted to forcefully detain students. They even snatched away our mobile phones,” a student claimed adding that about 300 students took part in the protest and that they will continue until all their demands are met. Students raised slogans against the varsity administration and demanded the resignation of the VC and the proctorial board.

High drama continued on English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) campus on Thursday night as students gathered in large numbers demanding action against the men involved in the alleged sexual assault of a student.

Vice-Chancellor E. Suresh Kumar, who was inside the building guarded by the security staff, was escorted out with police help in the midnight.

The university officials filed a complaint against 11 students in Osmania University police station for unlawfully gathering outside proctor T. Samson’s residence inside EFLU campus.

Meanwhile, the protest, which started around 4 p.m. on Thursday, went on till 1.30 a.m. on Friday.

Agitated students demanded the resignation of the Vice-Chancellor and proctor.

“We were appalled by the callous reaction from the healthcare staff and the management towards this issue. We need action to be taken against such authorities,” said the students.

The student was allegedly assaulted by two men, who are yet to be unidentified, around 10 p.m. of October 18. She was ambushed by the men by the old dispensary building near Gate Number 3 of the campus. After finding her lying unconscious, two students took her to the University Health Centre for medical assistance as she had bruises and injuries on her neck and head. Students said that the staffers treated this matter with insensitivity and also discouraged attempts from the students’ end to make the matter public.

“The woman was first questioned as to why she went to that part of the campus and was further suggested to keep the matter to herself,” added the students.

Police investigation

Meanwhile, OU inspector P. Anjaneyulu said that no arrests have been made following the complaint from the proctor.

“We will be identifying the students in the video footage of the gathering,” he said.

Speaking about the investigation into the alleged sexual assault, he said: “There are about 300 cameras inside the campus and we have gathered footage from 35 cameras surrounding the scene of offence to gather evidence against the two unidentified men. Efforts are on to identify and nab them.”

In a statement issued on Sunday, November 19, the PUCL said a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged by the Juhu police under relevant Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Maharashtra Police Act (MPA) against 13 individuals, 11 of whom students, on November 14 for alleged violation of prohibitory orders. According to the statement, all of them were picked up on November 14 after they responded to a call emanating from an Instagram account ‘solidarity movement’ to observe Children’s Day in India with a quiet prayer recital of the names of children killed in the ongoing conflict in Palestine.

“It appears that several persons attended the peaceful prayer gathering on the Juhu beach. However, after the prayer gathering ended and the participants had dispersed, the Juhu police picked up 17 individuals around 10.30 a.m. [November 14]. They were taken to the police station and illegally detained there until 7 p.m. after which they were released,” said the statement, adding that four among those picked up by the police were minors who had been allowed to leave only at 4 p.m. after their parents were called.

The PUCL has stated that the detained individuals had gone immediately after the prayer gathering ended to collect posters that they had earlier voluntarily kept in the police cabin near the Juhu beach as it had been decided that the gathering was meant to be ‘silent’, without any posters or banners.

“The police present there, however, started questioning them and asked them to pose with the posters and placards and then photographed them. The police then told them they would escort them to the bus stop to ensure they leave safely. As they proceeded, they suddenly found that a police van had arrived. They were forcibly pushed into the van, detained and taken to the Juhu police station. The youngsters were frightened and many were crying,” said the PUCL statement, laying down the sequence of events.

According to PUCL, none of those detained were allowed to contact their parents or seek any legal help and call up a lawyer, condemning the police’s “gross violation of basic rights.”

“The 17th person to be picked up by the Juhu police was social activist Feroze Mithiborwala. He was picked up after the prayer gathering had ended and was made to remove posters from his bag, though he had never displayed any posters at the prayer gathering,” said the PUCL statement.

Condemning the police action as “excessive and arbitrary,” the statement said it was “a clear case of harassment.”

“Disturbingly, the attitude of the police was also intimidatory towards the young members of the minority community, especially the young girls, who had peacefully participated in a prayer gathering,” said the statement.

It censured the “arbitrary police action” which, in effect, had resulted in a complete restriction in Mumbai on public protests and peace gatherings “against the unprecedented violence and suffering faced by Palestinians, for which daily protests were taking place globally.”

The entire text of the statement may be read here:

Democracy demands that right to protest be protected not punished!

“People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Maharashtra expresses grave alarm and concern at the increasing trend of criminalising public protest or any form of public expression on social issues and deplores the manner in which police in Mumbai speedily lodge cases against those participating in such democratic events. Especially in the context of the ongoing Israeli war on Palestine resulting in civilian deaths, the Mumbai police has in effect imposed a de facto ban on any form of peaceful public protest by citizens demanding an end to the violence, including the holding of peace gatherings and prayer meetings, even candlelight vigils in public places like the Azad Maidan. In no other part of India do we see this sort of obstruction to the right to protest, as is being seen in Mumbai.

“The recent example of the First Information Report (FIR) lodged by Juhu police under sections 37 (1), 37 (3) and 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act (MPA) against 13 individuals, 11 of whom are students, on November 14, 2023, for alleged violation of prohibitory orders, is a case in point. All of them were picked up on November 14, 2023, after they responded to a multi-city call emanating from an Instagram account ‘solidarity movement’, to observe Children’s Day in India with a quiet prayer recital of the names of children who were killed in Palestine. It appears that several persons attended the peaceful prayer gathering at Juhu beach. However, after the prayer gathering ended and participants had dispersed, Juhu police picked up 17 individuals at around 10.30 a.m. They were taken to Juhu police station and illegally detained there until 7.00 pm when they were released. 4 of them who were underage youth (2 boys and 2 girls), were allowed to leave only at 4 p.m. and their parents were called. PUCL Maharashtra has learnt that of the 17 individuals – all from the minority community, picked up by the Juhu Police, 16 individuals being 4 minors, 11 students and 1 mother of a student, had gone immediately after the prayer gathering ended to collect the posters that they had earlier voluntarily kept in the police cabin near the beach as it was decided that the gathering was meant to be silent i.e. without any posters or banners. The police present there however started questioning them and asked them to pose with the posters and placards and photographed them.

“The police then told them they will escort them to the Bus Stop to ensure they leave safely. As they proceeded under the directions of the police, suddenly they found a police van had arrived and they were forcibly pushed into the van, detained and taken to the Juhu Police Station. The youth were frightened and many were crying. At the police station, none of them were allowed to contact their parents or seek any legal help and call up a lawyer. All this is in clear gross violation of their basic legal rights. The 17th person picked up by the Juhu Police was social activist Firoz Mithiborwala. He too was picked up by Juhu police after the prayer gathering had ended and was also made to remove posters from his bag, though he had never displayed any posters at the prayer gathering. But the police were not willing to listen to any reason.

“In this manner, the 13 people illegally detained were finally released only at 7.00 pm on November 14, 2023, after being served with notices. They were asked to return the next day i.e. on November 15, 2023 at 11.00 am to submit their Aadhar Card xerox copy and 2 photographs. Then, on that day, the rest were allowed to leave by around 1.00 pm, but Feroze Mithiborwala was detained there till 6.30pm once again, when he was extensively questioned. Clearly, the police action was excessive and arbitrary, and this is a clear case of police harassment. Disturbingly, the attitude of the police was also intimidatory towards the young members of the minority community, especially the young girls, who had peacefully participated in a prayer gathering for peace.

“The youth were asked to provide all their personal details and their parents were later summoned to the police station. Activist Firoz Mithiborwala was repeatedly questioned whether he had organised the meeting, despite his repeated denial that he had only come in response to an online call and knew none of the youth involved. Even a copy of the FIR was only provided to them after an application from their lawyers. There was no occasion or ground for the police to file an FIR, that too selectively against the 13 people after the peaceful gathering had dispersed and when there was no disturbance to public order or violation of law. Moreover, in any event, none of the 13 people were involved in organizing the event but had only responded to a humane call on social media for the prayer gathering.

“Right to protest is a fundamental right of citizens guaranteed under the Indian Constitution and essential to our democracy. However, the increasing number of such instances show that the right to protest of citizens is not only being infringed upon, but even attempting to assemble peacefully in Mumbai is being met with harsh and intimidatory police action and criminal sanctions, creating an atmosphere of fear in which democracy cannot thrive or find expression.

“There has been continuous imposition of prohibitory orders under Section 37 (1) and (3) of the MPA, thereby providing ground to the police to criminalise peaceful gatherings and protests, and to selectively restrict protests. Meanwhile, most applications / intimations to the police for holding protests by citizens’ groups and civil society organisations are being denied and met with sanctions, including the peace gatherings and anti-war public protests on the ongoing Israeli war on Palestine. The police has been serving notices under Section 149 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) to the applicants/organisers while denying permission to protest and the applicants/organisers have also on occasion been put under preventive detention under Section 151 of the CrPC. Just last month, the Mankhurd Police had arrested two young Mumbai activists and charged them under Section 353 and 332 of the Indian Penal Code, among other offences for violation of prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC and Section 37 of the MPA, and also detained 4 persons under Section 151 of the CrPC, in connection with a protest against the Israeli government’s ongoing violent attacks impacting civilians in Palestine. It is unfathomable that the arbitrary police action has in effect resulted in a complete restriction in Mumbai on public protests and peace gatherings against the unprecedented violence and suffering faced by Palestinians, for which daily protests are taking place globally and even in other states in the country calling for ceasefire. Infact, it is even more shocking that public demonstrations calling for an end to the ongoing violence in Palestine are being penalized in such fashion, considering India’s own history of freedom struggle from colonial rule and its long-standing recognition of the statehood of Palestine and the self-determination struggle of Palestinians.

“PUCL Maharashtra expresses concern on the misuse of penal law against peaceful protestors, thereby criminalizing and silencing voices of democratic expression and dissent. PUCL Maharashtra demands that the FIR lodged against the 13 civilians by Juhu police on November 14, 2023 be dropped forthwith and that the constitutional right of citizens to protest and to give peaceful expression to their views or feelings be protected.

“Besides, PUCL Maharashtra notes with distress, that there appears to be a concerted attempt to silence peaceful protests against war and violence. PUCL Maharashtra demands an end to the excessive, continuous and restrictive imposition of prohibitory orders under Sec 144 of the CrPC and Section 37 of the MPA. These orders, ostensibly issued to maintain public order, actually result in a curb on the constitutional right to public protest or gatherings and instead facilitate the criminalization of peaceful and democratic protests. This creates a chilling effect, amounts to censorship and is against the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, association and assembly. PUCL Maharashtra reiterates its demand that the legitimate right of citizens to protest be protected fiercly in the interest of our nation which is built on the fulcrum of that very right.*

The statement has been issued by Mihir Desai, President Lara Jesani, General Secretary PUCL Maharashtra.

About the Human Rights Defenders:

1. Pachaiyappan, S/o Krishnan

2. Devan, S/o Munusamy

3. Thirumal, S/o Mohanam

4. Sozhan, S/o Nathikesavan

5. Arul, S/o Arumugam

6. Masilamani, S/o Chinnapaiyan

7. Bakkiyaraj, S/o Balakrishnan

8. Vijayan, S.o of Athimoolam

9. Perumar, S/o Subramani 10.Murugan, S/o of Kuppan 11.Venkatesan, S/o Kuppan 12.Thirumalai, S/o Kalidoss 13.Sundaramoorthi, S/o Nadesan 14.Sadasivan, S/o Shanmugam 15.Balaji, S/o Mani 16.Annamalai, S/o Veerasamu 17.Durairaj, S/o Arumugam 18.Anbalagan, S/o Durairaj 19.Babu, S/o Narayanan 20.Rajdurai, S/o Palani All of them are farmers, land rights activist and Human Rights Defenders.

Background: Hundreds of farmers in the Tiruvannamalai district of the state of Tamil Nadu have been protesting peacefully for more than 128 days against the government's proposed acquisition of about 3000 acres of agricultural wetlands for the SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd (SIPCOT)), Industrial Park scheme, which will then subsequently be leased to private industries. The police had filed numerous false FIRs (First Information Reports) with criminal charges against the protestors as well as many false criminal cases (FIRs) against them. Details of the Incident: On November 4, 2023, the police arrested 21 farmers in early morning hours at around 2am, by forcing entry into the houses of farmers, and thereafter remanded 20 of them to judicial custody. No DK Basu guidelines of arrest were followed by the police. The arrested farmers were taken to different police station by the police. Those arrested including Pachaiyappan, were subsequently produced before the Cheyyar Judicial Magistrate who first remanded them to the Vellore Central Prison and were then transferred to various central prisons at Madurai Central Prison, Palayamkottai Central Prison, Trichy Central Prison, Cuddalore Central Prison, Salem Central Prison, Tamil Nadu. All of them are still in jail. Their arrests were in connection with an FIR (No. 324 of 2023) filed at Anakkavoor police station on August 29, 2023, when Pachaiyappan and the other farmers were walking together for a public hearing. The public hearing was being organised by the district administration of Thiruvannamalai district when the police stopped them from walking and booked them under sections of unlawful assembly and other sections.

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. S. Kalidas has been working for the human rights of Dalits and Adivasis in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The HRD works with welfare organisations like Social Awareness Society for Youth (SASY) to develop the Dalit community. Background: About a year ago, HRD helped a Dalit woman, Munjuladevi, who had been sexually harassed by a person named Sakthivel (23), who belonged to a Vanniyar Community from Puthu Pallikozhi Street in Karuvandikuppam. The HRD accompanied the Dalit woman to the Laspet police station and helped her to lodge a complaint. The complaint was later retracted at the police station as the village elders and Sakthivel's relatives assured them that Sakthivel would not behave like this in the future. However, since the filing of the complaint, Sakthivel has repeatedly threatened the HRD for supporting the Dalit woman by making threatening phone calls. Details of the Incident: On October 14, 2023, Sakthivel called the HRD over the phone and threatened him. The HRD immediately informed Laspet police sub-inspector Anwar Pasha and narrated the incident. But no action was taken in this regard by the police officials. On the same day, at about 09.50 PM, Munjuladevi’s mother, Ms. Varalakshmi, contacted the HRD, stating that someone entered the house and started searching for her daughter. The HRD reached her home at Karuvadikuppam, 53, Mettu Street, Puducherry, at about 10.30 PM. At around 11.00 PM, six men led by Sakthivel entered Munjuladevi’s house and knocked on the door with knives. After breaking the door, they entered the house and brutally attacked HRD and Varalakshmi. They beat him using their firsts and stomped on his body. Sakthivel and an unidentified person attacked the HRD using a knife. He received 5 injuries, a cut on his head, ear, left hand middle finger and index finger and rights had middle finger and ring finger was cut off. On the right side of the ear and the head, he sustained cuts with the knife. Varalakshmi received a head injury when she was attacked with a knife. Seeing the pool of blood, the assailants fled from the crime scene.

At around 12.10 A.M on October 15, 2023 then, HRD was taken to Laspet police station by Dalit woman’s mother to register an FIR and seek protection of the police. Aggrieved by the inaction of the police, they left the police station for Puducherry Government Hospital. Because of the non-availability of doctors, he was shifted to BIMS private Hospital, Puducherry and later shifted to JIPMER Hospital in Puducherry. On October 15, 2023, at about 07.00 AM, the HRD was shifted to Puducherry government hospital and was treated in a critical condition in the special ward. He was discharged from the hospital on October 27, 2023. After that, he repeatedly approached the Laspet Police regarding the status of the investigation and filed representation seeking amendment of FIR as per provisions of the SC / ST (PoA) Act but no SC/ST Act was filed on the perpetrators. Sakthivel and six juvenile youth (names not disclosed by the police) were arrested by the police.

About the Human Rights Defender: Ms. Mubeena Khatoon (35) is a WHRD at Banda associated with many social and human rights organizations. She is a Convenor of “Chingari” a social organization which works for children's education, women and cases of domestic violence. She also works on issues of discrimination against women and Dalits. Background of the Incident: In December 2022, Ms. Mubeena had sought information regarding allotment of houses via an RTI from District Urban Development Agency (DUTA) Department, Banda. However no response was given regarding her RTI from the department. Details of the Incident: In January 2023, a letter was sent by Mr. Rajesh Kumar, City Magistrate, Banda District, to Ms. Mubeena which said that that as the convener of the so-called Chingari organization, she corresponds with higher officials on various subjects. When the reply is sent to her, it is returned to the sending office after commenting that the address is incorrect. Thus, she was directed to present herself and present the information on the following points regarding “Chingari Organization”. • Attested photocopy of the certificate of registration of "Chingari Sangathan" • List of names, addresses and mobile numbers of all officials of the organization • Full correspondence address of the organization • Certified photocopy of the constitution related to the working duties of the organization • Details of the work done by the organization till date. On February 13, 2023, a similar letter was sent by the City Magistrate to Ms Mubeena. The subject line of the letter said: In relation to the alleged unregistered Chingari organization, living under illegal occupation in Manya Kanshiram Colony Moja Nimmipar. On February 21, 2023 Ms. Mubeena replied to both these letters in writing to the City Magistrate, Banda saying that “you asked for information about Chingari organization, which I provided to you through registered post. It was clarified that Chingari is an unregistered organisation which was created by local people to help each other. In response to that letter, you have sent me this letter that any kind of activities of unregistered organization are invalid. In this regard, I submit that there are lakhs of self-help groups running in the country who are unregistered. Would you call those groups invalid as well? I request you that if any group or organization works together to create a society, please provide a copy of the act declaring it invalid. Because till now I knew that the Constitution gives us the right that any person can do creative work by forming a group or organization. You have written in the letter that it is mentioned in my letter that I have been paying instalments in block number 24 for 4 years. At the same time, it has also been written to register an FIR against the person illegally collecting rent from the government building and vacate the illegal encroachment. Regarding this, I submit that I have not written any such letter in which it is written that I am paying rent for any government accommodation. The language of your notice is fabricated. I am suspecting that such a fake letter has been written with the intention of hatching a conspiracy against me. I request you to please provide a photocopy of that letter. I am also requesting that many people have encroached upon Kanshiram Colony with the help of DUTA department officials. DUTA department has illegally allotted houses to those people by taking money. If you really want to conduct an impartial investigation, I can provide the list of officials of the DUTA department and the illegal occupants of the houses.” On February 23, 2023 Ms. Mubeena also filed an RTI to Public Information Officer/City Magistrate Banda under which she demanded to know under which law and which section the social and creative activities done by the organization will be invalid. On August 17, 2023 a letter was sent to Ms. Mubeena by Mr. Rajesh Kumar, City Magistrate, Banda. This letter said that in an application Ms. Mubeena stated that she had been paying rent in that colony for four years so, she should be provided a residence. She was asked to vacate the house and provide possession to DUDA office. Otherwise, the house will be vacated with police force. However Ms. Mubeena denied any wrong doing and alleges that she and her social organisation are facing harassment and being targeted by the City Magistrate due to her RTI. Regarding this whole matter, Ms. Mubeena says that “I sought information from the DUTA department through an RTI, but instead of responding to that RTI, the City Magistrate is continuously harassing me and my organization. Until now no information has been given to me by the DUTA department. I am afraid that they are trying to implicate me in some fake case.”

Over the past weeks, innumerable protests – some impromptu, many by Muslim organisations and a few by rights organisations – have been organised across many big and small cities in India. These protests, largely peaceful, have raised citizen’s voices against what is seen as Israel’s siege and relentless bombing of Gaza. Indian law enforcement authorities from Mumbai to Uttar Pradesh (UP) to Delhi have however, in many cases taken “action.”

The issue at stake is the denial of permissions to several groups countrywide who have expressed a desire to protest this issue. Starting with the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, the violence in West Asia has so far claimed the lives of 1,400 Israelis and over 5,100 Palestinians. According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, about 40% of the Palestinians killed are children. And like in the rest of the world, Indians in several cities have been wanting to protest but have been denied the right. Where they have, in many instances, the protest has been criminalised.

October 23, 2023, Delhi

The Telegraph reported that students from JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia and Delhi University detained as they try to hold protest near Israeli embassy and police had erected barricades to stop them from reaching the embassy at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road. The report detailed that scores of students from JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia and Delhi University had gathered to take part in the protest. Police had erected barricades to stop them from reaching the embassy at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road. When some of the students tried to march towards the embassy, they were detained as they did not have the required permission to hold the protest, said a police officer, adding that “no one was allowed to violate law and order”. All India Students Association (AISA) Delhi unit president Abhigyan said several students were detained and taken to a police station.

First, in response to the Israel-Gaza war, several students of the Aligarh Muslim University took out a rally on October 9. This peaceful rally, organised as an expression of solidarity with Palestinians, saw four students in trouble as the police booked them under Sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, language, etc.), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), and 505(statements inducing public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The state chief minister, Ajay Bisht aka Yogi Adityanath, soon after the AMU protest, directed the police to take “stern action” against actions or social media posts in support of Palestine. According to a report in the Deccan Herald, senior district police officials have been told to speak to the Muslim clerics and make it clear that “any attempt to incite passion on social media or a similar call from the religious places will not be tolerated”.

A cop, belonging to the Muslim community, posted in Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh, had merely shared a pro-Palestine post on social media. Within days, he was suspended from duty and an additional superintendent of police rank officer was appointed to carry out an inquiry about the constable and “his political inclination”.

In similar incidents, the police in Kanpur booked two young Muslim clerics, Suhail Ansari and Atif Chowdhary, for posting content in support of Palestine on social media. While Ansari was arrested, the police raided Chowdhary’s residence.

Background

Irrespective of which parties dominate the government is in power and what the political party’s stand has been on the ongoing conflict in West Asia, protestors in many states are facing criminal action for acts of “unlawful assembly” to promote “enmity between two groups”. India’s position on West Asia – reiterated by the Narendra Modi government – on the Israel-Palestine conflict is that it supports a “negotiated solution resulting in a sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine, within secure and recognised borders, at peace beside Israel as endorsed in the relevant UNSC and UNGA Resolutions”.

It is the right to protest peacefully however which is guaranteed but appears in many instances to have been denied.

Ironically even in Congress-ruled Karnataka, the police’s actions were no different than UP, Delhi or Mumbai.

The police from the Cubbon Park jurisdiction in Bengaluru booked 11 persons, including a member of the Bahutva Karnataka (a citizen’s group), and other unnamed people for holding a solidarity gathering in support of Palestine on MG Road. While the police haven’t booked them for “promoting enmity”, the sections applied are largely for gathering without permission and for “public nuisance”.

Several student-led protests have broken out across universities in Uttar Pradesh after University of Allahabad proctor Rakesh Singh launched a violent attack on student Vivek Kumar, who is from a Dalit community, last week.

In a video circulating on social media, the accused, Rakesh Singh, can be seen snatching a lathi from a policeman and hitting the student while he raises slogans against the proctor. Kumar tries to shield himself but Singh continues hitting him and stops only when the policemen intervene.

Former MA student and All India Student Association (AISA) unit president Vivek Kumar believes the October 17 attack stems from a place of discrimination and bias towards marginalised communities. “Unfortunately,” he says, “No action has been taken against the chief proctor, as has been the case with all such incidents in the past.”

“We were leading the protest for a number of reasons and we had some demands which in my opinion were quite reasonable,” he says, “but the chief proctor became absolutely furious and started hitting me. I was shocked, I had not expected that.”

Several students along with Kumar marched up to the local police station and spent eight hours trying to get the police to lodge a first information report (FIR) against Singh, but were unsuccessful. “Former IPS officer Amitabh Thakur sir was also accompanying us but even with his help we couldn’t get the police to lodge an FIR.”

The protest that got the chief proctor riled up was part of an agitation which gained momentum when the university implemented a staggering 400% fee hike last year.

“Three students who were leading the movement against the fee increase – Ajay Yadav Samrat, Satyam Kushwaha, and Jeetendra Dhanraj – were suspended and jailed about three months ago,” Kumar said.

“And two more students Harendra Yadav and Manish Kumar had been suspended for other reasons. Harendra Yadav is now not even being permitted to sit for exams which goes against the basic rights of students. In the history of this institution even if someone has been in jail, they’ve been released on parole to come and sit for exams.”

The demands at the latest protest, Kumar said, were that of the release of the three students from jail, lifting of the suspension of all students, and permission to sit for exams for Harendra Yadav, among other demands.

“But after the attack, one more demand has been added and that is the suspension of the proctor Rakesh Singh,” he said.

Vive Kumar, who is from Baramadpur, said this is not his first encounter with proctor Rakesh Singh.

“When I lived in the hostel, the superintendent was Rakesh Singh. During the first week when the beds were allotted and the list came out, it showed only nine out of 112 were Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe. When I questioned it and said it should be at least 25-26 students according to the reservation, he got very angry and warned me to keep my concerns to myself or he’d remove me from the hostel as well.”

Kumar believes the hostel incident had the proctor harbouring a grudge against him which has added fuel to the fire. “I think he dislikes me for taking a stand on issues.”

He says he’s seen a pattern of discrimination not just towards Dalits but also towards students from Scheduled Tribes, minorities, and women.

“Women are barred from entering the university premises on weekends which is highly inconvenient for them, they just want to study. The authorities cite the issue of security as reason but if that’s so then something should be done about it.”

The access to the library, Kumar says, has also been a big point of protest with students demanding the library be made open and accessible 24 hours a day.

“The library currently closes at 6 pm which means some students don’t have a proper place to study after that time. We have been fighting to get the hours increased but no one’s heard our plea.”

The deteriorating state of infrastructure, unsanitary toilets, and impure drinking water are some other points which have often been raised by concerned students but all requests, Kumar says, have fallen on deaf ears.

“These days it seems that if you raise your voice against even the most basic things, you’ll either be suspended or jailed.

“In the history of this university, there has always been some or the other issue that students have been dissatisfied with and have protested against, and authorities have heard their demands and often tried to resolve issues. But of late, there has been growing intolerance towards protests.”

Students of Lucknow University and Banaras Hindu University have shown solidarity with Vivek Kumar and have come out in huge numbers, demanding the suspension of accused Rakesh Singh.

Lucknow University student and National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) student representative Vishal Singh said several students from AISA, NSUI, and other unions gathered on campus on October 18 to condemn the “disgusting assault” by Rakesh Singh.

“We want to see some action being taken, authorities shouldn’t take the case lightly just because he’s a Dalit,” Vishal Singh said.

The Lucknow student believes while Allahabad University and Lucknow University are two different institutions, the issues faced by the students are quite the same.

“The situation is such that you can’t speak out against anything now. Just to give an example, the residents of the girls’ hostel were told that if they posted anything on social media that shows the university in a bad light then they will have to pay a fine and will be asked to vacate the hostel,” Singh says.

He says students are always being issued show-cause notices for various reasons. “We don’t even have the freedom of expression anymore.”

Vishal Singh joined Vivek Kumar and other students in their protest in Allahabad on Thursday last week and plans to stay in the city to be a part of the movement.

The Wire contacted vice-chancellor Sangita Srivastava’s office and registrar N.K. Shukla and is still waiting for a response.

Students in Hyderabad, Telangana, were detained by the police for demonstrating in support of Palestinians on Friday, who are at war with Israel following unprecedented surprise attacks last Saturday which killed over 1300 Israelis.

The march was carried out by students belonging to two student organisations, namely, the Naujawan Bharat Sabha and the Disha Students’ Organisation (DSO), near the historic Dr BR Ambedkar Statue near the Lakdikapul area of the city. The students were detained and taken to the police station in Saifabad.

Hina Mercin, one of the protestors hailing from DSO, told The New Indian that it had only been five minutes since they had started protesting that they were “manhandled” and detained by the police. “We had just started sloganeering when the police arrived and detained us. They said that since elections are just around the corner, we had to inform them of the protest according to the Election Code,” Mercin said.

However, the protesting student also added that they had conducted such spontaneous protests before as well but it was the first time that they were being detained sans instigation. She said, “We have conducted protests before as well but this time they were scared of this protest. They told us that it was because of the Electoral Code procedures that we were being detained, but we suspect that there have been instructions from other authorities.”

Authorities have said that the students have now been released from police custody. “They were detained because there had been no permission granted to the demonstrators. Now, the demonstrators have been released. They had been released at 5 PM today.”

About Israel-Palestine War:

On October 7, Hamas led a large-scale offensive against Israel from the Gaza Strip. In response, Israel bombed the Gaza Strip with airstrikes.

As of October 13, over 1,300 Israeli soldiers have lost their lives, and another 3,200 have sustained injuries. The Israeli government has issued evacuation orders for 1.1 million people in Gaza.

Numerous casualties have been reported on both sides of the conflict. To date, Israel has deployed 6,000 bombs on Gaza. Additionally, Israel is fortifying its defences in proximity to the Gaza border.

Despite the intense police repression, the people of Kashipur have stood up against the Odisha Government coercively facilitating this project for Vedanta. We bring to you the developments of the last 24 hours from the night before the Public Hearing to the end of it. It was held today at Sunger High School premises in Kashipur Block of Rayagada district, Odisha.

Ø On the 15th night, armed police and paramilitary personnel began positioning themselves at the main roads leading to villages known to oppose the mining project. Roads were monitored by company-sponsored goons and a few local village youths. They seemed to have a list of names of media persons and political agents whom they should allow into the villages and used slang and rough language to intimidate and send back anyone outside the ‘list’. Even then, some youths seemingly with the company goons, helped activists and media persons enter the area.

Ø In the morning, women from Banteji village were beaten up by police on the way to the public hearing. They protested. Friends and supporters of the movement tweeted to the Chief Minister to stop the violence.

Ø People walked in with slogans, banners and placards. Strategically, they occupied the space in front of the podium and did not allow a single pro-company deposition to happen. More than 20 community members, including women, spoke loud and clear about their opposition to the proposed bauxite mining and cited reasons for this opposition.

Ø Addressing members of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB), district administration, police administration and Vedanta officials, people raised their voices against the ongoing police repression and the criminal role played by company-sponsored goons and agents. They narrated incidents of abuse, beating, forced entry into their houses, theft of cash, and harassment of women and girls both in their houses and in public at the local markets. They asserted that the repression was being carried out by company-sponsored goons at the forefront with the tacit support of the local police and paramilitary personnel. Leaders and community members demanded answers from the government about this state-corporate-police nexus but those organising the public hearing had no answers!

Ø As ordered by the High Court, two activists – Dibakar Sahu and Jitender Majhi -were escorted by police from the Raygada jail. They deposed at the public hearing against the proposed project.

Ø About the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report submitted by Vedanta, the chief concern expressed was that the report has deliberately hidden several facts about the ecological diversity and ecosystem of Sijimali. Villagers pointed out that Vedanta’s report does not mention the sacred abode of the supreme deity of the Kandha and Damba communities, Tiji Raja, and the annual rituals and festivals the local people perform at Sijimali hilltop in December every year. They also pointed out that the report has no mention of the 200-odd perennial streams that emerge from Sijimali or the dense forests on the hilltop that have diverse tree species like sal, tamarind, piya sal, aamla, harida, bahada and that the collection of siali leaves and honey is the major source of local peoples’ NTFP income. They pointed out that there is no mention of several sacred caves on Sijimali which are worshipped as abodes of animals whom the local people worship and hold rituals inside the caves to invoke the animal spirits every year. Some of the most important caves are Parapar and Baghpar. All those who deposed clearly mentioned that the EIA report does not mention about the local peoples’ cultural heritage and generations-old relationship with nature and the traditional community forest governance principles that they all practice to conserve the forests, lands, and mountains in Sijimali. The statements were loud and clear about the unconditional ban on mining at Sijimali and that Vedanta should go back.

Ø Keeping in line with the proactive media misinformation that has been happening since early August, some local media TV channels and reporters began to spread misinformation about the procedures and testimonies at the public hearing. They reported that the public hearing was cancelled due to law-and-order problems. Many even tried to create a narrative that several villagers demanded that Vedanta must open a local refinery if it wants to start bauxite mining in Sijimali.

Ø The ADM, Rayagada and ASP, Rayagada addressed the media that the public hearing was completed peacefully and with discipline; the ADM added that the process was successfully carried out and the report on the proceedings of the public hearing will be submitted to OSPCB soon. This has become the modus operandi. Stating that it ended peacefully despite the vibrant protest is but a claim that their ritual is over.

Ø However, today’s protest seems to have already set the tone for the next hearing. The Sijimali Bauxite Mining Project spreads over both Thuamul Rampur block in Kalahandi District and Kashipur block in Rayagada District. The public hearing for Thuamul Rampur block is scheduled at Kerpai High School premises on October 18th

On October 12, journalists and media workers were prevented from covering an attack on a village in Manipur’s Sabunkhok Khunou village by members of a combined Jat and Gorkha armed contingent, with the soldiers deleting footage from the journalists’ electronic devices. The reporters present were from several media outlets, including ISTV, Impact TV, Tom TV, and ISCom. Nearby, journalists and media workers with Tom TV and Impact TV were similarly prevented from filming the attack in a separate incident on the same day.

Several media bodies condemned the actions of the security personnel, identifying the incident as an infringement of press freedom. In a joint statement, the All Manipur Working Journalists Union (AMWJU), an affiliate of the IJU, and the Editors’ Guild Manipur (EGM) strongly condemned the actions of the soldiers, announcing their intentions to submit a petition to authorities and calling for a thorough investigation into all crimes against journalists committed since the outbreak of violence.

On September 26, soldiers with the Assam Rifles reportedly harassed and briefly detained journalist Tennoson Pheiray between 8 and 8.30 am. The journalist was stopped while travelling to Imphal, before being briefly taken into army custody. He was allowed to continue his journey after a discussion with an officer.

Manipur has been engulfed in violence since May 3, with the conflict and resulting security presence responsible for an increase in harassment, assault, and brief detentions to journalists and media workers. Threats to freedom of expression have increased during this period, with authorities filing cases against members of the Editors Guild of India following the publication of a report. On October 5, Manipuri authorities banned the distribution of ‘violent activities’ online.

The IJU said: "The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) condemns the action of combined troops of 29 Jat regiment and 5/4 GR which prevented media persons from covering news on October 12, 2023, at Sabungkhok Khunouarea where a group of hostile people was attacking the village. The IJU appeals to the security forces and the police not only to prevent but also to help media persons to the possible extent in covering news, as people have the right to know what is happening in their area or elsewhere in the country.”

The IFJ said:“Conflict is not an excuse for law enforcement or security personnel to intimidate, harass, or obstruct media professionals. The IFJ condemns the obstruction of several journalists covering conflict in Manipur and urges authorities to uphold press freedom and ensure the independence and safety of media personnel in the state.” the state.”

Award-winning Indian author Arundhati Roy is facing prosecution after giving a speech 13 years ago, disputing the idea that Kashmir is an integral part of India.

The initial complaint was filed by a Kashmir activist following Roy's speech in 2010, in which she and three others spoke at a conference and criticized India's policy toward Kashmir.

Under Indian law, crimes of hate speech, sedition, and promoting enmity need approval from Indian officials to be prosecuted. That approval was given Wednesday, according to local media — more than a decade after the initial report was filed.

Delhi police now have permission to prosecute Roy and Central University of Kashmir professor Sheikh Showkat Hussain, under crimes of promoting enmity and making assertions prejudicial to national integration and causing public mischief, a move approved by federally-appointed lieutenant-governor, Vinai Kumar Saxena.

The other speakers named in the 2010 complaint, one a professor and the other a Kashmiri separatist leader, have since died.

Reasoning for why Saxena approved prosecution 13 years after the complaint was filed was not given in the report.

Roy, 61, a political activist as well as the 1997 Booker prize winner for fiction, has not provided a reaction to the recent developments.

The decision has faced disapproval from those opposing the current administration led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who came to power in 2014, and has since drawn criticism for its record on free speech.

Prosecuting the 2010 complaint has furthered some concerns over the current government's free speech stances, despite the complaint being registered before Modi's administration came to power.

"It is obvious that the LG [and his masters] have no place in their regime for tolerance or forbearance; or for that matter the essentials of democracy," P. Chidambaram, a senior leader of the main opposition Congress party who was India's home (interior) minister in 2010, posted on X. LG refers to Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.

Police in New Delhi have arrested the editor of a news website and one of its administrators after raiding the homes of journalists working for the site, which has been critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist-led government.

NewsClick founder and editor Prabir Purkayastha and human resources chief Amit Chakravarty were arrested late Tuesday. Earlier, some journalists associated with the site were detained and had their digital devices seized during extensive raids that were part of an investigation into whether the news outlet had received funds from China. NewsClick denied any financial misconduct.

Suman Nalwa, a police spokesperson, said the arrests were made under an anti-terrorism law.

The government has used the wide-ranging law to stifle dissent and to jail activists, journalists and Modi's critics, some of whom have spent years in jail before going to trial.

Nalwa said at least 46 people were questioned during the raids and their devices, including laptops and cellphones, and documents were taken away for examination.

They included current and former employees, freelance contributors and cartoonists.

Website accused of 'anti-India agenda'

NewsClick was founded in 2009 and is seen as a rare Indian news outlet willing to criticize Modi. It was also raided by Indian financial enforcement officials in 2021, after which a court blocked the authorities from taking any "coercive measures" against the website.

Indian authorities brought a case against the site and its journalists on August 17, weeks after a report in The New York Times alleged it had received funds from an American millionaire who had funded the spread of "Chinese propaganda."

That same month, India's junior minister for information and broadcasting, Anurag Thakur, accused NewsClick of spreading an "anti-India agenda," citing The New York Times report, and of working with the opposition Indian National Congress party. Both NewsClick and the Congress party denied the accusations.

Hundreds protest raids

On Wednesday, hundreds of journalists and activists in New Delhi held protests against the raids on NewsClick and the broader crackdown on independent media under Modi. Some carried placards with slogans such as, "Stop attacks on media. Stop threatening media."

"Anybody who speaks against the regime is deemed to be anti-national," said Manini Chatterjee, a journalist who was part of one protest. "This has been a long-term strategy, and these events are the latest in this."

Media watchdogs such as the Committee to Protect Journalists denounced the arrests and raids.

"This is the latest attack on press freedom in India," Beh Lih Yi, CPJ's Asia program coordinator, said in a statement. "We urge the Indian government to immediately cease these actions, as journalists must be allowed to work without fear of intimidation or reprisal."

The Editors Guild of India said it was worried the raids were intended to "create a general atmosphere of intimidation under the shadow of draconian laws."

In February, authorities searched the BBC's New Delhi and Mumbai offices over accusations of tax evasion a few days after it broadcast a documentary in Britain that examined Modi's role in anti-Muslim riots in 2002.

A number of other news organizations also have been investigated for financial impropriety. Independent media in India battle censorship and harassment and often face arrests while doing their work.

'Nothing to fear,' says journalist

India's anti-terrorism law has stringent requirements for bail, which mean individuals often spend months, sometimes years, in custody without being found guilty. Successive Indian governments have invoked the law, but it has been used with increasing frequency in recent years.

Reporters Without Borders, an advocacy group for journalists, ranked India 161st in its press freedom rankings this year, writing that the situation has deteriorated from "problematic" to "very bad."

Some independent Indian think tanks and international groups such as Amnesty International and Oxfam India also have been raided and had their access to funding blocked in recent years.

Journalist Abhisar Sharma, whose house was raided and electronic devices seized Tuesday, said he won't back down from doing his job.

"Nothing to fear," Sharma wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "And I will keep questioning people in power and particularly those who are afraid of simple questions."

The raids against NewsClick also drew criticism from India's political opposition.

"These are not the actions of a 'mother of democracy' but of an insecure and autocratic state," opposition lawmaker Shashi Tharoor wrote on X. "The government has disgraced itself and our democracy today."

Majid Hyderi’s detention has brought the number of journalists currently held in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir to six.

After his arrest by local police in the city of Srinagar on 15 September on the basis of a “First Information Report” citing violations of sections 120-B, 177, 386 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code, Hyderi was released on bail the next day but was immediately rearrested under the controversial PSA, which is supposed to address direct threats to the security of the state.

The former editor of the Srinagar-based regional daily Greater Kashmir, a contributor to DailyO, an Indian news site aimed at young people, and a frequent political commentator on TV news channels, Hyderi is known for his moderate political views and for criticising attacks against the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, both the local police and the army. But he has also been very critical of corruption within the Kashmiri bureaucracy and New Delhi’s failure to address this problem.

Overcrowded prison

His arrest on 15 September on clearly trumped-up charges of “criminal conspiracy, intimidation, extortion, giving false information [and] defamation” – charges on which he could be jailed for up to 14 years – showed that the authorities want to silence even slightly critical journalists.

The case took an even more preposterous turn when, on being released on bail on 16 September, he was immediately re-arrested under the Public Safety Act, a 1978 law limited to Jammu and Kashmir region that is highly controversial because it allows the authorities to detain anyone “preventively” – without a trial or warrant – for up to two years. He is currently held in Kot Bhalwal, an overcrowded prison in Jammu, a Hindu-majority city 300 km south of Srinagar.

Death of independent journalism in Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir has become a cemetery for independent journalism, especially since 2019, when India rescinded the partial autonomy it enjoyed under article 370 of the constitution and stripped it of its status as a state, turning it into a “Union Territory.” Since then, many critics or potential critics of the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government have been detained under "prevention laws" that are being misused to suppress independent journalism.

The latest victims include The Kashmir Walla, an independent news site that was blocked by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on 19 August. Several of its journalists have been subjected to judicial harassment for years under the PSA and other laws. They include its former editor, Fahad Shah, who was held from March 2022 to April 2023 under the PSA for "glorifying terrorism." The Jammu and Kashmir high court quashed his detention order on the grounds that the reasons given were "vague and unfounded” but he continues to be held under a different law, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

The UAPA was used in March to arrest Irfan Mehraj, the editor of Wande Magazine, an online publication specialising in long-form journalism, and a freelancer for many national and international media. He is being held on a total of nine charges that include “sedition” and “funding terror activities.”

According to RSF’s Press Freedom Barometer, nine journalists are currently detained arbitrarily in India. Three are based in other parts of the country. They are India Writers news site editor Nilesh Sharma, NewsClick news site columnist Gautam Navlakha, and freelancer Rupesh Kumar Singh. All of the other six are Kashmiris. As well as Shah, Mehraj and now Hyderi, they are Rupesh Kumar Singh, who is accused of “harbouring terrorists,” and two other Kashmir Walla journalists – Abdul Aala Fazili and Sajad Gul.

Decades ago, a few people started settling on a swathe of land near an ecologically sensitive wetland engaged in agriculture and fishing. Over time, the population grew and a law was enacted to prevent any further destruction of the eco-sensitive wetland. As time passed, a new government in the name of ecological restoration suddenly started evicting the people, including those residing there before the law’s enactment. These people have become homeless and landless and stare at a dark future.

This is not a fiction novel but the reality of thousands of people in the Silsako Beel (lake) area, in Assam’s capital Guwahati. The latest massive eviction drive, from September 1 to 2, with the police’s and the CRPF’s help was firmly protested by the residents.

On September 1, the protest turned ugly when two women protesters “manhandled” by the police started removing their clothes.

“They were manhandled by the police. They tried to protect their land and home half-naked,” one of the protestors requesting anonymity told Newsclick.

Moments later, the two women and seven other protesters, including Krishak Mukti Sangram Samit secretary Bidyut Saikia and member Akash Doley, two other women and three other men, were arrested for rioting or obstructing a public servant in the discharge of duties. They were granted bail at the Chief Judicial Magistrate court in Guwahati the next day.

Besides, 34 other protesters, including women, were detained and released at midnight.

“Five male cops dragged me to the police van. My shoulders still hurt. There were no female cops. Other women protestors were treated similarly,” Sharifa Begum told Newsclick narrating her experience.

“We were ferried to the 4th Assam Police Battalion in Kahilpara, which is very far, and kept in an isolated room with a poor mobile network. We were cut off from the world. During the afternoon, we were asked if we were hungry. We refused to eat,” she added.

“The police dropped us near Borbari at midnight. We walked a long distance to reach our broken houses.”

TRAGIC TALES Rubi Basumatary, whose husband died two years ago, and her two daughters have stayed in Silsako since 2005. “We had bought the plot in 2002.”

“No, we didn’t receive an eviction notice,” a weeping Basumatary told Newsclick amid the ruins of her demolished house, her shelter for more than a decade.

“Yesterday (September 1) they arrived to tell us that only our gate and a small room will be demolished. However, bulldozers razed our entire house today,” she alleged.

Silsako’s residents are insecure and scared with drones checking whether any structure remains.

Kalpana Terang and Ritubh Hazarika had similar stories to narrate. They still can’t understand how people settled there even before the Guwahati Water Bodies (Preservation and Conservation) Act was enacted in 2008 could be evicted.

“We are not illegal immigrants but indigenous. We voted for the BJP and never imagined even in our wildest dreams that they could do this to us. We committed a sin by trusting [chief minister] Himanta [Biswa Sarma] when he announced in his election campaign that everyone would be allotted pattas,” one of the residents requesting anonymity said.

A policeman guarding the bulldozers requesting anonymity said, “What the government is doing is a crime. We are helplessly performing our duty; we have no option. People should not be tortured like this.”

A female cop who resides in Silsako lost her house and livestock as well.

“We have been here for the past 30 years. We saw paddy cultivation here. Can anyone grow rice in a wetland?”

ask Wahida Begum and Shaira Begum.

“We received electricity bills mentioning the house numbers allotted by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation. How can they say we are illegal?”

Wahida and Shaira told Newsclick that the population grew there after 2008. “During Prafulla Mahanta’s time, a wall was erected and we were told that a new MLA hostel would be developed here. But the wall is far away from our house and so is the beel (the wetland).”

The eviction was a nightmare for Jasula Brahma, his wife and their school-going son. A contractual driver with the health department, he has stayed there for 15 years. “No notice was served before the demolition drive. I too have electricity bills mentioning my address and the GMC house plate and holding numbers.”

Moved by the tragedy, Jamuna Bala Dutta (92), who stays far from the area, came to meet the evicted residents. “I could not stop myself from visiting these troubled people. Do governments ever do any good work? These people are being tortured,” she told Newsclick.

GOVERNMENT’S CLAIMS, RESIDENTS’ FEARS Newsclick had earlier reported that the government claimed that removing the residents is necessary for ecological restoration and to address Guwahati’s artificial flood issues under the ‘Mission Flood Free Guwahati’.

However, the residents fear that the cleared land might be handed over to big corporate lobbies in the name of developing infrastructure. They also questioned why Ginger Hotel, Himatsingka building, Badruddin Ajmal’s building and Assam minister Jayanta Malla Baruah’s house, allegedly obstructing the wetland, remain intact.

Akhil Gogoi, president of Raijor Dal and MLA from Sibasagar, alleged that the state government is “evicting indigenous people but safeguarding Badruddin Ajmal, Himatsingka and the Ginger Hotel”.

Assam Jatiya Parishad president Lurinjyoti Gogoi aid in a statement: “While people of Assam are evicted from their houses, Baba Ramdev is given lakhs of bighas. This shows how the BJP is anti-indigenous and anti-people.”

He also alleged that Sarma and his family own huge swathes of land. “Himanta Biswa Sarma and his family cannot realise the agony of the evictees as they possess huge swathes of lands,” he was quoted in a media statement.

In the previous Newsclick report, Supreme Court lawyer Upamanyu Hazarika raised some critical questions regarding the eviction drive and the lack of clear demarcation for the boundary of the protected wetland.

Naina Begum, an evictee and a vocal youth against the eviction, told Newsclick, “A few days back, revenue minister Jogen Mahan said at a meeting that no project has been planned in the area.”

She alleged that the land will be “probably handed over to some big building lobbies who will construct housing complexes here”.

Most residents believe that the drive is motivated towards handing over the huge swath of land to big corporate lobbies.

Conducted against the offices of Bhagat Singh Students Morcha (BSM) in the Benaras Hindu University and the homes of Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) activists, the statement said, the raids “come in light of the recent attempts at suppression of the Bihar-based Kaimur Mukti Morcha’s leadership which has been at the forefront of the Adivasi struggle in Kaimur plateau against the blatant land-grabbing for creating a tiger reserve in the area.”

Since the morning of 5th September 2023, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been raiding the offices of Bhagat Singh Students Morcha (BSM) in Benaras Hindu University. Simultaneously, NIA has raided the homes of Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) State President Seema Azad, her partner and advocate Vishwavijay, advocate Soni Azad and organiser of a workers’ organisation Ritesh Vidyarthi along with political activist Manish Azad in Allahabad.

Along with these raids, NIA has taken Seema Azad, Vishwavijay, Soni Azad and Ritesh Vidyarthi with them to an unknown location in an unlawful manner that reeks of undemocratic political repression. Information regarding their whereabouts is unavailable.

At the same time, at BHU, when two students from BSM attempted to talk to the investigation team regarding the raid being conducted at their offices, the officers slapped one of the students, screaming at the students for “daring to question” the raid in any manner. Two of the students, Akanksha Azad, the President and Siddhi, the Joint Secretary of BSM are forcefully made to sit in the room and interrogated while their phone have been confiscated by the NIA officers.

These raids happening now in Allahabad are part of a larger on-going campaign of political repression being undertaken in Uttar Pradesh, with the house of activist Rajesh being also raided in Deoria district. Rajesh is an activist of the Khiriya Bagh-Azamgarh farmers’ movement and a member of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha.

Similar raids have also taken place in Chandauli district. The raids come in light of the recent attempts at suppression of the Bihar-based Kaimur Mukti Morcha’s leadership which has been at the forefront of the Adivasi struggle in Kaimur plateau against the blatant land-grabbing of their lands for the sake of creating a tiger reserve in the area. In the past, police have opened fire on peaceful protests of the KMM and repeatedly abducted their activists.

Political activists, lawyers, intellectuals, and students who extend their support to movements against the corporate plunder of resources backed by the Indian state and its loot of the lands of farmers and Adivasis are continuously being branded as Maoists in a bid to silence all dissenting voices that expose the Indian state’s anti-people policies.

Abductions, violence, seizure of property and police brutality have become common practices by the state forces against all such dissent. In a time when the brutalities and undemocratic practices of the Indian state have become so open, all democratic-minded, justice-seeking, peace-loving people must come together in organized resistance towards such suppression.

Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) strongly condemns the undemocratic raids on its constituent organisation, Bhagat Singh Student Morcha (BSM) and Democratic- pro-people activists and subsequent detention of 4 activists by NIA.

We demand that these raids be stopped and detained activists be release immediately and unconditionally. CASR calls upon all the democratic progressive forces and individuals to join hands and resist this Brahmanical Hindutva fascist onslaught.

The family of a journalist has alleged that he was assaulted and urinated on by the SHO of a police station after being arrested and framed in a robbery case in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur.

Mintu Dubey is a freelance journalist who has worked for organisations such as New Sadhna News and Ind24. He was arrested hours after an FIR was filed on August 8, based on a complaint about an alleged robbery which took place past midnight on the same date.

But the complainant in the robbery case does not recognise his attackers. The police have not conducted any identification parade. And the FIR does not name the journalist.

Dubey’s sister Sunita Tiwari, who visited him after his arrest on August 10, said the journalist told her that he had only been targeted for an old report accusing the Civil Lines police station staff of extortion. She said Dubey had been “threatened” by the SHO earlier as well.

Tiwari submitted a complaint of misconduct to Chhatarpur SP Amit Sanghi on August 19.

While the Chhatarpur SP said the complaint will be looked into, Civil Lines police SHO Kamlesh Sahu has termed all the allegations “baseless” and claimed that Dubey is a “drunk” and “not even an authorised journalist”.

Newslaundry has seen the FIR, the complaint, and Dubey’s report. Published in local daily Shubh News in April, the report alleged that Civil Lines police had blackmailed a trader and a complaint had been submitted to senior police officers.

The trader, Jibrael Rayeen, told Newslaundry that two police personnel were suspended after his complaint to officers and that the SHO “behaved as if he was not aware of anything”.

Meanwhile, according to Tiwari’s complaint, Dubey was having dinner at a dhaba on Jhansi Khajuraho highway when he was arrested by the police.

“They took him to Civil Lines where station house officer Kamlesh Sahu booked him in a looting incident. Sahu then beat him up inside a room,” she alleged. “He was slapped on his face with shoes and they then peed on his head. My brother was very scared when he told me about this harassment. He’s scared of the police and concerned that it would bring him public humiliation.”

The robbery case

The complaint was filed by one Ramesh Chand Gupta, who runs a shop. As per the complaint, two men on motorcycles had allegedly robbed Gupta of Rs 3,100 while he was cycling home after midnight, assaulted him and then snatched his bag. Two others in a truck witnessed what had happened and tried to apprehend the attackers but were unable to.

Newslaundry contacted Gupta to ask him what happened. He asked us to speak to his wife since he has a hearing problem. His wife Rekha said her husband did not recognise his attackers.

“We don’t know who those people were. The police arrested two persons but they have not called us yet to identify them,” she said. “My husband is partially impaired so he did not hear half the things the police told him while filing the FIR.”

The second person arrested is named Deependra Yadav.

Newslaundry asked Sahu about Dubey’s allegations. He said, “These are baseless things. We arrested him because he looted the person. He is a drunk. He is not even an authorised journalist.” He said an identification parade in the looting case will be “done soon”.

Chhatarpur superintendent of police Amit Sanghi said he has “issued an inquiry” into Dubey’s case. “Once the inquiry gets completed, we will take action accordingly. Until then, we cannot comment on anything more,” he said.

Not an isolated incident?

But there are other allegations against Sahu too.

In another case, on August 10, a woman called Ranjana Raikwar filed a complaint with the police superintendent’s office, alleging Sahu had harassed her in Civil Lines police station on August 8. Newslaundry has a copy of Raikwar’s complaint.

Raikwar told Newslaundry she had been out with three friends – two men and a woman – celebrating a birthday near the highway. She said two police personnel took them to the Civil Lines police station after forcing them into a private vehicle around 10.30 pm. She said she and her friends were kept at the police station “through the night”.

“There were no women police officials,” she said. “They passed crass comments that we two women are prostitutes. In the morning, SHO Sahu assaulted my friend. They filed a case but we got bail that evening. I went to the SP’s office to submit a complaint but it wasn’t accepted. So I sent it by post.”

She claimed the “case” in question was of “two women fighting on the road”. “I am not involved in illegal activities. I am a divorcee, live with my three children, and I run a small beauty parlour. But these kinds of professions are looked down upon in small towns. In fact, the police violated all the rules and forcefully kept two women in the police station through the night. But no one questions them.”

Newslaundry asked Sahu and Chhatarpur SP Sanghi about Raikwar’s allegations. Sahu said, “I will talk about it later.”

The home of human rights activist Babloo Loitongbam’s in Manipur’s Imphal was on Thursday attacked by unidentified people, a senior police official told Scroll.

“He is claiming here that no church is standing in Imphal valley, all burned,” the official said. “This claim made the public angry.”

Loitongbam had made the statement in an interview he gave to NewsClick in May. He had also spoken about the state of violence in Manipur, especially on the role of radical organisations.

The internationally acclaimed activist has been critical of the Meitei Leepun and the Aarambai Tenggol, radical Meitei organisations accused of fanning violence against Kukis.

Since the ethnic conflict broke out on May 3, Loitongbam has been demanding that Chief Minister N Biren Singh, a Metei, resign from his post.

In the interview, the activist alleged that the Meitei Leepun and the Aarambai Tenggol have “injected” militancy into the minds of people.

“They have articulation like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh,” Loitongbam said. “Not a single church stands in the valley now. All churches are being destroyed.”

The activist’s home was attacked on the same day when the Meitei Leepun said it will boycott Loitongbam and former Additional Superintendent of Police Thounaojam Brinda till the ethnic strife ends over making public statements, reported the Ukhrul Times.

Brinda had said the Meitei Leepun and the Aarambai Tenggol were responsible for an arson incident, reported India Today. On Wednesday, the two groups stormed her home and demanded a clarification. She then said she was misinformed by a social media video.

On Thursday, the Meitei Leepun also warned that it will not take responsibility for any unwanted incidents if Brinda and Loitongbam violate the boycott.

Officials of the National Investigating Agency (NIA) arrived in groups of four and five in 62 locations across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on October 2, in coordinated raids at the homes of human rights activists and researchers.

The raid teams – comprising of NIA officers from Delhi and the local police – arrived between 5.30 am and 6 am on the day, and stayed at the locations till afternoon.

One such raid was carried out at the house of a senior lawyer and rights activist Durba Suresh Kumar. Suresh, also a member of the Indian Association of People’s Lawyer, told The Wire that he was woken up by the NIA sleuths.

“I was woken up by the officers. They had flown down, along with panch witnesses. But the local police were not informed,” Suresh said. The local police, Suresh says, joined much later. From Suresh’s house, the NIA seized his phone and a 12-page pamphlet of the People’s War Group, dating back to 1993.

Suresh says for the longest period, he was not aware of the nature of the raid and the exact case in connection with which it was being conducted. The NIA later informed him that the ongoing raids were a part of the “Munchingiputtu CPI (Maoist) conspiracy case” – in connection with which similar raids were carried out at the residences of many rights activists and academics in 2021.

Suresh was served a notice under section 160 of the CrPC, asking him to be present before the NIA as a witness. This, Suresh points out, is both “unlawful” and “unethical”.

“I am a counsel for many persons named in the case. I represent them in the high court and now the NIA wants me to appear before them as a witness in the same case,” Suresh told The Wire over a phone call.

This is not the first time that a lawyer has been named an accused or asked to be a witness in the same case they have appeared as counsel in, before a court. Surendra Gadling, a Nagpur-based lawyer and an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, was also made an accused in one of the cases in which he had defended an accused in the conflict-affected Vidarbha region in Maharashtra.

HRF functionaries targeted

Of the 62 locations raided, 53 are in Andhra Pradesh and nine are in Telangana. Along with the raids on October 2, the NIA also arrested one Chandra Narasimhulu, allegedly a state executive committee member of the Pragathiseela Karmika Samakya (PKS), an alleged front organisation of the banned CPI (Maoist). Narasimhulu was arrested from Satya Sai district in Andhra Pradesh. Along with his arrest, the NIA has claimed to have found a pistol, 14 rounds of ammunition, and Rs 13 lakhs in a case from another spot in Kadapa district. Maoist literature and pamphlets were also seized, the NIA has claimed.

Most of those raided were unsure if they are being looked at as suspects or witnesses in the case. The house of K. Sudha, a state executive committee member of Human Rights Forum, was also raided. Sudha, who reaches at a state law university, said the NIA has taken her phone away.

As raids took place at Sudha’s house, V.S. Krishna, the convener of the HRF’s Andhra Pradesh and Telangana units reached Sudha’s residence. Krishna’s house was raided in 2021 in the same case. Krishna told The Wire that he got calls from two other HRF members, who said that the NIA broke into their houses because they were not home when officials arrived. “I tried contacting other members. When Sudha did not pick up the call, I knew the NIA had reached her place too,” Krishna said.

The two other person’s whose houses were raided when they were away are HRF’s AP state general secretary Y. Rajesh in Amalapuram and the organisation’s state vice-president K.V. Jagannadha Rao in Srikakulam. Rajesh, who was on his way back from Bengaluru, when The Wire called him late on October 2, said that the NIA contacted him a little before 6 am. “They came with a notice under Section 165 (2) of the CrPc, which authorised them to search the premise. Some of my neighbours went to my place and the NIA conducted the raid,” Rajesh said, adding that the NIA has not made any seizures from his house.

Books, vernacular literature

However, from another HRF functionary’s place, the NIA has picked up over 60 books. Sudha, who shared information about the raid, said, “They basically picked up every book and document that had red font on it.” Krishna said the officers did not know to read Telugu. “Most books and our write-ups are in the local language. They mindlessly picked things up and later call it incriminating,” he added.

Besides HRF and IAPL, houses of the members of the Civil Liberties Committee (CLC), the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP), and the Revolutionary Writers Association (RWA), were also raided among others. The NIA has accused veteran rights activists and organisations of acting as “fronts” to the CPI (Maoist) organisation, banned in 2009. This claim has been vehemently opposed by rights organisations. HRF has called the NIA’s claim “a plain canard”. “Seeking to criminalise our human rights activity will never succeed. HRF is not an appendage of the Maoists or any other political party. HRF was formed on October 11, 1998 and we have turned 25 this month. We shall persist in spreading a human rights culture in society with the certitude that a broad-based and truly independent human rights movement is desirable and possible,” HRF said, in a press statement released earlier today, October 3.

The locations in Andhra Pradesh subjected to raids are in Guntur, Palanadu, Vijayawada, Rajhmundry, Prakasam, Bapatla, Eluru, East Godawari, Dr B.R. Ambedkar Konasema, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Nellore, Tirupati, Kadapa, Anantpur, and Kurnool districts. The NIA said that the nine locations in Telangana include districts of Hyderabad, Mahabubnagar, Hanumakonda, Ranga Reddy, and Adilabad.

The investigation, first registered and handled by the local state police in 2020, was taken up by the NIA in 2021. Popularly known as the ‘Munchingiputtu case’, it deals with alleged Maoist movement and literature in a village of the Alluri Sitharama Raju district. The NIA has filed a chargesheet against seven persons in that case.

One of the immediate causes for worry expressed by those raided is around the seizure of electronic devices. Most of them are lawyers and researchers and very heavily reliant on their electronic devices for their work. “Seizure of electronic devices including mobiles without even providing cloned copies to the owners amounts to immediate lack of access to precious work-related material and contacts. It leads to an overwhelming loss,” the HRF statement reads.

“To confiscate these devices in such a sudden manner results in a stunning dispossession. It is not only a deprival of valuable property of the functionaries concerned but also of their right to livelihood, privacy and human dignity.”

About the Human Rights Defenders: Maliparbat Suraksha Samithi (MSS) is a community NGO which is working against the illegal mining operations in Maliparbat hills. • Mr. Dasa Kora, aged about 50 years, senior community Leader Bhitarkota village, Maliparbat hills is the vice president of MSS. • Mr. Abhi Sadapelli, aged about 42 years, from Kankadamba village, Maliparbat hills is the Secretary of MSS.

Background: Bauxite mining lease in the Maliparbat hills has been granted to the Hindalco group. Then it was sub leased to Maitri infrastructure and mining India Pvt Ltd. The lease was allotted without the permission of Gram Sabha as per forest rights act, 2006 and the public hearing for the environmental clearance has not been done. Hence, HRDs allege that in order to get environmental clearance through public hearing, Maitri infrastructure and mining India Pvt Ltd is trying to allure the tribals in Maliparbat hills with the promise of money. Details of the Incident: On August 23, 2023, at around 07.00 PM Chhattisgarh police abducted the EHRD Abhi Sadapelli from Kankadamba village and at around 08.45 PM, they abducted Dasa Kora from Bhitarkota Village without any arrest procedures. According to the HRDs, after being picked up they were taken to a big house where they were chained, kicked, and subjected to torture for 3 days by the police officials. According to the EHRDs the place of detention remains unknown and the police officials interrogated them in Hindi and the tribals could not understand. They were not given food for one day and beaten by the police. Later they were released by the police on August 26, 2023 at the border of the Chhattisgarh without any FIR or any legal procedures of arrest or detention.

Authorities in the Indian capital of Delhi must swiftly and impartially investigate the arson attack on the home of journalists Khushboo and Nadeem Akhtar, as well as the threats of death and rape, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.

In the early hours of August 30, the Akhtar family home in the Sultanpuri area of northwest Delhi was set ablaze, according to news reports and Khushboo Akhtar, who spoke with CPJ by phone.

The Akhtar sister and brother team run Pal Pal News, a YouTube-based political affairs channel with more than 2.1 million subscribers. Akhtar told CPJ that she believes the attack was retaliation for Pal Pal News’ critical coverage of the challenges faced by Indian Muslims and other underrepresented groups, including vulnerable caste groups, farmers, and tribal communities.

“Delhi police must conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the arson attack on the home of journalists Khushboo and Nadeem Akhtar and hold the perpetrators to account,” said Kunāl Majumder, CPJ’s India representative. “The rising level of retaliation against Indian journalists covering the plight of minority communities is alarming. Khushboo and Nadeem Akhtar must be allowed to report without fear of violence or reprisal.”

Akhtar told CPJ that many religious items, including copies of the Quran and Ramayana, were taken out of a locked cupboard and burned before the perpetrators set the house on fire. The incident came to light when neighbors noticed smoke emanating from the third floor of the house and alerted Akhtar, who had relocated with her family to a different home last year. By the time she and her brother arrived at the scene, the house had been reduced to ashes.

Akhtar has recently received threats, including some involving death and rape, through social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp, primarily over her journalistic work covering violence and discrimination against Muslims, according to the journalist and a copy of her complaint to the police, which was reviewed by CPJ. Her brother has also received death threats, Akhtar said.

Darshan Lal, station house officer of the Sultanpuri police station, where Akhtar filed her complaint, told CPJ via text message that police are still investigating the arson.

On September 4, police in Manipur state filed criminal First Information Reports (FIR)against four senior journalists under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, following the September 2 publication of a report by the Editors Guild of India (EGI) analysing trends in media coverage of ongoing violence in Manipur. The FIRs, lodged after a complaint from a local social worker, are based on the mislabelling of a photo caption included in the report for which the EGI issued a correction on September 3.

Announcing the charges at a press conference on September 4, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh alleged that the report would ‘provoke clashes’, and continued to label the report ‘highly condemnable’ due to a perceived lack of consultation during its production.

The four accused include senior journalists and EGI leadership, with investigative team Bharat Bhushan, Sanjay Kapoor, Seema Guha, and guild President Seema Mustafa named in the FIRs. Bhushan, Kapoor and Guha conducted a fact-finding mission to Manipur from August 7-10, with the report concluding that news coverage in the state had disproportionately elevated voices of the politically dominant Meitei people, with this bias ‘contributing to divisiveness and violence’.

In an official statement, the EGI expressed concern at the charges and comments made by Chief Minister Singh, urging the authorities to withdraw the files registered against their members. The Press Club of India also called for the dismissal of all charges, claiming the move constituted intimidation against the guild.

Since the outbreak of violence in May 2023, at least 160 people have been killed in Manipur, with thousands displaced. The increased presence of security forces has resulted in the harassment and assault of several journalists, with internet restrictions imposed by the state government for over four months limiting the scope and quality of news coverage in the area.

The IFJ said: “The publication of a report analysing a complex media context should not be met with legal retribution. If the Manipur government has legitimate issues with the contents of the report they should be discussed through non-criminal proceedings, instead of harassing journalists with arbitrary and intimidatory charges. The IFJ calls on Chief Minister N. Biren Singh and the Manipur state authorities to withdraw all cases against EGI leadership and journalists immediately.”

On 30 August 2023, human rights defender Nitin Varghese was placed in judicial custody following his arrest by the Madhya Pradesh police on 29 August 2023, after which he was remanded in police custody for a day. The human rights defender has been falsely accused of instigating local community members to attack forest officials in March 2023. At the time of writing this appeal, Nitin Varghese was still to be presented in court.

Nitin Varghese is a core member of the Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS), a collective which has been working for over 20 years to advocate for the rights of Dalit and Indigenous communities in rural areas of Madhya Pradesh. These communities face systemic violations of their right to land, livelihood, access to resources and the right to live with dignity. Nitin Varghese is a vocal advocate on issues such as illegal deforestation, forced eviction of local communities, and the denial of access to land and forests. The human rights defender Nitin Varghese and other defenders associated with the Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan have been repeatedly targeted in reprisal for their peaceful campaigns in support of the land and environmental rights of the Adivasi community in the Burhanpur District, Madhya Pradesh.

On 29 August 2023, human rights defender Nitin Varghese appeared before the Burhanpur District Court and was remanded to police custody at the Khandwa Jail based on a First Information Report (FIR) bearing number 0078/23. He was asked to surrender before the court through a proclamation under Section 82 of India’s Criminal Procedure Code. The case against Nitin Varghese relates to an alleged attack on a Forest Range office in Burhanpur, where the police falsely claim that the human rights defender instigated members of the Adivasi community to attack public officials. In fact, four Adivasi community members were arbitrarily detained at the Forest Range office and the human rights defender Nitin Varghese was requested by community members to secure their release and prevent any harm befalling those in custody. The charges against the human rights defender include serious offences under the Indian Penal Code including rioting, use of criminal force against public servants, trespassing and unlawful assembly.

On 30 June 2023, Nitin Varghese was served a proclamation to surrender before the court.His application for anticipatory bail before the High Court of Madhya Pradesh was rejected on 16 August 2023, leading to his arrest. Police submitted to the court that one of the persons detained following the alleged attack named Nitin Varghese as the instigator of the attack while in custody. The human rights defender has denied all allegations against him and JADS maintains that one of the accused was forced to sign on a blank paper.

The police claim that Nitin Varghese instigated the Adivasi community members to forcibly break their relatives out of the custody in an attack on the Forest Range office. Although the FIR filed in relation to this incident on 2 March 2023 does not mention the human rights defender, in March 2023 the police summoned Nitin Varghese to the Lalbagh police station under the pretext of recording his statement. Despite the human rights defender cooperating fully with the police, they delayed recording his statement on two occasions. Significantly, the persons named in the FIR were released on default bail after two months in detention, as no chargesheet was filed regarding the incident.

Nitin Varghese has been targeted previously due to his human rights work. On 20 April 2023,a FIR was filed against the human rights defenders Nitin Varghese and Madhuri Krishnaswami by a group of local politicians. The report was filed under sections 294 (Obscene acts and songs) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code along with offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The same group of politicians had attempted to disrupt a meeting on 19 April 2023 between JADS members and opposition party leaders who were visiting the area to inspect allegations of deforestation.

It is alarming that the human rights defender Nitin Varghese is being implicated in a case that makes no mention of him, and in which the police have failed to produce a chargesheet to date. During this time, Nitin Varghese has also been suffering from a viral fever and is being treated for a serious medical condition.

Continued repression by alleged strongmen employed by powerful corporations are behind the recent arrests of 25 persons over the past 3 weeks in Orissa, states a press release of the Ganatantrik Adhikar Surakhya Sangathan, Odisha. Activists including the Adivasis community have been strongly protesting the mining of bauxite by Vedanta, Adani and HINDALCO.

There is a wide contestation on the mode and path of development being allowed by the state government in alliance with the union of India. Adivasis are protesting the destruction of their land, forests and hills, above all, their livelihoods by these corporations.

The Ganatantrik Adhikar Suraksha Sangathan (GASS), Odisha has strongly condemned the spate of ongoing attacks, reportedly in various proposed mining sites of south Odisha over the last three weeks. On August 23, 2023, two office-bearers of the Mali Parvat Suraksha Samiti, Koraput, Abhi Sodi and Das Khara were picked up by plain clothed motorbikers. They are suspected to be the police in view of two similar cases we saw in the Niyamgiri area of Kalahandi district on August 5 and Sijimali and Kutrumali areas of Rayagada district on August 16. Despite the fact that the family members of both Abhi Sodi and Das Khara have filed a separate FIR before the Patangi Police station, their where-about is still unknown.

Also, in the Niyamgiri area, Krushna Sikakkaa and Bari Sikakka of Lakhpadar village, the two Adivasi activists, while returning from Lanjigada weekly market were forcefully being abducted by plain-clothes Odisha Police personnel on August 5. Upon an enquiry by the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti activists about the whereabouts of their fellow activists, the police denied their involvement. Thus on August 6, local tribals staged a protest in front of the Kalyansinghpur police station and submitted a demand for their release.

The press release states that while they were returning, the local police forcibly tried to arrest another Adivasi activist named Drenju Krisikka of Lakhpadar village. The villagers unitedly resisted and their efforts prevented the arrest. But, the local police mentioning the protest of Adivasis as “unlawful activities” have filed an FIR under highly undemocratic laws such as the UAPA and several sections of IPC against eight Adivasi activists associated with the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti. Kalahandi district Ambadola village resident, Upendra Bag, against whom the FIR has been filed, was picked up by the Rayagada police. His arrest was not acknowledged until his son went to file habeas-corpus. He was then produced before the Court and sent to jail after three days of detention. His family members report that he has been tortured while in detention. How could the protest of tribals against illegal detention be the activity of “terrorists” for which the state government has used UAPA? The threat of the government to stop exercise of minimum democratic rights by the people and to whitewash their own wrongdoings, such use of the UAPA is the display of mere authoritarianism. The police, who were denying detention of Krushna, later forwarded under a false case filed in 2018, released Bari and sent to his village.

Though the state government has decided to hand over Bauxite mining from Sijimali located in Kashipur area of Rayagada district to Vedanta Company, the public hearing and Gram Sabha approval process has yet to be completed.

In this situation, some office-bearers of Maitri Infrastructure and Mining India Private Limited, claiming that they have been awarded by the Vedanta company to perform mining work at Sijimali went to that mining area on August 12, with the help of the local police for site-visit.

This action of Maitri Private Limited irked the local people and they protested such site-visit. This resulted into forceful abduction of Dhanafula Majhi, the former Sarpanch of Sindurghati Panchayat, also known as the office-bearers of the “Sijimali Kutrumali Suraksha Samiti”, and Sitaram Majhi and Anil Majhi, both the former Samiti Members by Rayagada police on August 16. They were arrested on August 19 of this month as people’s protests escalated. Meanwhile, 21 villagers have already been arrested from Sijimali area under different sections of the IPC, Criminal Amendment Act and Arms Act. While avoiding the unlawful arrest, one of the villagers fell off the roof and has even suffered a severe spine injury. Now he is being treated at M.K.C.G, medical college, Berhampur.

The act of protecting one’s own land, forest and nature is not a criminal act under the Cr.PC or IPC that the police can arrest someone for this, says the press note.

It has been observed time and again that in order to keep these protesting villagers behind the bar for a pretty longer period of time, provocative incidents are being instigated with the help of local police to begin with. And then after the villagers get agitated and show some reactions, random arrests are being made under various non-bailable sections of the IPC such as attempt to murder, dacoity, rioting, arson and applying the Criminal Amendment Act as well as the Unlawful Arms Act. For the police to arrest someone, offences must have first been committed under the crimes listed in the IPC.

Similar tactics by the state government were followed during the gherao of Kalyansinghpur police station, as well as in Niyamgiri area and in Sijimali area of Kashipur.

This is now being replicated in the Maliparvat area of Patangi block of Koraput district. On August 23, 2023, some civilians posing themselves as policemen picked up Shri Abhi Sodi and Shri Das Khara, the two office-bearers of the “Mali Parvat Suraksha Samiti”, from two different places, says the press release issued by GASS.

Background

Nearly 42 villages are now opposing the proposed HINDALCO bauxite-mining project. The Odisha High Court cancelled the Public Hearing (scheduled for October 2022) held by the State Pollution Control Board, Odisha and instructed this should be organised again. In the subsequent Hearing (January 2023) the public expressed their opposition to the development plans.

Despite the cancellation of the Vedanta Company’s contract following the gram sabha’s decision in Niyamgiri, till date, the state government has not assured the local Dongria adivasis that the Niyamgiri hills will not be handed over to any company.

In the case of Sijimali, the state government is not questioning the Maitri Company entering the area without any legal permission. Even in the Maliparvat case, despite the High Court’s verdict, the state government did not review the pro-corporate involvement of the District administration. It is hard to believe that the state government desires to have development through democratic process, says GASS.

It is not out of place to point out here that this recent clampdown of the Odisha govt. The anti-mining resistance activists have to be seen in the context of the recent amendment to Forest Conservation Bill 2023 which has deleted the existence of ‘deemed forests’ with no rhyme or reason and without debate with Adivasis and other stakeholders. In Niyamgiri, as per reports, over 90 percent of the forests fall under this category. The GASS states that this is meant to enable trade-offs between the mining corporate houses and the State and Union Governments.

GASS has not only condemned these policies of the government and the brutality but questioned the breakdown of due process of law, the use of corporate goons in lieu of the police and the questionable manner in which UAPA and the Arms Act are being drastically applied with an aim to stifle protests and the rights of Adivasis.

Finally, GASS has appealed to all political parties, progressive organisations, trade unions, writers and media persons to oppose these attacks perpetrated by the Orissa government and save this planet from further destruction, so that our earth can sustain longer.

Social activist and environmentalist Prafulla Samantara, who was picked up by police on Tuesday and later released after five hours, on Wednesday accused the Odisha government of unleashing terror in the mining areas to stifle the voice of the Opposition as well as the local tribals.

Winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize for 2017, Samantara, 72, told The Telegraph: “I was about to address a media conference at Rayagada on the plight of those tribals who were opposing the mining activities in Rayagada, Kalahandi and other adjoining areas, but three unidentified people forcibly entered into my hotel room and took me away with them. On the way, I came to know that they were plain-clothes police. Later, they left me at my house in Berhampur around 9.30pm after an almost five-hour journey.”

Berhampur is the southern commercial town of Odisha and about 225km away from Rayagada, which borders Andhra Pradesh.

Samantara, president of the Lok Shakti Abhiyan, sent an FIR to the Rayagada police on Wednesday, stating how three people in civil dress entered his hotel room at Rayagada on Tuesday, snatched away his two phones, tied his hands back and covered his head and face with a towel and forced him to come out of the hotel room and go with them in their four-wheeler. He also pointed out how he was subjected to mental torture.

Samantara said: “Around 24 tribals were put behind bars in Rayagada sub-jail for opposing the mining activities. All of them were in jail in three spates of arrests between August 13 and August 20. They were against the mining of bauxite at Sijumali and other areas in Rayagada district.”

He added: “On Tuesday morning, I reached Rayagada and went to jail to meet them. I was about to address the media to expose the nexus between the government and industrial houses. Before I could address the media at Rayagada, the police abducted me. Later realising that it would bring more trouble, they were forced to release me. It’s a kind of state-sponsored terrorism.”

Samantara said people opposed leasing bauxite mines to Vedanta and Adani groups. “In the name of industrialisation, the indiscriminate mining of bauxite would ruin the areas.”

“The Odisha police have unleashed severe repression by resorting to mid-night raids and abductions. Charges of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act have been foisted on activists opposing the mining of bauxite in their areas,” he said.

According to the environmentalist, the state and the Centre — the BJD and the BJP — are collaborating in accelerating the acquisition of bauxite reserves. Both the ruling establishments seek to stifle the voices of these movements by putting their leaders and active members behind bars.

Despite making a number of attempts, Rayagada superintendent of police (SP) could not be contacted.

Rayagada police station inspector said: “I am yet to receive the FIR copy. I have no idea about the alleged abduction by police.”

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Washim Sajad was a 25-year-old social and human rights activist working as a ground level staff at the NGO Van Andolan Jagriti Sangh in Jharkhand which works for forest rights.

Details of the Incident On April 07, 2023, Mr. Washim Sajad went to Khala village for a meeting on Forest Rights Act. At around 11:00 PM, 4-5 policemen (not in uniform) in white Tata sumo came to the Khala village and apprehended the HRD nearby his grandfather house. They abducted him without following the D.K Basu Guidelines of arrest or detention. Then the HRD was subjected to torture by the police in the vehicle and then by policemen at the police station of Dhurki. The HRD was then shifted to the Dhurki Health Center in the same vehicle in which he was apprehended. HRD was given painkiller injections along with antibiotics at Dhurki Health center. Later the HRD succumbed to injuries sustained due to custodial torture. According to the HRD’s Father - At around 12 o'clock in the night HRD’s father was informed by Dhurki Police station stating that Inspector Krishan Kumar and HRD is in the hospital and requested the HRD’s father to come to the Dhurki primary hospital. The HRD’s father Mr. Mumtaz Ansari went to Dhurki Primary Hospital at 12 o'clock in the night where he met his son. The HRD informed him that he was stomped on his chest and subjected to brutal torture by the Sub Inspector Krishan Kumar and other police officials of Dhurki Police station.

The Father of HRD, Mr. Mumtaz Ansari filed a FIR against the custodial death of the HRD in FIR No 45 of 2023 at Dhurki Police station dated 08-04-2023, U/s 302 IPC, against accused Krishan Kumar Sub inspector, Dhurki Police station.

About the Human Rights Defenders:

Mr. Bhalachandra Shadangi is a lawyer and the National Secretary of the All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha (AIKMS).

Background of the incident:
The Mountain ranges of Siji Mali, Manging and Kutru Mali are spread across three blocks of Kalahandi and Rayada district, which comprises of around 145 villages; are proposed to be mined by Vedanta and Adani group. Due to the intervention of gram sabhas Vedanta failed to obtain the mining lease.

Local HRDs allege that in order to obtain the mining lease, Vedanta has entrusted its mining operations to Maitri Infra and Mining company and it tried to bribe the tribals with the promise of money. When the local leaders questioned them they were threatened with the support of the police.

Details of the Incident: On August 12, 2023 at about 07.30 AM, officials of Maitri Infra and Mining company came to visit the proposed mining site at Siji Mali. Aggrieved by this at 11.00 AM the tribals gathered together at the protest site and protested against the mining activities.

On August 12, 2023, FIRs no.-92, 93, 96, 97 and 101 were registered against 24 activists out of which 21 activists were arrested and produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court (JFCM) Kasipur and were remanded to Rayagada District Jail. On August 16, 2023, three HRDs were arrested by District police Rayagada.

On August 18, 2023, following the arrest of 24 tribals, advocate Bhalachandra Shadangi visited the Kasipur area and met with the families of arrested persons. The HRD was returning to Triki the same day.

At 11 pm the HRD was stopped by Inspector In charge of Triki police station, Mr. Bishweswari Bag and Sub Inspector Mr. Jana who were not in their uniform, along with 4-5 other police officials at Tikri. The HRD was taken to the Triki police station and detained till 12.30 in the night. According to the HRD, he was questioned about his visits in Kasipur Block and his meetings with the arrested persons’ families.

When the HRD asked to show the arrest memo or detention memo the police failed to produce the same, the HRD demanded this release and at 12.30 AM he was released.

The Lakhimpur Police has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against a journalist for allegedly tarnishing the government and education department’s image by sending them videos of bundles of books meant for free distribution to students of government primary schools, being sold as scrap. The journalist said he had sent the video to get an official reaction on the incident that he himself witnessed.

The FIR was registered at Palia police station by block education officer (BEO) Nagendra Chaudhary claiming that by making a video and circulating it on social media platforms, the journalist was attempting to tarnish the image of the government.

A copy of the FIR accessed by NewsClick reads, "A video of Palia market in which a bundle of books is being shown in a rigid truck amidst some cluttered sacks/goods getting viral. In the viral video, the booklets sent by the government for free distribution are being told to be purchased by a junk shop. The above incident is affecting the image of the Basic Education Department as well as the administration."

A case under Section 420 of Indian Penal Code has been made against the journalist.

Shishir Shukla, the journalist who recorded the video and works with Hindi daily Amrit Vichar, told NewsClick that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government does not want any negative report to be covered.

"Like every day, I was on the ground for a story. Near Dudhwa National Park Road, I saw multiple bundles of textbooks at scrap shops. I myself checked the books to confirm whether it is from the current session or the old ones, but I was shocked to see that all books under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, which are supposed to be distributed to government primary school children, are being sold in scrap. I asked the shop owner where he got all the books from, he said from the scrap dealer," an upset Shukla said.

The journalist said he then sent the video to BEO (block education officer) for his reaction to balance the story, but instead of responding to his question, he registered a complaint at Palia police station.

"I have been reporting for more than 15 years but there has never been such a grim situation that action is being taken against a journalist for doing his work," said Shukla.

When contacted, Chaudhary, the BEO who registered the complaint against the journalist mentioning his contact number in the FIR, told NewsClick, "Whoever recorded the video should be punished as it was an attempt to tarnish the image of the government and education department. I have not mentioned the journalist's name in the FIR."

When asked about the contact number mentioned in the FIR, which belongs to the same journalist (Shukla) who sent the video to him for his comment, Chaudhary said, "It is a matter of investigation. I went there to investigate but the books were not there.”

Meanwhile, a group of journalists held protests in Lakhimpur, Palia, Nighasan, Shahjahanpur and Bareilly and handed over a memorandum to the SDM against the “witch-hunt”.

Students Without Books For the past four months, state government-run primary and upper primary school students have been attending classes without their school uniforms and books.

Despite the new academic session for government-run primary schools having commenced on April 1, students in many government primary and upper primary schools across the state are still awaiting the arrival of their books. In the absence of new books, teachers are making use of a few old books that were given by last year's students, but most of them are torn. As a result, the teachers have no choice but to dictate notes until they receive the new sets of books, as reported by NewClick earlier.

Authorities in India must immediately unblock the social media accounts of the independent news website Gaon Savera, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

On Monday, August 21, Gaon Savera’s Facebook page became inaccessible in India, and its account on X, formerly known as Twitter, was also blocked the following day, according to news reports and Mandeep Punia, editor of Gaon Savera, who spoke to CPJ by phone.

On Tuesday, August 22, Gaon Savera received an email from X, reviewed by CPJ, stating that the account had been withheld in response to a legal demand by the Indian government under the Information Technology Act. Gaon Savera did not receive a notice from Meta, which owns Facebook, or the Indian government, Punia said.

CPJ was able to access the outlet’s social media pages from the United States.

The previous week, the website and social media accounts of the independent online news magazine The Kashmir Walla were blocked in India.

“The Indian government’s arbitrary ban on Gaon Savera’s social media accounts, within days of blocking The Kashmir Walla’s website and social media accounts, marks a disturbing new trend of censorship in India,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Kuala Lumpur. “The Indian government must stop targeting independent news publications and allow Gaon Savera to report without interference.”

Some articles on the site of Gaon Savera, which covers grassroots people’s movements in the northern states of Haryana and Punjab, have disappeared, Punia told CPJ, adding that the outlet’s technical team was investigating.

Punia told CPJ that he suspected that the censorship was in response to Gaon Savera’s coverage of ongoing farmer protests in Punjab and Haryana ahead of a national convention of workers in Delhi on August 24.

Punia was arrested while reporting on farmers’ protests as a freelancer in January 2021 and detained for four days.

Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.

About the Human Rights Defenders: The ‘We20: Peoples Summit’ was organized in the backdrop of the G20 in Delhi by more than 70 Civil society organisations including the National Alliance of People’s Movements, Focus on the Global South, All India Union of Forest Working People, Narmada Bachao Andolan, Environment Support Group (ESG), People’s Resource Centre, People First, Alternative Law Forum, Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, Delhi Forum, Jharkhand Mine Area Committee, Parisar, Basti Suraksha Manch, National Hawkers Federation, Pani Haq Samiti, and Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao etc. The We20 aimed to discuss issues directly affecting marginalised and vulnerable segments of the population including land rights, natural resources, food security, escalating economic inequality, climate justice, and the influence of majoritarian politics.

Details of the Incident: In 2023 India assumed the G20 presidency and hosted G20 Presidency meetings in various cities across India. However, CSOs felt that the concerns of the marginalised and vulnerable citizens were not reflected adequately in the G20 and thus, the ‘We20 Summit’ — with tagline “People and Nature over Profits for a Just, Inclusive, Transparent, and Equitable Future” was supposed to be held from August 18-August 20, 2023, in Delhi. The event was organized by over 70 civil society organisations and the speakers included activists such as Medha Patkar, Teesta Setalvad, Harsh Mander Vandana Shiva, Anjali Bhardwaj, Nikhil Dey, Thomas Franco, and Shaktiman Ghosh. The event was being held at H.K.S. Surjeet Bhawan, which are private premises and don’t need permission. On day 1, August 18, 2022, representatives from peoples’ movements, trade unions, and civil society spoke on how the decisions of the G20 impacted national economies, democratic institutions and fundamental rights and accused Mr. Modi’s government of hostility towards civil society and human rights organisations.

On day 2, August 19, 2022, at 11:30 am, the Delhi police under the central government’s Ministry of Home Affairs put-up barricades and a police force cordoned off Surjeet Bhavan to stop delegates from attending the conference. Those who had already entered were not allowed to leave the building by the police cordons. The people were asked to leave by the police but when they refused to do so, the police prevented entry inside the building. Attendees allege that the police physically tried to stop the participants even those who were elderly and disabled However after the resistance by the people, the event to continue for the day. On day 3, the last day of the summit, the organizers of the summit received a letter from the Delhi police saying that permission for the event has been denied. The organizers of the We20 released a statement saying that “while in the official G20 summit there are claims of us being the “Mother of Democracy”, the state of affairs that we have witnessed here at the We20 Peoples’ Summit only goes on to show how we are inching closer to being a police state. One where even dialogue, deliberations inside the four walls and thoughts are being policed.”

The assault on the Maharashtra Daily journalist in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon area was captured in a video that went viral the following day. In the video, Mahajan is seen being pulled from his motorbike and beaten up by at least three men. The men have since been alleged to be supporters of local MLA Kishore Patil.

Police lodged a Non-Consignable (NC) complaint against the three people for the attack and said they were checking for links to the politician. Police also said the journalist did not suffer serious injuries but that the case was registered under sections 323, 504, and 506 of the Indian Penal Code based on the nature of injuries the journalist sustained.

According to subsequent reports, the attack was linked to the journalist’s online response a meeting between Maharashtra’s Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde, and the parents of an eight-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped and murdered a few days earlier. In the post, Mahajan was reported to have called the politician’s meeting with the girl’s parents an “eyewash”. Shortly after, local MLA Kishor Patil is alleged to have called the journalist to abuse him. An audio clip of Patil’s conversation was also purportedly shared on social media platforms.

This week, 11 Mumbai journalist bodies petitioned the Governor of Maharashtra, Ramesh Bais, and demanded action be taken against MLA Kishor Patil under Maharashtra Media Persons and Media Institutions (Prevention of  Violence and damage or Loss to Property) Act, 2017 Act 29 of 2019.

Opposition NCP MLA Rohit Pawar questioned the silence of the state government after the attack on the Maharashtra Daily journalist political “goons”.

The Press Trust of India reported that a statement issued by the journalist bodies said the governor assured their delegation that he would look into the matter.

The IJU said: “IJU condemns the attack on Jalgaon Maharashtra journalist Sandeep Mahajan by supporters of local Shiv Sena MLA Kishore Patil for his critical report of rape and murder of a girl. IJU demands stern action against the attackers of the journalist.”

The IFJ said: “The Maharashtra government must be obligated to investigate this targeted attack and ensure the implementation of the state law which is there to defend and protect journalists.”

On August 6, 2023, the Odisha police lodged an FIR against nine people associated with the Niyamgiri Surakhya Samiti (NSS) under charges of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and the Indian Penal Code. The charges came a day after two of NSS’ activists, Krushna Sikaka and Bari Sikaka, were allegedly abducted by the police in plainclothes from Lanjigarh haat in the Kalahandi district where they were meeting villagers to discuss upcoming celebrations of the World Adivasi Day. When other NSS activists contacted police regarding this abduction, the police continued to deny it. In response, the NSS called for a protest in front of Kalyansinghpur police station, seeking the whereabouts of the abducted activists. When this protest was dispersing, there was an altercation and the police even reportedly tried to detain Drenju Krisika, another activist of the NSS, right from among the crowd and it was only the collective effort and strength of the villagers which prevented this abduction. It is after this attempt that the police filed the FIR against the nine activists, which included names like the NSS’ Lada Sikaka, Drenju Krisika, Lingaraj Azad, the Khandualmali Surakhya Samiti’s British Kumar and poet Lenin Kumar.

These developments and the use of so-called anti-terror laws against Adivasi activists few days prior to World Adivasi Day on August 9 has been condemned as being an attack on the people’s struggle led by the Dongria Kondh tribe, who have been fighting the bid to resist destruction of the Niyamgiri mountains through various mining projects. In 2003, the Indian state signed a memorandum of understanding with Vedanta Limited for establishing a mining project for extracting the bauxite in Niyamgiri mountains. The project had the potential to displace the residents of the mountains and surrounding areas from their traditional lands and cause vast environmental destruction which would have ramifications not only for the immediate residents of the area but for the people of Odisha at large, with Niyamgiri’s unique bauxite composition playing a major role in filtering river water which flows down across the state. The vigorous struggle of the people of Niyamgiri against this move by the state finally culminated in a Supreme Court judgement which refused to permit Vedanta Limited from continuing their mining operations in Niyamgiri. The judgement also highlighted how the state had flouted various legal provisions in granting Vedanta Limited the rights, even though the judgement itself did not ensure the end of mining operations in Niyamgiri, with the judges going so far as to inviting Vedanta’s subsidiary, Sterlite, to apply for mining in Niyamgiri instead. As the residents of the Niyamgiri area continued their struggle to protect their rights to their own land in the subsequent decade, the state has reportedly further intensified its repressive measures to dissuade them from engaging in any democratic struggle by abducting activists, charging them with anti-terror laws, changing titleship provisions to evict the locals from their lands and various other forms of police harassment and violence.

Environmentally conscious people’s movements have been highlighting the fact that it is not only Niyamgiri alone but the entire region of Eastern Ghats where various such mining projects are threatening people’s lives. On the same day, August 6, in Kashipur, Rayagada, protests and demonstrations took place against the operations bauxite hills of Sijimali and Kutrumali, projects of Vedanta and Adani Groups respectively. Vedanta hired another company, Maitri, to resolve the issue and hold gram sabha meetings to convince local residents in favour of the projects but stiff resistance from the people ensured that the company’s plans didn’t come to fruition. This subsequently led to the activists organizing these demonstrations being detained by the police late at night in a similar fashion. They were then recently produced in court and have, according to sources, shown signs of physical violence and torture. On August 16, seven more people were reportedly picked up by the police from Sijimali area and will be presented in court soon. All these questionable acts by the Orissa police have raised serious questions on the right to protest and the safety of Adivasi human rights defenders.

Pertinently, the two reportedly illegally detained activists were found after a writ of habeas corpus was filed in the High Court which forced the police to produce the activists, Krushna Sikaka and Bari Sikaka. While Bari Sikaka was released, Krushna Sikaka has been sent to jail due to a 2018 rape charge filed against him. Since 2018, Krushna Sikaka has been seen participating in public meetings and demonstrations, but the police made no move on him for five years and this raises doubts on whether this charge is only to ensure Krushna Sikaka’s incarceration. Furthermore, one other accused in this case, Upendra Bhoi of the NSS, was initially reported missing by his family on 10th August but has now finally been located in Raygada jail on August 15.

The Union government has blocked The Kashmir Walla’s website and its social media accounts without serving a notice or issuing an official order, the independent news portal said on Sunday.

In a statement, the outlet described the action as an “opaque censorship” and said it was gut-wrenching and “another deadly blow” to press freedom in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Since 2011, The Kashmir Walla has strived to remain an independent, credible, and courageous voice of the region in the face of unimaginable pressure from the authorities while we watched our being ripped apart, bit by bit,” the statement read.

The server provider informed the staff on Saturday that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had blocked the website under the Information Technology Act, 2000, according to the statement. After this, the staff discovered that The Kashmir Walla’s Facebook page with nearly half a million followers had been removed and its Twitter account had been withheld “in response to a legal demand”.

The statement noted that the action had been taken at a time when The Kashmir Walla staff were in process of vacating their office in Srinagar after being served an eviction notice by the landlord.

The statement also highlighted that The Kashmir Walla’s editor-in-chief Fahad Shah has been in jail for 18 months now. The police had arrested Shah in February last year and accused him of glorifying terrorism, spreading fake news and inciting violence.

The Kashmir Walla said this was “the beginning of the saga of his revolving door arrests” and the harassment of its staff.

“He [Shah] went on to be arrested five times within four months,” the statement said. “Three FIRs [first information reports] under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and one Public Safety Act have been registered against him.”

Sajad Gul, who worked with The Kashmir Walla as a trainee reporter, is also in a prison in Uttar Pradesh under the Public Safety Act. The journalist first was arrested on January 6, 2022, after he posted a video of a family shouting anti-India slogans after their relative was killed in a gunfight in Srinagar.

The Kashmir Walla said it was still processing the recent action and that there “isn’t a lot left” to comment.

The statement added, “The Kashmir Walla’s story is the tale of the rise and fall of press freedom in the region. Over the past 18 months, we have lost everything but you – our readers. The Kashmir Walla is beyond thankful that we were read avidly for 12 years by millions.”

Tushar Gandhi, Teesta Setalvad, and G G Parikh were stopped by Mumbai police from attending a peace march on the anniversary of the Quit India movement. Gandhi was detained, Setalvad was asked to stay indoors, and Parikh was issued a preventive notice. The government organized a separate function to mark the occasion. The organizers criticized the BJP-led government for attempting to co-opt and distort the freedom struggle. Gandhi was detained for three hours and paid his respects to the place where the movement began after being released.

Tushar Gandhi, great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, activist Teesta Setalvad, and 99-year-old freedom fighter G G Parikh were stopped on Wednesday by the Mumbai police from attending a peace march organised on the anniversary of the Quit India movement.

Gandhi was detained and taken to Santacruz police station, Setalvad was asked to stay indoors amid police bandobast while Parikh was issued a preventive notice by the D B Marg police. The march was to culminate at August Kranti Maidan, the place from where Mahatma Gandhi gave a clarion call for the British to quit India in 1942.

The government organised a function at the same venue to mark the occasion, in which chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar participated. They also launched the Meri Mati, Mera Desh campaign during the function.

In a post at 7 am on social media platform X, Gandhi said, “For the first time in the history of Independent India, I have been detained at Santacruz police station, as I left home to commemorate 9th August Quit India Day. I am proud. My Great Grandparents Bapu and Ba had also been arrested by the British Police on the historic date.”

A statement signed by organisers Madhu Mohite, Feroze Mithiborwala and Guddi S L, read: “On the 81st anniversary of the historic Quit India movement led by Mahatma Gandhi, we witnessed a draconian crackdown by the BJP-led regime in Maharashtra. Our veteran freedom fighters have been commemorating this ever since 1943. Dr Parikh, who continues to lead the march even at 99, had participated in the movement as a student in 1942. He is utterly distraught at this bizarre turn of events. Every year, we, as the People’s Movement, commemorate the Quit India Movement by marching from Tilak Statue at Girgaum Chowpatty to the August Kranti Maidan. This year, however, we were prevented by the communal fascist regime.”

The organisers also alleged that 50-odd activists were detained by the police at D B Marg Police station. They hit out at the BJP saying that the BJP-led government was “attempting to commemorate the day for the first time—the day that their ideological predecessors had opposed, even as the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha connived with the British Empire”. “The advertisement issued by the BJP-led government does not even mention the Quit India Movement. It is once again clear that the BJP-RSS are trying their best or rather their worst to co-opt and distort our freedom struggle,” read the statement.

Gandhi, through his social media profile, said that he had been detained for three hours. “I was about to leave for August Kranti Maidan around 8 am when two people approached me and asked where I was going. When I told them, they said I couldn’t do that. They then took me to Santacruz police station. I was made to wait in the senior inspector’s cabin until 11.30 am before being let off,” he said. “The police told me there was an event organised by the state government at the same venue and my presence there could cause a law-and-order situation.” Gandhi said he did pay his respects to the place where the Quit India Movement began in 1942 after being let go along with Setalvad and Parikh.

Senior officials, including joint commissioner of police Satyanarayan Choudhary and deputy commissioner of police for Zone 9 Krishnakant Upadhyay, refused to comment on Gandhi’s detention. However, the letter sent to Parikh by the DB Marg police mentioned that he did not have the necessary permission to conduct the peace march in their jurisdiction. It also cited restriction of movement under Section 144 issued from July 31 to August 14, saying that action could be taken against him and his accomplices for illegal assembly. It also pointed out a high court order that said all rallies and protests in the city should only be done at Azad Maidan.

The D B Marg police detained 22 people relating to the Quit India Day, as they violated the Mumbai police commissioner’s order prohibiting gatherings of more than five persons. “We have already registered a case in this matter under Section 135,” said a police officer.

Maharashtra BJP vice-president Madhav Bhandari said he would not answer questions on Teesta’s detention since “she is out on bail in many cases for financial misappropriation”. “The action against Gandhi and other activists was taken by the police as per their common practice,” he said. “The government had no role in it. As far as the allegations against BJP over August Kranti Diwas go, I want to ask Teesta and Gandhi whether they hoist the tricolour in their houses. People know what we are and what they do.”

Shinde said, “The clarion call by Mahatma Gandhi for the British to quit India inspired the youth. The freedom fighters stood against the British rule. The freedom we got was the result of the sacrifice by thousands of martyrs.”

About the Human Rights Defenders: Civil society organisations like Inqlabi Mazdoor Kendra who were holding a street corner meeting for peace in Manipur. Inqlabi Mazdoor Kendra (IMK) is platform which works on the issue of laborers and women and farmers. The workers of Inqlabi Mazdoor Kendra also work with farmer organizations. Details of the Incident: On July 23, 2023, around 6.30 pm, members of civil society organisations like Inqlabi Mazdoor Kendra and others were holding a peaceful street corner meeting near Gonchi School, Faridabad, criticising sexual violence against women in Manipur. Women, students, and labourers were taking part in the meeting. Suddenly a group of 8-10 drunken young men led by a local young men called Sahdev and Mohit, crashed the meeting. They had iron rods, and lathes in their hands. The men went up to the organisers and started threatening them by telling them not to talk about Manipur and that first they should get the “mulla shops” (derogatory way of referring to shops owned by Muslims) shut which sold chicken on Tuesday. When the participants at the meeting refused, the youth turned aggressive and forced them to shout Jai Shri Ram. They also started harassing the women participants present there. When other participants came to calm the situation, the perpetrators attacked the protestors from behind and assaulted them with lathes, bricks, iron rods, iron weights. The assault led to serious injuries on the heads of many participants while 3 participants Mr. Nitish Kumar, Mr. Deepak Kumar, and Mr. Santosh Prajapati suffered serious head injuries. After the assault they threatened the organisers telling them to leave immediately and if seen in the locality again then they will be killed. At 7:30 pm a written complaint about this incident was made at the Sanjay Colony Sector 23 police station, Faridabad. In the complaint the peaceful protestors also mentioned that they recognised the perpetrators. But the police did not register the FIR. They told the complainants that first a medico-legal examination should be done and then they will register an FIR in the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. The injured people got a medico-legal examination in the government hospital of Vallabhgarh and one of them had to get a CT scan done at 1 am in the night. The next morning, they again went to the police station and asked them to file a FIR again now that they had got the MLC done. The chowki in-charge refused to file the FIR again.

The National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), one of the oldest women organisations in the country who in their last three-member, namely Annie Raja, Nisha Sindhu and Deeksha Duivedi’s visit to Manipur conducting fact finding mission over Manipur ethnic conflict have been slapped with FIR for allegedly hurting sentiments of the Manipuri Meira Paibis. NFIW general secretary Annie Raja along with NFIW national secretary Nisha Sindhu and independent Advocate Deeksha Duivedi had visited both Meitei areas and Kuki areas and came to the conclusion that the May 3 riot was state-sponsored. The three-member NFIW addressing media at Manipur Press Club in Imphal on July 1 had said that the May 3 riot in Manipur was a state-sponsored riot and that is why the state government is not making any effort to control it. According to HY News, the three were booked on Saturday, July 8 at Imphal Police station for disregarding women Meira Paibis of Manipur and terming the protest of Meira Paibis against the resignation of Chief Minister as “stage-managed drama”. The FIR has been registered under sections s 121- A/124/153/153-A/ 153-B/ 499/ 504/505(2)/34 of IPC by one L. Liben Singh (53), son of late Sanoujam Pholo Singh of Heingang Makha Leikai. Annie Raja the general secretary of the women’s organisation had alleged that chief minister N Biren Singh kept himself busy at around 7 pm on May 3, by tweeting and making social media posts on the vice president of India’s visit to Manipur, when people were being killed and houses torched. Jagdeep Dhankhar’s in his one day-long visit on May 3 attended events at DM University campus and Manipur University.

A Delhi Court has extended judicial custody of human rights activist Khurram Parvez and Kashmiri journalist Irfan Mehraj in a 2020 UAPA case after the NIA sought more time to complete the investigation. Mehraj and Parvez are accused in the alleged NGO Terror funding case registered by NIA in October 2020.

On June 09, Principal District & Sessions Judge Sanjay Garg of Patiala House Court allowed NIA’s application seeking extension of detention of both Mehraj and Parvez in judicial custody and period of investigation. Though the NIA had prayed for extension beyond 90 days to 180 days, the court only granted it 45 more days.

“After giving my thoughtful consideration to the submissions made by the Ld. Counsel for both the parties, the PP Report and various judicial pronouncements, this Court is satisfied that extension of period of detention of the accused persons in judicial custody is required. The application is allowed and period of judicial remand of both the aforesaid accused persons namely Khurram Parvez and Irfan Mehraj is extended for 45 days i.e. up to 135 days,” the court said.

Mehraj, who was arrested on March 20 from Srinagar, was brought to Delhi after a local court granted his transit remand. He was then produced before Patiala House Courts on March 22. The same day, NIA also arrested Parvez, who was already in custody in another case, and they both were remanded to NIA custody for 10 days.

On their production on April 01, they were remanded to judicial custody up to April 28 which was later extended from time to time up to June 17. The period of 90 days of detention in judicial custody of Mehraj and Parvez and the period of investigation is going to be completed on June 18 and 20, respectively.

NIA told court that during their examination, statements of Mehraj and Parvez were recorded which allegedly revealed their association with the persons affiliated to terrorist outfits. The probe agency also alleged that both Parvez and Mehraj were "in contact of" more than 350 Pakistan-based tele selectors and several entities based in other countries through phone numbers, social applications and emails, investigation. The investigation in this regard is ongoing and time is needed for its completion, said the central agency.

“The facts surfaced so far during the investigation are required to be verified. The voluminous data of seized digital devices connected to accused persons and other persons connected to JKCCS and voluminous documents need to be scrutinized properly, several persons are yet to be examined, the investigation has spread in several states and also having international ramifications,” the NIA said.

Both Mehraj and Parvez opposed NIA’s application seeking extension of probe and period of their detention in judicial custody.

Mehraj had submitted that there was no ground in the application justifying the extension of period of detention up to 180 days. He also said that the delay in probe clearly demonstrates that NIA has undertaken an exercise of fishing and roving enquiry against him with the sole motive to keep him in custody without any formal charges.

On the other hand, Parvez submitted that there was absolutely no evidence against him and that he was being illegally detained. He also said that the request of NIA to extend the detention period from 90 days to 180 days was not based on any fresh cause as required under the law.

At the time of his arrest, NIA said that Irfan Mehraj was a close associate of Khurram Parvez and was working with his organization, Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies (JKCCS). “Investigation revealed that the JKCCS was funding terror activities in the valley and had also been in propagation of secessionist agenda in the Valley under the garb of protection of human rights,” NIA alleged.

Mehraj was a researcher with the JKCCS till March 2022. Parvez was the coordinator of the rights group and has been accused by the NIA of providing "material support" to protestors in Kashmir during the 2016 agitation.

NIA has said that involvement of some valley-based NGOs, Trusts and Societies "in funding of terror related activities is being probed" in the 2020 case.

"Some NGOs, both registered as well as un-registered, have come to notice collecting funds domestically and abroad under the cover of doing charity and various welfare activities, including Public Health, Education etc. But some of these organisations have developed links with proscribed terrorist organizations, such as Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) etc," the NIA has claimed.

Advocate Kartik Venu appeared for Khuram Parvez. Advocate Rajat Kumar appeared for Irfan Mehraj. Sr. PP Kanchan represented NIA.

Several top Indian wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, have been charged with rioting and disorder by police in New Delhi after their arrests during a march to the new parliament building following its inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The wrestlers and their supporters were arrested on Sunday after scuffles broke out in front of parliament as they intensified their protests demanding the arrest of their federation chief over sexual harassment allegations.

Police released some of the protesters late on Sunday but filed first information reports (FIR), or formal complaints, against others under multiple articles of the Indian Penal Code, ranging from rioting to “causing an obstruction in the duty of a public servant with the use of assault and criminal force”.

The wrestlers have been protesting in the capital for more than a month over the lack of action against Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, a member of parliament belonging to Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

The protesting athletes have demanded his “immediate arrest” and sought the intervention of the Supreme Court, which directed the police to register a case against the 66-year-old. The MP has been accused of harassing several female athletes while leading the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). He has denied all the allegations.

Malik, who has been at the forefront of the protests, questioned the police’s swift action to detain those who were protesting “peacefully”.

“It took seven days for the Delhi Police to register an FIR against sexual harasser Brij Bhushan, and it didn’t even take seven hours to register an FIR against us for peacefully protesting,” she tweeted. “Is this country under dictatorship? The whole world is watching how the government is treating its players.”

Speaking during their rally, Punia said, “This is a fight for the respect of our daughters and sisters.”

“We are asking for justice,” he said.

On Monday, Punia responded to a former Indian Police Service officer’s tweet calling for the protesters to be shot.

“An IPS officer is talking about shooting us,” he tweeted. “Brother, we are standing in front of you, tell us where to come to get shot… I swear that I will not show my back, I will take your bullet in my chest.”

The use of police force and criminal charges against the protesting athletes has drawn condemnation from India’s Olympic gold medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who said, “There has to be a better way to deal with this.” Chopra won the gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Manish Sharma (45) is a well-known human rights activist of Uttar Pradesh working for civil rights and human rights in Varanasi for the last 20 years. He has been peacefully active in various pro-poor mass movements such as the successful Banaras weavers’ movement, the green belt movement etc. Details of the Incident: On May 15, 2023, at around 03:00 pm, Mr. Manish Sharma was going home on his bike when suddenly 8-10 people in civil dress surrounded his bike near the Court, snatched his mobile and forced him in their car. They forced him to go with them in the car to the ATS office, Pandaya Nagar, where he found out that they were policemen from the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the UP Police. They had neither any summons or warrant for Mr. Sharma’s interrogation, nor did they inform his family despite his repeated requests to inform them. Mr. Sharma was mentally harassed for 6 hours and repeatedly questioned about his participation in various people’s democratic movements and was told to back off from any rights-based movements. He was also threatened that if he continued to be involved in mass movements then he would be framed in fake cases of terrorism and sent to jail for years. Some local activists gathered at ATS office, Pandaya Nagar, Banaras, and started demanding his release raising slogans and the news went viral on the social media. At around 10:30pm Mr. Manish Sharma was released from ATS office, and was asked to return for questioning again the next day. On May 16, 2023, around 11 am, Mr. Manish Sharma went to the ATS office, Pandaya Nagar on his own volition. ATS again threatened him to keep distance from the ongoing weaver’s movement and land movement. Mr. Manish Sharma alleged in a press conference that his abduction and harassment were reprisal for taking part in successful democratic movements.

Authorities in the northeast Indian state of Manipur must investigate the beating of journalists Soram Inaoba, Nongthombam Johnson, and Brahmacharimayum Dayananda, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

On the afternoon of Monday, May 22, soldiers with the Indian Army’s Jat Regiment assaulted the three journalists while they were covering a fire in the New Checkon area of Imphal, the state capital, according to multiple news reports and Bijoy Kakchingtabam, president of the All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union, who spoke to CPJ.

Soldiers dragged the three journalists from the building where they were reporting, tore their vests emblazoned with the word “Press,” and beat them with batons, according to those sources.

“Authorities in India’s Manipur state must thoroughly investigate the recent attack on three journalists by security forces, and ensure that those responsible are held to account,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Journalists in Manipur must be able to do their work safely and without fear of harassment and abuse by soldiers.”

The three journalists were treated at the Remedy Hospital in Imphal after the attack. Inaoba, a reporter for the Manipuri-language news broadcaster Mami TV, suffered injuries on his head and right hand. Johnson, a camera operator for Mami TV, also received a head injury, according to Kakchingtabam and those reports.

Dayananda, a camera operator with the Asian News International news agency, sustained minor injuries.

The soldiers accused the journalists of throwing stones at a government-operated drone, those news reports said. However, the journalists denied that allegation, saying they were waving off the drone as it had gotten too close to them while they were reporting, according to a joint statement by the All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union, the Editors’ Guild Manipur, and the Manipur Hill Journalists Union, which CPJ reviewed.

Indian Army soldiers were recently deployed to Manipur to restore peace after days of deadly rioting and ethnic clashes.

CPJ texted Irengbam Arun, the media adviser to Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh, and Kuldiep Singh, a security adviser to the Manipur government who is currently overseeing the military presence in the state, but did not receive any replies.

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Santosh Thakur (39) is a human rights activist in Muzaffarpur, Bihar and the founder member of Grameen Vichar Manch, a civil rights organization which actively works on human rights, civil rights and social issues in Bihar. Mr. Santosh Thakur is also associated with various human rights organizations. Details of the Incident: On May 10, 2023, at 11:00 am, Mr. Manoj went to Mushahari police station, Dumri, Muzaffarpur with his relative Ms. Sanju Devi, to file a complaint regarding a forcible control of her wheat crop by Dheeraj Kumar with his associates. When they tried to file a complaint, Mr. Narendra Kumar, the station in-charge started abusing them and gave an order to arrest Mr. Santosh Thakur and Ms. Sanju Devi, who were then taken into custody. No FIR was filed on their complaint. Mr. Thakur was given no detention memo, in violation of the DK Basu guidelines. His mobile and 5000 rupees and watch were taken by the policemen illegally without any memo. Both Mr. Thakur and Ms. Devi were detained till the evening and given no water or food. At 5:30 pm in the evening they were released but their mobile and money were not returned by the police.

On May 12, 2023, Ms. Sanju Devi wrote the entire incident in a letter and sent it to Inspector General of Police, Bihar. A copy of the letter was also sent to Superintendent of police of Muzaffarpur and Director General of police, Bihar. Ms. Sanju Devi in her complaint letter has alleged that the policemen are in collusion with the accused Dheeraj Kumar and Mr. Santosh Kumar and herself were detained because of the pressure of the accused on the SHO.

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case against celebrated environmental lawyer Ritwick Dutta is replete with factual errors and misrepresentations but will nevertheless have a chilling effect on environmental litigation in India, experts said.

A core allegation in a first information report (FIR) filed by the CBI against Dutta, 48, on 19 April 2023 is that he uses foreign funds to “take down India’s existing or proposed coal projects”. If found guilty of the charges made, Dutta faces a jail term of up to a year, under the law, or a fine or both.

The offences are "compoundable" though, which means a penalty can be paid, usually a percentage of the foreign contribution received. This means the government can only launch prosecution if the person declines to pay the penalty.

The FIR lists no case where either Dutta in his personal capacity or the trust he co-founded, Legal Initiative for Forests and Environment (LIFE), acted as a petitioner, applicant or appellant before any court or tribunal.

The LIFE trust, founded in 2008, won the 2021 Right Livelihood Award, also called the ‘Alternative Nobel’. Dutta is one of three trustees at LIFE. The others are Rahul Choudhary, a lawyer, and Rakesh Kumar Singh, a wildlife management expert and a member of the state board for wildlife, union territory of Ladakh.

In a statement, Dutta said that neither him nor LIFE had ever been a litigant in any legal case.

It is in his personal capacity as a lawyer, with his own proprietorship firm, that Dutta represents a host of farmers, forest-dwelling communities and fisherfolk, other non-governmental organisations and even retired bureaucrats, Dutta said in this October 2021 interview to Article 14.

Quoting a complaint from Jeetendar Chadha, a director in the union home ministry, the CBI says Dutta received Rs 41 lakh as “foreign contribution” in 2013-14.

The CBI claims Dutta then created a proprietorship firm which received Rs 22 crore from Earth Justice, an American advocacy group, as professional receipt “to take down India's existing or proposed coal projects.”

Dutta’s proprietorship, called Lawyers Initiative for Forests and the Environment, was founded in 2009, not after 2013-14, as the CBI claims.

The CBI charge also includes allegations against LIFE, the trust, which is named as second accused in the FIR, alongside Dutta as the first accused. It says the trust transferred the foreign contributions it received to other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which, the CBI says, violates the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA).

In his complaint, Chadha from the union home ministry alleges that “EJ and LIFE were complicit in bringing [foreign contribution] into India “for funding and targeting and stalling development projects, which, he says, is an FCRA violation affecting the “economic security” of India.

Article 14 sought comment from Earth Justice but there was no response. We will update this copy if they do respond.

Over the last five years, the union government has cancelled FCRA licences of over 6,500 non-governmental organisations (NGOs). In April 2022, the Supreme Court upheld amendments made by the government in November 2020 to the FCRA.

“… uncontrolled flow of foreign contribution has the potential of impacting the sovereignty and integrity of the nation, its public order and also working against the interest of the general public,” said the Supreme Court.

The FCRA is among three laws that an international human-rights body—of which India’s National Human Rights Commission is a member—has cited as affecting “civil liberties and fundamental rights”.

Farmer unions, farm labourer organisations and activists in Punjab have condemned the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) questioning of author-activist Navsharan Singh under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Navsharan was questioned for eight hours on May 10.

The wife of JNU professor and former Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association president Atul Sood, Navsharan used to regularly visit the farmers during their agitation against the farm laws at Tikri and Singhu border. She is also a board member of Aman Biradari, a trust headed by rights activist Harsh Mander. Sources revealed that she was questioned about certain financial transactions with Aman Biradari and her association with Mander.

Navsharan is the daughter of the famous theatre director, the late Gursharan Singh, who was also popular as Bhai Manna Singh.

“I strongly condemn the ED harassment of Navsharan, a social worker and untiring supporter of the farmers’ movement. We both addressed the Tikri border farmers’ rally on Gursharan Singh’s birth anniversary,” Chaman Lal, a retired JNU professor, said. “The whole family has a glorious record of progressive and democratic thinking and siding with democratic struggles. Navsharan’s mother Kailash Kaur was a stage actor and her sister Dr Areet retired as director of health services in Punjab,” he added.

Narain Dutt, the president of the Inqlaabi Kendra Punjab, also condemned Navsharan’s questioning. “Navsharan, who is a human rights activist, has always stood up for the democratic rights of the masses. She was grilled for the funding given for publishing books of activist Harsh Mander. The Union government has always tried to intimidate the ‘right thinking’ people.. we are standing tall with Dr Navsharan,” Dutt said.

Joginder Singh Ugrahan, state president of Bhartiya Kisan Union Ekta (Ugrahan), alleged that Navsharan was being targeted by the Modi government “for speaking out the truth”. “In continuation with the series of attacks on intellectuals and democratic rights activists across the country, Navsharan was summoned under the PMLA and an attempt was made to intimidate and harass her in the name of an inquiry. Like the UAPA, PMLA also gives the government unrestrained powers to crush the democratic rights of any person,” Ugrahan said.

Navsharan was one of the leading supporters of the peasant struggle on the borders of Delhi, Ugrahan said. “Not only did she continue to participate in the Delhi sit-in, but she also made efforts to share the experience of the farmers’ struggle with people in different countries of the world,” he added.

“Navsharan is one of the leading intellectuals of the country raising her voice against the brutal fascist attack of the Modi government on the ordinary people. The nefarious attempts to silence the democratic voices in support of the working people must stop. We are standing firm with Navsharan. I call upon all sections of the people’s democratic movement in India to immediately raise their voice against this incident,” Ugrahan added.

Lachhman Singh Sewewala, general secretary of Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union (PKMU), said the questioning by ED officials was “an attempt to intimidate Navsharan and all the human rights activists”. “We fully support Navsharan as we value her contribution to public issues. The Union government should stop harassing intellectuals in the name of such inquiries,” Sewewala said.

At 5.15 am on May 2, the house of independent journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh at Ramgarh in Jharkhand was raided by a number of NIA officials.

He was not the only one. Damodar Turi, convener of the Vishthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan, Bacha Singh, general secretary of the Mazdoor Sangathan Samiti (MSS), and the Anil Hansda, Dinesh Tudu, Nageshwar Mahato and Sanjay Turi of Jharkhand Jan Sangharsh Morcha also saw their houses raided.

All these raids were done against the case RC-01/2022/ NIA/RNC under NIA Ranchi. In a press release, the NIA said that on May 2, raids were actually conducted at a total of 14 places in Jharkhand and Bihar. It has apparently seized “incriminating material, mobile phones, digital devices and bank accounts details.”

It was revealed that NIA officers reached activist Bacha Singh’s house at Bokaro Thermal, activist Dinesh Tudu’s house at Lalpania and Damodar Turi’s house at Tundi in Dhanbad. The NIA seized Damodar’s phone and some other documents from his house and asked him to come to NIA’s Ranchi office for questioning before May 8.

Rupesh Kumar Singh and Ipsa Satakshi

The NIA also seized Rupesh’s wife Ipsa’s phone, along with some books. An independent journalist, Rupesh has been in jail since the July 17, 2022. On April 9, NIA special judge Gurvinder Singh sent Rupesh to judicial custody till May 1.

The NIA has claimed Rupesh congregated with Vijay Kumar Arya, Rajesh Gupta, Umesh Chaudhary, Anil Yadav and others at Samhuta village under Rohtas police station on April 12, 2022, to collect funds for the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and to recruit members into it.

Rupesh has earlier said that on April 12-13, 2022, he was present at the Suresh Bhatt Auditorium, Nagpur, to participate in the programme organised by Vira Sathidar Smriti Samanway Samiti. He was also live on Facebook that day.

He has also said that he never even visited Rohtas and the closest he got to it was Kaimur on March 27, as a journalist, to cover a three-day rally during March 26-28, 2022, against the Kaimur Tiger Reserve by the Kaimur Mukti Morcha. The report he wrote was published on the web portal ‘Janchowk’ on March 29.

Since Rupesh has been in jail, his wife has been vocal. Ipsa said that for the last few months, she has been called in for questioning by different units of the Jharkhand Police. As many as 25 policemen and officials visited her house on May 2, she said.

“They seized my phone, some books and a few magazines. These books and magazines did not promote any illegal activity in any way and most of these are easily available in the public domain,” she added.

Damodar Turi

NIA also took the renowned Jharkhand civil rights activist Damodar Turi to the nearby police station in Dhanbad on the same morning following a three-hour raid. He was later released.

Damodar’s wife Baby Turi said she was in Ranchi while Damodar was in his village in Dhanbad when the raid took place. “Around six o’clock in the morning, the neighbours in village called me and told me that a large number of police officials had come to our house,” she said.

Damodar said only he and his mother were present at the house in Tundi when the NIA came, at 6 am.

“They confiscated my phone and some books. While they searched the house, they had my phone, and there were several times during the raid that my phone was not in my sight. After a few hours they routinely sealed my phone,” Damodar said.

He also said that the Union government wants to suppress every dissenting voice.

“Just on May 1, I gave a statement in a programme organised in Bokaro on the occasion of May Day. I spoke on how the government is working to suppress the voices of journalists and activists. The next day itself, the NIA raided my house. The state government too is silent on this wrong act by the Union government and is giving its full support. It is clear from this that even if both governments are of different parties, as soon as they come to power, the nature of both is to exploit the people,” he said.

Damodar is a notable Adivasi social worker who has been actively involved in the movement for Adivasi rights in Jharkhand.

He has been particularly vocal on the forced displacement of Adivasi communities as a result of the state’s huge dams and other infrastructure projects. Turi has also been involved in the Pathalgadi movement, which was begun by certain Adivasi communities in Jharkhand to demand their autonomy and self-rule.

Bacha Singh

Bacha Singh is a well-known labour rights activist in Jharkhand.

He said the NIA came to his house at 5.30 in the morning in large numbers. “They seized the letterhead of our labour union MSS and some union pamphlets,” he added.

“There are elections in 2024 not only in the Union but also in Jharkhand, that is why the government is targeting every person who is the voice of the poor and the labourers. It will not be surprising if later on some activists like us are put in jail under false cases,” he added.

In 2017, Singh was arrested by the Jharkhand Police on charges of sedition, after which his organisation MSS was banned. He was released on bail after a few months and the ban on MSS was also lifted last year. Earlier, MSS was a Jharkhand-based trade union. Satya Narayana Bhattacharya, an advocate, founded it in 1985 and registered it in 1989. The organisation strives to empower employees and preserve their rights, notably in Jharkhand’s mining and industrial sectors.

Jharkhand Jan Sangharsh Morcha members

Anil, Dinesh, Nageshwar and Sanjay are active members of the Jharkhand Jan Sangharsh Morcha, which is a newly formed umbrella organisation. It was founded in 2021 with the aim of fighting for the rights of the indigenous Adivasi population of the state. The organisation has been instrumental in highlighting the exploitation and discrimination faced by the Adivasi communities in Jharkhand and advocating for their socio-economic and political empowerment.

Their houses were also raided by the NIA.

The Lucknow police booked All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Uzma Parveen for offering prayers at a public place in the city, officials said on Thursday. The matter came to light on Tuesday after Uzma Parveen’s picture went viral on Twitter, following which the police checked the genuineness of the post and registered the FIR. (Pic for representation) The matter came to light on Tuesday after Uzma Parveen’s picture went viral on Twitter, following which the police checked the genuineness of the post and registered the FIR. (Pic for representation)

She had posted a picture on social media while offering namaz outside the Hussainganj Metro station on Vidhan Sabha road here on Monday and wrote misleading facts that she offered namaz in front of the Vidhan Bhawan, said police.

The matter came to light on Tuesday after the woman’s picture went viral on Twitter, following which the police checked the genuineness of the post and registered the FIR with the Hussainganj police station in the matter.

DCP (central zone) Aparna Rajat Kaushik said the woman had falsely shown the place of offering prayers as Vidhan Bhawan, which was misleading. “Just to create hype on social media,” she added.

A case on charges of IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity), 200 (giving false information), 283 (obstruction of public way) and Section 66 of the IT Act has been registered against Uzma, said the DCP.

After the police action, Parveen tweeted in Hindi that a mountain is being made out of a molehill and alleged that the police were following media personnel in doing so. She further wrote on Twitter that she was just following her religion.

On August 24, 2022, a large gathering of people offered namaz under Chhajlet PS limits in UP’s Moradabad. According to the police, there was no mosque there, only two houses.

In July last year, six people were booked for offering namaz at Lucknow’s LuLu mall.

Ms. Uzma Parveen (28) is a social activist of Lucknow working on rights of women and minorities. She was awarded the City Corona warrior prize, certificate, ration material, and 11000 rupees cash by Municipal Commissioner Mr. Indarmani Tripathi during the Covid-19 lockdown for sanitizing 30 Temples, 25 Mosque, 5 Gurudwara, and 62 areas sanitized by Ms. Uzma Parveen. She was also an active member of peaceful protest at Ghantaghar Lucknow.

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Mahesh Sehni (39) is an nvironmental activist in Rajasthan. He is also actively involved in exposing illegal mining and has created a platform to oppose illegal mining. Details of the Incident: On March 29, 2023, around 12:30 pm, a team 4 people from Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), Ajmer came to village Mahawa, Neem Ka Thana to investigate the heavy blasting. Mr. Mahesh Sehni also reached there to meet the team, with documental proof of the heavy blasting. However, Mr. Hansraj Gurjar who is alleged to be a part of the illegal mining mafia, was present there already with people with lathis. On seeing Mr. Sehni, the men kicked, slapped, assaulted him with sticks and threw him on the ground. Mr. Sehni was grievously injured. The villagers present managed to save Mr. Sehni’s life from Hansraj and his men. Then Mr. Hansraj threatened to kill Mr. Mahesh Sehni and wipe out his family if he got in the way of his mining activities. On March 29, 2023, around 04:00 pm, Mr. Mahesh Sehni went to Neem Ka Thana police station to register a complaint. At 06:43 pm an FIR was registered at Neem Ka Thana Sadar police station against Mr. Hansraj and unknown people under the sections 341- Punishment for wrongful restraint, 323- Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt, 427- Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees, 379- Punishment for theft, 506- Punishment for criminal intimidation and 34- Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention of IPC. However no further action has taken place after the FIR and no arrests have been made. No Medico legal examination was done by the police despite Mr. Sehni sustaining serious injuries. On March 29, 2023, itself, some citizens from Neem K Thana civil society handed over a memorandum to the Chief Minister of Rajasthan through the Sub-Divisional Officer regarding the assault on Mr. Sehni. They demanded that Mr. Mahesh Sehni and other social activists and public should be protected from the mining mafiosi Mr. Hansraj and action should be taken against him. The people have accused the police of not taking any action due to the mining mafia being connected to very powerful people.

The Uttar Pradesh Police on Sunday morning picked up activist and lawyer Mohammed Shoaib of the legal aid group Rihai Manch, a letter from his wife to the police said.

Shoaib’s wife Malka Bi alleges that he was taken away around 7.15 am by a group of police personnel who declined to share the information about the action.

Shoaib is the founder of the legal aid group Rihai Manch which works for marginalised communities. In December 2019, he was arrested in connection with protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. He was granted bail on January 15, 2020.

A video of Shoaib being taken away from his house has also been shared by journalists on social media.

For a country that claims to support women empowerment, that has had a rich history of women led movements and resistance, the current heart breaking state of affairs with how India’s champion women wrestlers protest is being handled by authorities and police officers reflects a stark and contradictory reality. Over the past 10 days, the women wrestlers of India have been staging a protest at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, against the Wrestlers Federation of India chief, Brij Bhusan Singh, alleging him of sexual harassment. Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is also a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Uttar Pradesh.

Only last week, on April 28, the Delhi Police had told the Supreme Court that they will be filing an FIR based on the sexual harassment charges being levied by seven women wrestlers, including a minor, against the WFI chief. It is important to note here, the protesting wrestlers had to move to the Supreme Court seeking the registration of FIRs against Singh. While the said move by the Delhi police only after the women had approached the Supreme Court, was still seen as a ray of hope, the hardships, there has been no let up for the protesting women champions against the impunity enjoyed by a politically influential man in authority.

On May 3, late-night trouble erupted for women champions who have been camping here day and night, at Jantar Mantar. India’s women champion wrestlers were reportedly abused by Delhi Police officers. Several videos of the wrestlers have gone viral on social media, showing them being surrounded by a couple of cops who misbehaved with them. It is even claimed that male police officer pushed women wrestlers without any women officer being present and that two protestors have even been injured. A drunk cop, according to the wrestlers, misbehaved with them, hurled abuse at female wrestlers, and even manhandled them at the protest site. The wrestlers went live on their respective social media accounts to report the incident.

According to the wrestlers, the Delhi Police had physically stopped them from replacing mattresses that got wet due to rain, resulting in the scuffle. "The mattresses got wet due to rain, so we were bringing folding beds for sleeping, but the police did not allow that. Drunk policeman Dharmendra abused Vinesh Phogat and got involved in a scuffle with us," former wrestler Rajveer told PTI.

In one of the videos, Vinesh Phogat stated that the officers of the Delhi Police hit her brother on the forehead and that he was taken to the hospital for treatment. According to the wrestlers, two of them (Dushyant and Rahul) were injured on their foreheads during the commotion. According to Bajrang Punia, who has been supporting the women wrestlers in their fight since the beginning and has been a part of this protest, this whole commotion occurred as some female wrestlers attempted to bring cots to the protest site due to inclement weather in Delhi, but cops refused to let them. It was alleged by Vinesh that when they brought the planks and foldable beds, a lone drunk male policeman, “Dharmendra”, started pushing the wrestlers around, without any female policeman present.

While addressing media persons late at night, Vinesh said, "We went to collect some cots from our vehicles as it's all wet out here. Some cops stopped us and started troubling us. There was no female cop nearby and these male cops started pushing us. Who gave them permission to push female protesters?" Vinesh later asked, "We are being treated so badly for raising our voices. Is this the price of winning medals for the country? If this is the case then I pray no one wins medals..."If they wish to kill us, then let them shoot us," said Vinesh, who can crying inconsolably in the video uploaded by the PTI. "Did we win medals for the country to see this day? We have not even eaten our food. Does every man have a right to abuse women? These policemen are holding guns, they can kill us," an emotionally-drained Vinesh further said.

Sakshi Malik also said, "We are not going to leave this site till our last breath. The antics of Delhi Police are as if we are criminals. There is no respect for women in their eyes. We are not going to leave till we get justice."

"Where were female police officers? How can the male officers push us like that? We are not criminals. We do not deserve such treatment. The drunk police officer hit my brother," Bajrang Punia said while talking to reporters of PTI. Wrestler Bajrang Punia's wife Sangeeta, who is also a wrestler, said she was pushed around by policemen.

Later, Bajrang Punia urged his countrymen to come to Delhi in large numbers to support their protest. "This is my humble request to my countrymen. Please arrive in large numbers in Delhi. We are fighting for your daughters' dignity. Please join us here and show your support," the Tokyo Olympics medalist said, according to PTI.

Punia also exhorted farmers and members of the public to reach Jantar Mantar in their support. "I request everyone to reach Delhi by Thursday morning. This is the time. If not, then when? This is a question of the dignity of our daughters. People like Brij Bhushan are roaming freely despite being criminals and all this is happening to us," he said.

Delhi Police’s Justifications, denial of having beaten any protestors

Based on the official statement from Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), it was their decision to provide the protesting wrestlers with cots in view of the ongoing rainy spell in Delhi as rains continue to lash in the national capital. Senior AAP leader and MLA Somnath Bharti had said, "On the instructions of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, we have decided to send foldable cots to the protest site. We hope that this small help will make this tough time a little bit easier for the wrestlers."

Meanwhile, the Delhi police claimed that it was because AAP MLA Somnath Bharti arrived at the protest venue with folding beds without permission that the “scuffle” took place. "Somnath Bharti brought folding beds to the protest site in Jantar Mantar. Since there was no permission, we didn't allow it, so some of the supporters of the protesting wrestlers tried to take out the beds from the truck and this led to an altercation..." Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Pranav Tayal provided

"We have told the wrestlers to give complaint on their grievances and will take appropriate action...medical check-up of the Policeman on whom they've raised allegations, being conducted," DCP Tayal added further.

The police officers have now claimed that the protestors wrongfully restrained a police man after accusing him of being drunk. The police has also denied that the protestors were beaten.

Footage from the venue also showed the wrestlers arguing with uniformed Delhi Police officers. "CCTV cameras must be present. The footage will prove it," protesting wrestler Bajrang Punia told reporters after the claims made by the police, of not having beaten anyone. He also stated that Bharti was not present when the commotion occurred, and that the wrestlers had ordered the beds.

Following the scuffle between protesting wrestlers and police officers, the Delhi Police have tightened security around Jantar Mantar. Allegedly, a large police force has also been deployed on the scene, and the entire area has been barricaded. As provided by NDTV, the police have now sealed the protest site at Jantar Mantar, thereby stopping the regular flow of well-wishers who were coming to meet the protesting wrestler.

It is pertinent to note that the protesting wrestlers have been accusing the Delhi Police of a lack of support, claiming that the Police has been simply dragging its feet on the case because neither Singh nor the women who have complained of sexual harassment have been summoned for questioning.

Proceeding in the Supreme Court

On May 4, the Supreme Court heard the case today to take stock of the investigation and pass any required order regarding the security. It was reported by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the Delhi Police, stated that “proper security” has been provided to minor complainant. They further provided that an individual assessment of all petitioners was conducted by then, and while they found no threats, they have agreed to give the six complainant security with respect to protest. It was further also stated that that three armed police personnel were deployed in Jantar Mantar for the three who are stationed there and round the clock security is there for all the six. And on the watch of all these, the late night assault on May-3 and 4 takes place!

Significantly, senior advocate Hooda, representing the women champion petitioners mentioned clearly before CJI Chandrachud that the wrestlers had been heckled by drunk policemen at night, to which he replied that they can approach the jurisdictional courts and the Delhi High Court with this matter, and that the Supreme Court will not be hearing this issue!

Supporters detained, attempts to gag dissent

According to the Delhi police, three people have been detained following Wednesday's incident: AAP MLA Somnath Bharti, Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda, and Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Swati Maliwal. According to a video that have gone viral on social media, women Delhi police officers were shockingly seen dragging and lifting the DCW chief from the protest site in a police van. Meanwhile, in the video, Maliwal can be heard shouting, “Don’t touch me. This is completely wrong.”

After being detained by Delhi police in the late hours of May 3, Swati Maliwal arrived again at Jantar Mantar in the national capital on Thursday morning, May 4. Speaking to Republic, the DCW chief said, "Am I a terrorist? Why are Delhi Police officials troubling me and the wrestlers? They should arrest Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh."

Around 15 others, who had reached the protesting site, have also been detained in a bus. AAP minister Saurabh Bhardwaj was also among those. Slogans of ‘jai jawan jai kisan’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’ were also being raised by the protestors.

AAP minister Saurabh Bharadwaj had tagged Delhi L-G V.K. Saxena in a tweet, asking him to take note of the incident. “Please note Lt Governor Delhi. A Delhi Police officer attacked a wrestler at Jantar Mantar. It is alleged that the policeman was drunk. A medical test should be conducted and MLC of the victim should also be registered,” he wrote.

Journalist Sakshi Joshi also posted a video of her being manhandled and detained by the Delhi Police. In the video, she can be heard shouting at the officers that they are tearing her clothes and detaining her without any reason. She also showed her torn clothes in the video. She was then seen sitting in a police bus, and then was taken to the police station. Journalist Ajit Anjum has also posted a video on YouTube, providing his own narration of the situation that was present at Jantar Mantar. He provided that he had visited the protest site around 12.45 at night, after the Delhi police videos of manhandling the wrestlers had gone viral. When he reached the site, he saw that High level Delhi Police officers were also present at the side, and had barricaded the area, not even allowing journalists to pass. In his video, Ajit Anjun alleged the involvement of the Modi-led BJP government, as the police is under the control of the centre. He had also provided in his video that police could also be heard asking the protestors to vacate from Jantar Mantar. Ajit Anjum also alleged that supporting farmers were also not being allowed to enter the protest side.

While full throttled and government sanctioned attempts are being made to gag the protestors, independent media and any dissenters who are exercising their rights, Singh has been roaming free, declaring that all the complainants against have been manipulated or “paid”. The protesting wrestlers, according to him, were those who were at “Shaheen Bagh and the farmers’ protest”.

Response by the Wrestlers

According to News18, the protesting wrestlers have written to Union Home Ministry seeking strict action against officials responsible for the alleged manhandling of grapplers at the protest site on Wednesday night. In the letter, they have also sought permission to bring waterproof tents, beds, gym instruments, wrestling mats and sound system at the protest.

It has also been reported that the Aam Aadmi Party has called for a meeting of all MLAs, councillors and office bearers of AAP. The party will conduct a meeting on what transpired at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday night.

CASR vehemently condemns the raid on anti-displacement activist Damodar Turi, Jailed Journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh and Majdoor Sangthan Samiti (MSS) activists Bacha Singh, Nageshwar Mahto, and Sanjay Turi.

On 2th May 2023, NIA raided the houses of several activists in various places of Jharkhand. The series of raid started early morning around 5 am , with the first house being of Damodar Turi.There were almost 150 local police with NIA to carry out this raid. Journalist Rupesh Kumar’s house was also raided, despite him being currently in jail under UAPA case. During the raid, several belonging of activists were broken, books and phones were taken away.

This is not the first time that Mazdoor Sangathan Samiti (MSS) has been targeted. In 2018, MSS was illegally banned on the pretext of being a Maoist frontal organization. Following the ban, Damodar Turi, an anti displacement activist, was also arbitrarily arrested and slapped with UAPA for being a member of MSS. Where as Damodar Turi was never a member of MSS and had only once went to deliver a speech in MSS’s program. After 4 long years of legal battle, Ranchi High Court declared the ban on MSS as illegal and uplifted the ban. While Damodar Turi has been actively vocal against the corporate loot of people’s resources and their displacement, MSS has been active for over three decades in organizing contract workers in the coal mines of Dhanbad, Giridih and Bokaro. The organization has constructed a hospital at Madhuban, Giridhi for free medical assistance of poor and the workers. The resistance and pro people construction of an organized working class organization, which is presenting a people’s model of development, starkly in contrast to the corporate-state’s model of development based on resource loot and displacement, is a threat to the state’s narrative of portraying itself as pro development and the resisting forces as anti development. To crush this alternate idea of people’s power and people’s devolopment, the governments in power have used bans to outlaw opposition and dissent. This recent clampdown is also part of a larger attempt to crush those who dare to resist the Jharkhand government’s anti-people policies.

Journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh was also arrested in a frivolous case for this purpose only, as he has exposed the destructive impact of imperialist development on the people of Jharkhand, spoke against the foreign loot of country’s resources and displacement of adivasi people. He has also extensively worked on bringing to light, the conditions of working class in these regions of Jharkhand, dominated by mining giants. It is in the interest of these mining giants and corporate loot, that anti displacement activist, journalists and working class organization is being attacked. These activists have been targetted constantly because they challenge the regime’s anti people approach, be it the illegal displacement of tribals for corporate loot of resources or curbing the rights of workers. When Prime Minister gives a statement stating “ Pen wale aur bandook wale”- books also become a weapon and so does the brain. India has become a prison for any dissenting voice. And hence raids like this have become a norm in this fascist state. NIA is now an agent to curb any dissenting voice. These on going series of raids on activists is unquestionably a violation of the fundamental rights of activist.

A pattern of raiding and arresting is visible, either in the case of journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh or of other activists. We see the rise of reactionary and undemocratic methods of silencing peoples voices under this Brahmanical Hindutva fascist regime. There is an urgent need to forge a broader solidarity of all the democratic and progressive forces, the oppressed and exploited masses to stop these kind of blatant fascist attack and resist Brahmanical Hindutva Fascism.

CASR strongly condemns the raid on activists of MSS and Damodar Turi and calls upon all the democratic forces to stand in solidarity with struggling forces of Jharkhand.

On 22 March 2023, a court in New Delhi remanded human rights defender Khurram Parvez to the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for ten days in relation to a new case filed against him. Khurram Parvez has been incarcerated for over a year at the Rohini High Security Prison in New Delhi since his arrest under a separate First Information Report (FIR) on 22 November 2021. The latest case against Khurram Parvez was registered by the NIA in October 2020 following a raid at his office the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) alleging non-governmental organisations (NGOs) of serious offences including criminal conspiracy and terror funding. Khurram Parvez is the Chairperson of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), a collective of 13 non-governmental organisations from ten Asian countries that campaign on the issue of enforced disappearances. He is also the Program Coordinator of JKCCS, which is a coalition of various campaign, research and advocacy organisations based in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir that monitor and investigate human rights abuses. He was recently awarded the prestigious Martin Ennals Award in February 2023. On 22 March 2023, Khurram Parvez was produced before a special NIA judge at the Patiala House court in New Delhi for the first time since his arbitrary arrest and detention on 22 November 2021 under a separate case. He was remanded to ten days of NIA custody along with Kashmiri journalist Irfan Mehraj, who was also arrested in the same case on 20 March 2023. The case First Information Report (FIR) No RC-37/2020, against Khurram Parvez and Irfan Mehraj was registered in October 2020 under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 124-A (inciting disaffection towards government through words, signs, etc.) of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) sections 17 (fund raising for terror activities), 18 (conspiracy to commit terror act), 22A & 22C (relating to offences committed by registered companies), 38 (offence relating to membership of a terrorist organisation), 39 (supporting a terrorist organisation) and 40 (raising funds for a terrorist organisation). According to a press release by the NIA on 21 March 2023, Irfan Mehraj was stated to be a close associate of human rights defender Khurram Parvez. Front Line Defenders was reliably informed that the NIA interrogated Khurram Parvez for two consecutive days in the Rohini High Security Prison in New Delhi the week previous. They had threatened him with arrest in relation to this case from October 2020, and with arrests of his other colleagues and associates. There is a very serious risk of other human rights defenders associated with JKCCS being targeted as reprisal for their links to Khurram and peaceful human rights work. Khurram Parvez’s arbitrary arrest and detention in November 2021 was widely condemned by UN experts and human rights organisations. On 22 November 2021, the NIA raided Khurram Parvez’s house and office for approximately 14 hours, seizing his and his family members’ laptops, mobile phone, and books. After the raid, he was arrested by the NIA on the basis of a FIR lodged on 6 November 2021. Khurram Parvez was charged under the Indian Penal Code and the UAPA. On 13 May 2022, the NIA filed a preliminary charge sheet before the NIA Special Court in New Delhi and accused Khurram Parvez of “running a network of over ground workers of the Pakistan-based armed militant organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), for furthering activities of LeT and to commit terrorist attacks in India”. His detention has been extended at least five times by the NIA Special Court in New Delhi under Section 43D(2)(b) of the UAPA, which allows for the extension of the detention period for up to 180 days if the investigating agency is unable to complete the investigation of a case within a 90-day period. Indian authorities have repeatedly targeted the human rights defender for his work in Kashmir. In 2016, he was detained for over two months and blocked from travelling to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the continued persecution of human rights defender Khurram Parvez including his ongoing incarceration and the fresh case under UAPA brought against him in 2023. Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the increasing harassment of activists and journalists in Kashmir and calls on the authorities in India to immediately and unconditionally release Khurram Parvez and quash the fabricated charges against him.

Through this letter, I want to attract your immediate attention to a case of intimidation and harassment by the state agencies on a Human Rights Defender (HRD), Mr. Arkadeep Goswami aged about 28 years, S/o Mr. Madan Gopal Goswami, a resident of 158/2, Parui Kancha Road, Kolkata 700061 in the state of West Bengal. This intimidation and harassment by the state agencies upon the HRD is probable infringement of his right to liberty and freedom of expression.

Since 18 years of age, Mr. Arkadeep Goswami has been active in Socio-political movements. He was a student activist during his college days. He was an executive member of All India Council for Student Struggles. In 2017 he was a member of ‘All India University Students Fact Finding Team on Fake Encounters’ and few other national consolidations. In 2014 he associated in ‘Hok kolorob’ movement, From 2016 to 2018 he joined in the movement called ‘Justice for Rohith Vemula’. Mr. Goswami always stands for the human rights of the people in the country and raises his voice against the extremist and fascist politics.

In the year 2018 when Mr. Arkadeep Goswami did fact finding on the political prisoner in the West Medinipur district in the state of West Bengal, the state government charged him in a fabricated case vide Goaltore Police Station case number 220/2018 dated 13.11.2018 under section 149 (Unlawful assembly) /120B (Criminal conspiracy) /121 (Waging war against the Government) /121A (Conspiracy to commit offence u/s 121) /123 (Concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war) /124A (Sedition) of Indian Penal Code. It is a fact that after passing the four years’ time, the police failed to submit charge sheet against Mr. Goswami.

In the year 2022, when Mr. Goswami used to stay at Bolpur in Birbhum district of West Bengal with his wife, on 24th April, 2022, he was kidnapped by some officials of Special Task Force (STF) and Counter Insurgency Force under the instruction of the then-Superintendent of Police, CIF, Durgapur Range, and was taken illegally almost 200 KM far to the Barikul PS and slapped with a fabricated case vide Barikul Police Station case number 04/2022 dated 27.01.2022 under section 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) /149 (Unlawful assembly) /120B (Criminal conspiracy) /121 (waging war against the Government) /121A (Conspiracy to commit offence u/s 121) /122 (Collecting arms with intent to wage war against the Government) /123 (Concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war) /124A (Sedition) of Indian Penal Code of sedition. During the time of apprehension no memo of arrest was prepared and no legal formalities were not followed by the personnel of that state agency. Till date no charge sheet was submitted by the police against Mr. Goswami in connection with this case.

Mr. Arkadeep Goswami is now working as a freelance journalist and also working with a reputed human rights organization in the country, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM). As his voice sometimes goes against the establishment, he has been systematically targeted and charged with fabricated cases. These repeated incidents are violating his Constitutional rights as a citizen and also as a Human rights Defender.

Now, On 18.04.2023, while he was at the office of Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), two suspicious people, one told his name as Sandipan Mondal, gave a visit to his house placed at 158/2, Parui Kancha Road, Kolkata, around 3 O'clock in the afternoon. They told his parents that they are the friends of Mr. Goswami and want to talk to him about some unspecified things. They asked his mother to call him and when his mother called Mr. Goswami, they questioned about his whereabouts incessantly. Upon asking their identity and address, they didn't come up with any satisfactory answer. Later, they repeatedly asked Mr. Goswami by which time he will return home. When Mr. Goswami refused to divulge any information to them, they said, "So you won't talk to us? Okay, we will see you.” The man identified himself as Sandipan Mondal. Mr. Arkadeep Goswami categorically doesn't have any friends or acquaintances by this name (Sandipan Mondal) but that person also told him that they met Mr. Goswami at Barikul Police Station, last year, when he was there in police custody on a fabricated charge. Mr. Goswami informed that he had not met anybody else during that time apart from officials from different state agencies.

The voice which he heard in phone call and physical appearance of the person which he was informed by his mother, from that Mr. Goswami identified that in yesterday's call was similar to one of those kidnappers associated with intelligence branches (state agencies) when he was fabricated with false charges in Barikul Police Station.

Mr. Goswami apprehended that the person from the state agencies tried to apprehend him and therefore they intimidate and harass him continuously without any reason. As he is now involved himself as human rights movement which raises voice against human rights violation by the state apparatus, he has been targeted planfully.

The incident also violates the rights guaranteed in Article 19 (i) (a) (Freedom of speech) and Article 21(Right to life) of Indian Constitution. The incident also violates the Govt. of India's obligation to adhere to the United Nations' declaration on Human Rights Defenders (General Assembly Resolution A/RES/53/144) that obliges the government to protect, promote and implement human rights within the country.

On 9 April 2023, human rights defender Pranab Roy was physically assaulted by officers of the Border Security Force (BSF) while returning from his agricultural land in North 24 Parganas District of West Bengal. The officers severely beat the defender, threatened to file false criminal cases against him and repeatedly said that he was being targetted due to his human rights work. The following day, 10 April 2023, Pranab Roy filed a complaint against the BSF with the Sutia Police out post Police recorded his complaint but refused to give him a copy of the First Information Report (FIR) as required by law. To date no action has been taken against those responsible and named in the FIR. Pranab Roy is a human rights defender, activist and farmer in the Barnaberia village of North 24 Parganas District in West Bengal. He is the organiser of Amra Simantabasi (“We, the border residents”) a community organisation that advocates for socio-political issues faced by people residing close to the India-Bangladesh border. The human rights defender Pranab Roy has been vocal for the rights of the local community and against the arbitrary restrictions imposed on them by the BSF. In 2023, the human rights defender organised a campaign to protest against the illegal land grabbing of approximately 600 acres of land in North 24 Parganas by the BSF. On 9 April 2023 around 5 PM, Pranab Roy and his father were stopped by BSF officers from the 105 Batallian posted at the Barnaberia Border outpost and two soldiers while returning from their agricultural land. The officers asked Pranab Roy a few questions and without warning started beating and slapping him. They kicked him and hit him with wooden rods and dragged him towards the river. The officers also threatened Pranab Roy with implicating him under false charges of smuggling items across the Bangladesh border or of being an undercover agent for Bangladesh. The BSF officer said that he was punishing Pranab Roy for his human rights work in the village against the interests of the BSF. The BSF is a paramilitary force posted at the India-Bangladesh border and is under the direct control of India’s Ministry of Home Affairs. They have been accused of widespread human rights violations against the local community and reprisals against human rights defenders. After severely assaulting Pranab Roy, the BSF officer forced him to sign a false confession stating that he was detained by the BSF for returning home late at night and was not tortured in any form. The human rights defender recieved treatment for his injuries at the local hospital and the doctor who examined him noted “traumatic bruises” on his body. The following day, on 10 April 2023, Pranab Roy submitted a written complaint at the Sutia Police outpost against the BSF personnel. While the police accepted the written complaint, they did not confirm whether a formal complaint has been lodged in the form of a FIR and did not give the defender a copy of the FIR as required by the Criminal Procedure Code. Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the violence inflicted on human rights defender Pranab Roy by BSF personnel as it believes it to be a reprisal against his legitimate and peaceful human rights work. It is also concerned that the police refused to provide a copy of the FIR, in violation of the provisions of India’s legal obligations. Front Line Defenders urges the relevant authorities in India to ensure the safety and security of Pranab Roy and bring the perpetrators to justice in accordance with international human rights standards.

As a repercussion, Delhi University (DU) debarred two students for a year for screening the controversial BBC documentary on Gujarat Riots. The move has not gone down well with the student community, which organised a mass sit-in protest today, March 24. However, the situation went further downhill with police appearing on the scene.

"Students gathered at Arts' Faculty against the arbitrary notice debarring two students have been brutally beaten, manhandled and detained," says Anjali, Secretary, DU unit of All India Students' Association (AISA). She tells that as the students started to speak on the "arbitrary" debarring notice, police, guards and CRPF personnel arrived and took the students away.

About 20-25 students have been detained at the Burari police station, the student informed. "We will not be silenced by such measures. To protect our campus democracy, dissent will continue until this notice is withdrawn," she added.

Speaking about what led to today's protest, DU AISA president Manik Gupta said they got to know about the students being debarred from media reports. "The university did not communicate anything in writing to the students. After the order was issued we went to the Proctor for clarification and submitted a memorandum, demanding that the action taken against the students be revoked," he said.

"Thrashing such punishment will not only be bad for the democratic environment of the campus but will also severely affect the concerned students," the document says. However, the Proctor did not listen to the students, they claim, but were told notices would be issued. the meeting took place on Tuesday, March 21 and the said notices were issued on March 22.

The students organised a protest march after this on the same day, in front of the Arts' Faculty, demanding that the notices be taken back. But when nothing such happened, they decided on the sit-in protest, which they had planned to continue indefinitely.

According to a report by PTI, various student groups screened the documentary on January 27. On March 17, DU took action against 8 students, including the two debarred students, Ravinder and Lokesh Chugh. The other six students were doled out a "less strict punishment", as mentioned in a memorandum issued by the university. Manik informs that these students were asked to submit apology letters to the administration.

Nonetheless, they are irked over the varsity's stand. "The documentary was not banned. As a democratic campus, students should be free to pursue any activity of their choice. Barring students is not just," the president says with concern. The student also raises questions about how the whole exercise was carried out.

"We went to meet the Proctor with Ravinder, but he was not recognised. How can a student be debarred and not recognised? It is a huge deal, after all! Next, the media reports quoted the university's statement that Ravinder belongs to Law. But he is a student of Philosophy!" Manik says in a distressed tone.

Asked why action was taken against these particular students, he said, "I feel they were randomly chosen. I have spoken to Lokesh, who is a PhD scholar, and he asserts that he wasn't even present at the screening." The student body representative adds a committee was set up to look into the screening incident, but the inquiries were conducted by it in a highly arbitrary fashion.

With these instances, topped with today's detention incident, the students seem to be planning another protest. "AISA Calls upon students of DU to unite against the onslaught on dissent and democracy! Take back this draconian diktat," states a press release from DU AISA. Other student groups, including the Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) and Students' Federation of India (SFI), have shown solidarity and condemned the university's stand.

Neha Singh Rathore has been served police notice to which she will have to reply within three days. In the notice, she has been asked whether it was her in the video and whether she herself uploads the videos on her channels. Who wrote the scripts and whether she stands by those words -- the notice asked.

Neha Singh Rathore of 'UP Mein Ka Ba' fame has been served a notice by the Kanpur Police on Tuesday night for allegedly inciting hatred through her song video. Neha Singh Rathore's U Mein Ka Ba was released ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election 2022, after the success of his Bihar mein Ka ba in 2020. On February 16, the singer released the second part of UP Mein Ka Ba regarding which the notice has been served on her asking whether she wrote the lyrics of the songs.

The singer shared a video of her receiving the notice. "Who is making you do all these?" the singer said to the cops as she received the notice. Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia called the move by the Uttar Pradesh police shameful and said, "Is the BJP so scared of the voice of a folk singer?" Samajwadi chief, former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav also reacted to the police notice to Neha Singh Rathore.

The latest song of Neha questions the government over the death of two women in a bulldozer drive in Kanpur Dehat -- one of the latest political controversies.

In the notice, Neha Singh Rathore has been asked several questions regarding her social media channels. She has been asked to verify it was her in the video apart from details like whether she herself uploaded the video. In another question, it has been asked whether the lyrics of the songs are written by her and whether she stands by those lyrics. "If you have not written the lyrics, then has the lyricist taken your permission?" the police notice said. It asked the singer if she is aware of the "adverse impact" of the video on society.

"This song has created enmity and tension in society, and you are legally bound to make your stand clear on the issue. So, you are required to file your reply within three days of receiving the notice," the UP Police's notice read.

"In case, the reply is not found satisfactory. If your reply is not found satisfactory, then a case will be registered under the relevant sections of IPC and CRPC, and proper legal investigation will be carried out," it added.

On March 18, 2023, police in the Indian state of Haryana arrested Jaspal Singh, a TV journalist who reports part-time for the local broadcaster News18 Haryana, from his home in the city of Ratia, according to news reports and Rajesh Kundu, editor of the news website The Ink, who is familiar with the case and spoke with CPJ by phone.

Police arrested Singh after a first information report was filed earlier that day by the Ratia Sadar police station in the state’s Fatehabad district, which opened an investigation into Singh and an unnamed journalist based on a complaint by the son of a local official, according to those sources and a copy of the report reviewed by CPJ.

Sumit Kumar, the son of Lakshman Napa, a member of the Haryana legislative assembly with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, filed that complaint, accusing the two journalists of defaming his father’s “political image” through their alleged false posts on two WhatsApp groups claiming the lawmaker was involved in illegal gambling activities and questioning why police had not apprehended him.

Kumar also accused Singh of targeting his father because the legislator belongs to a vulnerable caste group protected under Indian law. Although the complaint notes that the posts were widely distributed, CPJ was unable to review the posts, which were published in two private WhatsApp groups with around 400 members.

Singh regularly posts political commentary in those groups in his individual capacity and as a journalist, Kundu said.

Kundu told CPJ that he believes Singh was targeted for being a journalist, as other members posted the same allegations but only Singh and the unidentified journalist were mentioned in the complaint.

The first information report says that Singh is under investigation for extortion, defamation, transmitting obscene material in electronic form, and attempting to promote feelings of enmity, hatred, or ill-will against members of scheduled castes or tribes. Each offense can carry a punishment of two to five years’ imprisonment and an undisclosed fine.

Promoting feelings of enmity, hatred, or ill-will is a non-bailable offense, therefore requiring Singh to apply for bail at the Fatehabad District and Sessions Court rather than the lower court where his case was heard on March 19, Kundu told CPJ. Kundu told CPJ he did not know when Singh would be able to present his application for bail at the district and sessions court.

Kundu said he believed Singh’s arrest was excessive and had sent a chilling message to local journalists to refrain from critically reporting on elected officials.

CPJ messaged Kumar, Napa, and Fatehabad Police Superintendent Astha Modi for comment but did not receive any responses.

Authorities in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh should drop any investigation launched in retaliation for journalist Sanjay Rana’s work and allow him to report freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

At around 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 12, police in Uttar Pradesh arrested Rana, a 19-year-old reporter for the privately owned newspaper Moradabad Ujala, from his home in the Budh Nagar Khandwa village of Sambhal district, according to multiple news reports and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ by phone.

He was released on bail Monday evening, according to those sources.

The Chandausi police station in Sambhal filed a first information report dated March 12, which opened a criminal investigation into the journalist on the basis of a complaint by Shubham Raghav, a local leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s youth wing, who alleged that Rana was “fake journalist,” disrupted government work, and assaulted and threatened him at a political event in Budh Nagar Khandwa on March 11.

Rana denied all wrongdoing and said that the arrest and investigation were launched in retaliation for his work. Raghav told CPJ by phone that he stood by the allegations in his complaint.

“The arrest and investigation of journalist Sanjay Rana appear to be retaliatory measures aimed at silencing his critical questioning of a state official,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Authorities must immediately drop any investigation brought against Rana in retaliation for his work and ensure that journalists can work without fear of reprisal.”

The first information report says that Rana is under investigation for violating sections of the penal code pertaining to voluntarily causing hurt, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, and criminal intimidation.

At that March 11 event, Rana questioned Gulab Devi, a BJP member in the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly and state minister for secondary education, about her alleged failure to deliver on her electoral promises regarding development projects in Budh Nagar Khandwa. The journalist told CPJ that he believed the case was retaliation for those questions.

During his arrest, officers grabbed Rana by the collar, slapped him, and tied his hands with a rope, the journalist told CPJ. He was originally held in the Baniyakhed police station, outside the jurisdiction where he lives.

Rana’s editor and lawyer, Dharmendra Singh, told CPJ in a phone interview that he and Rana’s family spent Sunday night frantically searching for the journalist before he was transferred to Chandausi police station the next morning.

Police arrested Rana under a clause of the criminal procedure code allowing for authorities to conduct arrests without a warrant in the cases of more serious crimes, known as cognizable offenses; however, the offenses listed in the first information report concerning his case are all non-cognizable, according to those news reports and a Delhi-based lawyer familiar with the case, who spoke with CPJ on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal.

CPJ called and messaged Devi and Sambhal Police Superintendent Chakresh Mishra for comment, but did not receive any replies.

National Investigation Agency of India on Tuesday said that it has arrested a Kashmiri journalist in connection with an NGO-militancy case in the Srinagar district.

In a statement to GNS, the NIA said, “Following comprehensive investigations into the NGO militancy funding case registered in October 2020, the National Investigation Agency arrested Irfan Mehraj from Srinagar yesterday (20, 03, 2023). Irfan Mehraj was a close associate of Khurram Parvez and was working with his organization, Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies (JKCCS). Investigation revealed that the JKCCS was funding militant activities in the valley and had also been in the propagation of secessionist agenda in the Valley under the garb of protection of human rights.”

The spokesman further stated that the involvement of some Valley-based NGOs, trusts and societies in the funding of militancy-related activities is being probed in this case.

“Some NGOs, both registered as well as un-registered, have come to notice collecting funds domestically and abroad under the cover of doing charity and various welfare activities, including Public Health, Education etc. But some of these organisations have developed links with proscribed militant organizations, such as Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), etc,” reads the statement.

Irfan was formerly a researcher with Khurram’s human rights organization Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society.

The LinkedIn profile of Irfan Mehraj reads: “I am an independent journalist and researcher based in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (India). My work has appeared in TRT World, Indian Express, The Caravan, Kashmir Life, Kashmir Reader, and Greater Kashmir among others.”

Earlier, Suchitra Vijayan, the author of ‘Midnight’s Borders’ tweeted, “Kashmiri journalist Irfan Mehraj was arrested by the National Investigation Agency under draconian UAPA in Srinagar today. He has been moved to Delhi,” she said adding that Irfan is a reporter and the founding editor of Wande Magazine.

Quoting Irfan’s father Mehraj-ud-Din Bhat, The Wire report said, NIA had called the journalist to appear in its office at Church Lane Srinagar on March 20. He was out on a professional assignment when he received a call. He was told to come over to their office for five minutes. Later, he said, they came to know that Irfan had been arrested and was going to be shifted to Delhi today.

“My son is innocent. His work speaks for him loudly. I have full faith that truth will prevail and he will get justice,” the report quoted Bhat as saying.

Besides Irfan, three journalists from Kashmir Fahad Shah, Asif Sultan and Sajad Gul are among five journalists in India who are currently facing detention under various sections of the law.

Journalists, Siddique Kappan of Kerala and Manan Dar of Kashmir, who were also mentioned in the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) December 8, 2022 report, were released on bail recently. Dar was released on January 2, 2023, and Kappan on February 2, 2023.

Dar was arrested on 22 October 2021 for over a year, and Kappan was released 28 months after he was arrested, along with three others, near Mathura while going towards Hathras, where a Dalit girl had been raped and killed by Hindu men.

Earlier in 2021, the New York-based international press freedom watchdog called upon the Indian government to drop investigations into the work of Kashmiri journalists and allow them to report without “harassment, intimidation, and criminal investigations.”

Meanwhile, reacting to the Irfan’s arrest, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti said that draconian laws like the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA are being “abused constantly” to ensure that the process itself becomes the punishment.

Mehbooba tweeted: “While conmen are given a free run in Kashmir, journalists like Irfan Mehraj are arrested for doing their duty by speaking the truth. Draconian laws like UAPA are abused constantly to ensure that the process itself becomes the punishment, (SIC).”

The Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI) issued a statement on Monday condemning the online harassment of Dalit writer and activist Shalin Maria Lawrence. "Shalin has been facing high-volume targeted harassment on Twitter as well as Facebook over the past year, specifically from handles associated with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)," says the NWMI statement.

The statement describes the degree of harassment and trolling faced by Shalin who raises awareness about caste-related atrocities in Tamil Nadu on social media. "However, rather than engaging in introspection or at least combating her with facts, figures, or ideas, they have taken to coordinated attacks, bombarding her with demeaning language including casteist slurs, body shaming her, slurs based on her religion, and making scurrilous charges against her character and integrity. They have also targeted her close family members," the statement says.

"Shalin’s refusal to be silenced comes at a great cost to her physical and mental health," the statement says, going on to add: "The toll of such violence on the mental health of women journalists cannot be calculated. Many women journalists engage in self-censorship to avoid being subjected to such assaults online. The result is only a weaker democracy in which views that could be valuable are silenced."

In light of the NWMI's statement, journalists and activists have taken to social media to express solidarity with Shalin.

"I've followed Shalin on Twitter & the only time I heard her speak at a meeting I was moved by her passion. Political discourse on social media is reaching absurdly new levels on misogyny. Abusing someone for calling out atrocities shows the extent of rot," tweeted Tamil writer and activist Meena Kandasamy.

Journalist Dhanya Rajendran along with singers Chinmayi and TM Krishna also tweeted in support of Shalin.

Shalin is a Tamil writer and activist, author of 'Sandaikaarigal' and 'Vadachennaikari', and an active voice in the anti-caste and gender quality discourse in Tamil Nadu.

"The DMK's IT wing and bots are continuously abusing and trolling me. This is crossing all limits. I feel like quitting everything. The emotional torture is unbearable and cruel. This is life-threatening," Shalin said in a recent tweet. Shalin had also tweeted on March 9 about the turmoil she is undergoing because of the continuous online harassment. The writer had tagged the Twitter handles of the Tamil Nadu Police and the Tamil Nadu Chief Minster.

The NWMI statement also says that Shalin is not the only one being targeted this way. "A global survey by the International Centre for Journalists and UNESCO in 2020 found that nearly three out of four women journalists had experienced online violence," it says, demanding that the leaders of the parties tell their supporters and cadres to stop harassment against Shalin and other women.

The statement asks the DMK and the BJP to send a "strong message to their supporters that the harassment of women writers, journalists, and activists cannot be tolerated, let alone permitted".

About the Human Rights Defenders: Mr. Akhilesh Sahu and Mr. Vijaylal Markam are journalists from Balrampur district in Chhattisgarh. Mr. Sahu works with the news portal Chhattisgarh Express News,and Mr. Markam freelances for portals like TP News and Khabar Bharat. Both journalists have extensively covered issues like corruption, pilferage and injustice in rural areas, and have faced reprisals in the past. Mr. Markam was arrested and jailed for eight months under fabricated charges before he was granted bail by the High Court in December 2022.

Details of the Incident: On January 23, 2023, journalists Mr. Akhilesh Sahu and Mr. Vijaylal Markam visited the Shankarpur Primary School in Balrampur district on a reporting assignment.They published a video report the same day which showed that students were sitting on the ground in front of the school building for their lessons, and the school building and toilets were locked.

In the report, the head teacher of the school Mrs. Sunita and another teacher Mr. Vijay failed to provide any answers regarding when the facilities would be available.

On January 24, 2023, at 5:30 PM, an FIR (20/2023) was registered against journalists Mr. Akhilesh Sahu and Mr. Vijaylal Markam at the Raghunath Nagar Police Station, under Sections 294 (obscene acts or words in public), 34 (common intention), 384 (extortion), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

The complainant in the case was Ms. Sunita Singh, the head teacher of Shankarpur primary school. She alleged that on January 23, when the journalists visited the school for the reporting assignment, they drove their car recklessly, parked in front of the school gate, abused and threatened her and demanded a ransom.

Following the publication of the news report on January 23, 2023, the husband of Ms. Sunita Singh and Tendu Patta Prabandhak (government official who oversees the procurement of tendu leaves) of Raghunath Nagar Mr. Fulsay Ayam called Mr. Sahu and abused the journalists for undertaking the reporting assignment. He also threatened to capture and assault the journalists on a busy road, in full public view.

Subsequently, the journalists Mr. Sahu and Markam released the audio recording of this phone onversation on social media, which brought much disrepute to tendu patta prabandhak Mr. Fulsay Ayam and head teacher Ms. Sunita Singh.

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Rabin Das is a journalist based in Bhuban block of Dhenkanal district. He works with the Odia daily Sambad, and has extensively reported on illegal mining, corruption and pilferage in rural Odisha.

Background of the Incident: On February 19, Mr. Rabin Das published a story in the Odia daily Sambad regarding corruption worth Rs. 13 lakh in the MGNREGA programme in Bhuban block. Mr. Das’s report detailed how payments for the said amount was made in the name of hundreds of workers although no work was undertaken on ground.

On February 20, 2023, one day after Mr. Rabin Das exposed the major scam in MGNREGS through his reportage, two FIRs were registered against him at the Bhuban Police Station in Dhenkanal district.

The complainant in the first FIR (49/2023) was Mr.Lambodar Malik,resident of Ektali gram panchayat in Bhuban block. In the complaint, he claimed that Mr. Rabin Das owed him some money, but when he asked Mr. Das for the same at around 2 PM on February 20, Mr. Das abused him in casteist terms, attacked him and threatened to kill him. Mr. Das was charged under Sections 341, 294, 323, 307, 506 IPC, Sections 3 of SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. Mr. PK Dey, SDPO was designated as Investigating Officer in the case.

The complainant in the second FIR (50/2023) was Litua Patra, of Balibo gram panchayat in Bhuban block.In the complaint, he claimed that Mr. Rabin Das owed him some money, but when he asked Mr. Das for the same at around 5 PM on February 20, Mr. Das abused him in casteist terms, attacked him and threatened to kill him. Mr. Das was charged under Sections 341, 294, 323, 506 the Indian Penal Code and Sections 2 and 3 of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. Mr. PK Dey, SDPO was designated as Investigating Officer in the case.

Details of the Incident: At around 11 AM on March 7, 2023, Mr. Das was buying medicines at Chanchala medicine shop in the Kali Bazar market area of Bhuban village, when he was approached by four policemen. The policemen – all in uniform and wearing name tags – were led by the Officer in Charge of Bhuban Police Station, Mr. Saubhagya Swain, who told Mr. Das that he was being arrested as there were cases under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act against him.

The policemen forcibly arrested Mr. Das from the spot without showing any arrest warrant, or providing details of cases against him, or allowing him to contact his family and/or lawyerviolating multiple DK Basu guidelines of arrest and detentionas directed by the Honourable Supreme Court.

The policemen alsoparaded Mr. Das through the Kali Bazar market area for over one hour, with the Officer in Charge Mr. Swain asking him aloud where he had hidden the ganja. Mr. Swain also made a video of the parade before taking him away to the Bhuban police station.

On Match 07, 2023, Mr. Rabin Das was produced in court and remanded to judicial custody. He is currently lodged in Kamakshyanagar sub-jail. His family members and colleagues fear he may be falsely implicated in other additional cases.

Authorities in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh must thoroughly investigate the shooting of journalist Devendra Khare and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.

At about 7:30 p.m. on February 26, two masked men shot at Khare, a reporter for the privately owned Hindi-language broadcaster News1India, at his office in the Chandpur Balu Mandi area of the city of Jaunpur, according to multiple news reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ by phone. He was injured in his stomach and right hand and remained hospitalized in stable condition as of March 2, he said.

Khare told CPJ that he believed the attack was retaliation for his February 15 reporting on an alleged assault by the brother of a local political leader.

“The shooting of Devendra Khare underscores the precarious conditions that journalists work under in India,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Uttar Pradesh authorities must swiftly hold the perpetrators accountable and take action to guarantee the safety of journalists throughout the state.”

On February 15, Khare broadcast a news story on News1India alleging that Rituraj Singh, brother of the president of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s Jaunpur district branch, had assaulted a fellow right-wing politician, according to those news reports.

On February 18, two of Singh’s associates threatened the journalist at his office, warning him not to report further on the incident, Khare told The Print and CPJ.

Jaunpur police opened an investigation into the shooting, accusing Singh and unidentified individuals of attempted murder, criminal intimidation, and criminal conspiracy, according to those news reports. Khare told CPJ that he had not been informed of any arrests in the case as of March 2.

CPJ texted Jaunpur Circle Officer Kuldeep Kumar Gupta for comment but did not receive any replies. CPJ was unable to find contact details for Singh.

Previously, on February 6, journalist Shashikant Warishe was killed in Maharashtra state following his reporting on a land dispute.

Background of the Incident: During the past few months, there has been a lot of anger among job aspirants in Uttarakhand regarding cheating in government recruitment examinations in the state. Students across the state have repeatedly held street protests against cheating in state government recruitment examinations. Uttarakhand recently faced a major paper leak case in which several people who appeared in graduation-level examination using the leaked paper were arrested by the Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF). After the Uttarakhand Subordinate Staff Selection Commission (UKSSSC) paper leak scam came into the public eye, 5 more government recruitment examinations for 770 posts were cancelled in September 2022. Details of the Incident: On February 08, 2023, a large number of job aspirants and members of the Berozgar Sangh Union, including Mr. Bobby Panwar, staged a peaceful sit-in protest at the Gandhi Park in Dehradun, demanding a CBI probe into irregularities in recruitment by the Uttarakhand Public Service Commission (UKPSC).

The protest was being held peacefully. While the protest was allowed to proceed during the day, in the evening, the Uttarakhand police brutally lathi-charged the students and forcefully removed them from Gandhi Park. The video of the police brutality in the middle of the night went viral on the internet.

(Video link attached here: https://www.abplive.com/videos/states/dehradun-unemployed- youth-stage-protest-again-protesting-lathi-charge-on-youth-2330811)

On February 09, 2023, around midnight Mr. Bobby Panwar and 12 other students were arrested and brought to Premnagar police station, after which they were taken to police station Jhajhra, Patelnagar and ISBT at night. On February 09, 2023 at 06:30 pm Dehradun police registered a FIR against Mr. Bobby Panwar, Mr. Ramesh Tomar, Mr. Amit Panwar, Mr. Sandeep Singh, Mr. Anil Kumar, Mr. Aman Chauhan, Mr. Shubahm Singh Negi, Mr. Lusun Todariya, Mr. Hariom Bhatt, Mr. Nitin Dutt, and Mr. Ram Kandawal at Kotwali Thana, Dehradun. The FIR was registered under sections of Indian Penal Code 147-Punishment for rioting, 186-Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions, 188-Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant, 307-Attempt to murder, 332-Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty, 34-Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention, 353-Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty, 427-Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees. The next day all of them got medico-legal check-up done at Prem Nagar Government Hospital and Coronation Hospital and were then sent to Sidhuwal jail, Dehradun. On February 15, 2023 they all got bail from the district court and are out on bail now. After the arrest of the job aspirants on February 09, state-wide protests and candlelight marches were held by protestors, demanding their release along with CBI to investigation in the rigging in examination for government jobs. Various social organizations and human rights organizations have issued statements and protested against the police brutality on peaceful protests in Uttarakhand.

Maharashtra-based journalist Shashikant Warishe has been killed by a local realty broker hours after releasing a report alleging the broker had engaged in illegal land grabbing and was connected to senior Indian politicians. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly condemns this brutal killing of a journalist for their reporting and urges the authorities to bring all perpetrators to swift justice.

On February 6, broker Pandharinth Amberkar allegedly drove his black Mahindra Thar SUV into Warishe on the Rajapur highway in the Konkan Region of Maharashtra. Warishe was struck down by the vehicle, which Amberkar was seen to be driving, while near a petrol pump and was was dragged under the vehicle for several meters, sustaining fatal injuries.

The journalist was taken to the Civil Hospital in Ratnagiri, and then to the City Hospital, but despite medical efforts Warishe died on the morning of February 7. He is survived by his mother, wife and 19-year-old son.

The journalist had previously published a series of reports in the local Mahanagari Times, highlighting local opposition to the controversial establishment of the Ranagri Refinery & Petrochemicals LTD in Barsu. His most recent article, which was published just five hours before the fatal incident, accused Amberkar of being a ‘criminal’ and revealed the relationship between the land broker and senior politicians, including Narendra Modi and Maharashtra state leadership.

The incident has inspired condemnations from human rights organisations, press freedom advocates, and local environmental activists, who have condemned the incident, and called for an investigation into the circumstances of Warishe’s killing.

According to local police, Amberkar was arrested on the evening of February 7 and will remain in custody until February 14. He has been charged with ‘culpable murder’, though activists have demanded the registration of murder charges against him.

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Wahengbam Joykumar is a RTI activist based in Manipur. He was the former Ombudsman at Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment GuaranteeSchemeMGNREGS, Imphal; East District, and Former Co-Convenor of NationalCampaign for Peoples' Right to Information, NCPRI. Mr. Joykumar has consistently taken a public stand against corruption and collusion of Manipur government officials with armed opposition groups.

On December 7, 2022, Mr. Joykumar Wahengbam had submitted a complaint application to the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Manipur to take necessary action against (1) the Hon’ble Minister (CAF & PD), (2) the Commissioner, (CAF & PD) namely Bobby Waikhom, IAS and (3) the Deputy Secretary of Manipur (CAF & PD) namely T. Vei,MSS, Governtment of Manipur of Manipur for relating to support and criminal conspiracy with an Armed Opposition group/ proscribe group, In 2022, Mr. Joykumar Wahengbam was threatened by an insurgency group based in Manipur to withdraw the application which he had filed as a PIL to High Court of Manipur to ensure the distribution of rice under PMGKAY during the Covid-19 times.

On August 16, 2020, he was picked up from his residence at Wangkhei, Imphal East at by Imphal Police Station and detained him around two hours at the Imphal Police station for posting a comment on his Facebook. Background of the Incident: On January 24, 2023,two unidentified men in a white Mahindra XUV 300, shot dead Laishram Rameshwor Singh (55), in Thoubal District, Manipur.

Mr. Laishram Rameshwor Singh was a retired army personnel and also current member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the convener of BJP ex-serviceman cell. He was admitted to Raj Medicity in Imphal after the shooting but succumbed to bullet injuries.

According to the police,after a chase and search operation, the vehicle used in the crime and the driver of the vehicle was arrested. The man was identified as Naorem RickySingh alias Amu, son of N Kesho of Keinou Thongthak Maning Leikai, Bishnupur District, staying at Haobam Marak Irom Leikai. Imphal West District. The police also recovered one empty case of .32 bullet from the place of the crime.

Later, the main accused, Ayekpam Keshorjit, 46, surrendered himself before Inspector P Achouba Meitei.A licensed gun, a .32 pistol, two magazines and nine .32 bullets were seized from his possession. One mobile handset Samsung A70 belonging to the accused was also seized. Mr.Ayekpam Keshorjit’s wife claimed that her husband was a RTI activist, and he shot L Rameshwor in self-defence. Details of the Incident: On January 28, 2023, at round 8:10 pm, two gypsy vans filled with security personnel, led by Mr. W. Ibocha Singh MPS, reached the residence of Wahengbam Joykumar in Imphal East. The policemen reached the back door of the house, which was opened by the HRD’s wife, Ms. Wahengbam Purnimashi. The policemen asked her if this was Mr. Joykumar’s residence. His wife replied in the affirmative and requested the security personnel to come to the main gate. Some personnel got inside the courtyard and told her to call her husband. Mr. Joykumar came out from the house and the security personnel told him that they have come to arrest him in relation with a murder case. The security personnel did not allow Mr. Joykumar to change his clothesand one personnel stayed with him in his room as he changed his clothes. The security personnel also interrogated his wife and got her to sign an arrest memo which they bought according to which the time of arrest is 8:10 pm. An FIR was filed against him (FIR No. 17 (1) 2023 TBLPS) under Indian Penal Code sections 307; ( Attempt to murder);326, (causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapon)IPC 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention; IPC 25 (1-B) (in Arms ActWhoever—. (a) acquires, has in his possession, or carries any firearm or ammunition in contravention of section 3).

At around 8:21 pm, the security personnel took Joykumar to the Thoubal police station.He was detained in the police station for two hours during which time he was allowed to contact his lawyer. Mr. Joykumar was produced in front of the Judicial Magistrate Thoubal and has been remanded to police custody till February 02, 2023.

On February 2, 2023, Joykumar Wahengbam was produced in the court at around 3:30 pm. but the court rejected his bail, and his lawyer will apply for regular bail in future. HRD Mr. Joykumar continues to be in Central Jail at the time of writing.

Civil society groups in Manipur have condemned the arrest of Mr. Joykumar. HRDA believes that the arrest of Mr. Joykumar is an act of reprisal for frequently speaking up on issues related to the Right to Information and a misuse of powers by the Manipur police. The civil society groups also demanded that advocate Joykumar’s professional and legitimate action of advising his client cannot be construed in any way as criminal conspiracy and that he should be released immediately.

About the Human Rights Defenders: Mr. Hansraj Kabir has been an advocate since 2012. He has been involved in human rights related work since 2002. He has been working for the rights of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Rajasthan. Since September 2021, he has been visiting villages on every Sunday to raise rights-based awareness and political and constitutional awareness among SC & ST communities. Background of the Incident: Mr. Vikas Kalawat is a local political functionary who works for Mr. Rajendra Singh Gudha, a member of Rajasthan’s Legislative Assembly and a minister in the Rajasthan government. In March 2022, Mr. Kalawat duped two Dalit sisters of their rightful ownership of a piece of land and had transferred the land to his name. The two sisters filed an FIR in this case in their local police station and Mr. Kalawat was charged under Sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). However, the police closed the case in a couple of months. The sisters approached Mr. Kabir to challenge the closure of the case in court. In September 2022, Mr. Kabir filed a petition with the Judicial Magistrate, Udaipurvati, challenging the police decision. The next hearing of the case was scheduled for February 17, 2023 Details of the Incident: On January 24, 2023, Mr. Kabir was at the Udaipurvati Court and had left the court premises to have lunch and tea. Between 2.10 pm and 2.20 pm, he received a series of phone calls from an unknown number. Each time, the person on the line asked him to urgently come to his seat in the court as they need some advice. Mr. Kabir said that he was drinking tea and would reach his seat shortly. When Mr. Kabir reached his seat, he saw there were around four or five persons, including a woman named Ms. Manju Devi, standing there. As soon as he greeted them, one person asked him to confirm his identity. Following this, Ms. Devi hit him first, and others joined in the assault and even tried to hit him on his private parts, and threatened to kill him.

A lawyer friend rushed to Mr. Kabir’s help and ushered him to the Sub-Divisional Office Court. At this stage, the HRD did not know who his assailants were and had never met them prior to this incident. The HRD was very shaken for nearly 30 minutes. He had nearly lost his hearing during the time and was very disoriented. He then went to the local community health centre, which was situated next to the court premises, and was accompanied by other advocate friends practicing at the court. At the clinic, the doctor recommended that he consults an ENT specialist. Mr. Kabir and his friends then went to the Udaipurvati police station. There he filed a complaint, which was registered as an FIR (0033) at 6.26 pm. The police charged Mr. Vikas Kalawat and Ms. Manju Devi under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntary hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. On January 25, 2023, Mr. Kabir visited the BDK Hospital at Jhunjhunu for a medical test, which showed that his left eardrum was ruptured due to the attack. He is undergoing treatment for the same. The attack on the HRD was pre-meditated and those who have attacked him should be charged under section 307 (attempt to murder). The assailants also issued death threats. Mr. Kalawat is a politically influential person in the region and carries considerable clout. Many of the HRD’s well-wishers have asked him to remain cautious and have advised him to take the public bus to work instead of his personal motorbike. It is important to note that on January 24, 2023, a cross FIR (0035) was registered against the HRD based on the complaint by Manju Devi, one of the assailants and accused in FIR 0033. The HRD has been charged under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntary hurt), section 509 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of women), and section 384 (extortion) — which is a non-bailable offence.

The Delhi Police on Wednesday detained several students of the Jamia Millia Islamia university after the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) planned to screen the BBC documentary on Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat genocide on campus.

“The detained Jamia Millia Islamia students are kept in Fatehpur Beri police station,” tweeted Shamseer Ibrahim, Fraternity Movement national president.

“The police is not ready to tell the number of detainees nor are they allowing the lawyers to meet the students as given u/s 41D CrPC. The advocates are waiting outside the police station for the last 3 hours,“ he said.

Ladeeda Farzana, student leader in her twitter thread alleged that the city police is misbehaving with female lawyers.

The news agency PTI claimed that more than 70 students were detained. It is not clear how many students were detained.

Around four SFI activists were detained morning, while several students were picked up by the cops around 3 pm. The detainees include leaders of Fraternity Movement, SFI, NSUI and other student organisations.

DCP (Southeast) Esha Pandey said to Indian Express: “A screening for a BBC documentary was to be organised by a group of Jamia students inside the university today, which was not allowed by the administration of the University. The University administration informed the police that some students were creating ruckus on the streets and therefore a total of 13 students were detained around 4 pm to ensure peace in the area.”

About the Human Rights Defenders: Ms. Malti Rao (35), Ms. Krishna Rao (24), Ms. Vidhya (58), Ms. Permila (50), Mr. Ravi Rao (28), Ms. Leelawati (50), Ms. Sonpati (45) and other protestors of Ambedkar Nagar Uttar Pradesh. Background of the Incident: On November 06, 2022, black ink was put on the statue of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar installed in front of Haothi Mandir, Ambedkar nagar, by unknown miscreants. When the locals of Ambedkar Nagar saw the defacement of the statue, they started a protest demanding action against the culprits. Details of the Incident: On November 06, 2022, around 10 am a group of locals of Dalit community , mostly women, gathered at Akbarpur-Jalalpur road, Ambedkar Nagar and started a protest to act against the culprits who threw ink on the statue of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar. Around 11:00 am Mr. Sant Kumar Singh, Station Officer, Jalalpur Police Station, Ambedkar Nagar reached the spot with some policemen. The locals demanded action against the culprits and a fair inquiry. An argument started between police and protestors and according to the protestors the police started to lathi-charge the protestors. In the video 15-20 male policemen are seen brutally beating 10-12 un-armed women protestors with lathis as well as hurling “casteist” abuses at them. One woman protestor falls down, while another’s hair is pulled by a policewoman, others are seen running away while being beaten by sticks by policemen. A video of police lathi-charge on women went viral on social media. The video is as follows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPTdw4HwTC8&ab_channel=TheQuint The SP Ambedkar nagar, Mr. Amit Kumar Sinha, claimed that the women hurled stones at the police force forcing them to use ‘mild force’. However, no woman protestor is seeing holding anything in their hands. The police also claimed that they had registered an FIR against the unknown persons who had defaced the statue of Dr Ambedkar and were trying to arrest the miscreants. On 05 November 2022, at 05:30 pm an FIR 0329 was registered against 300 women and men (name unknown) by Sub-Inspector Mr. Awshaf Ali at Jalalpur police station, Jalalpur, Ambedkar Nagar under sections of IPC 147-Punishment for rioting, 188- Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant, 341-Punishment for wrongful restraint, 353-Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty, 504-Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace. 506- Punishment for criminal intimidation. On 06 November, 2022 a second FIR (No. 0329) was registered at 05:30 pm against Mr. Mahesh, Mr. Raju, Mrs. Reeta, Mrs. Parmila, Mrs Sakla, Mrs. Anara, Mr. Shyam Kumar, Mr. Sandeep and Mr. Santosh Kumar by Mr. Dheeraj Barnawal,at Jalalpur police station, Jalalpur, Ambedkar Nagar under sections of IPC 147-Punishment for rioting, 323- Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty, 327- Voluntarily causing hurt to extort property, or to constrain to an illegal act, 427-Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees, 506- Punishment for criminal intimidation. On 06, November 2022 at 04:00 pm a third FIR 0331 was registered against unknown women, by Mr. Mahendra Prasad a local, at Jalalpur police station, Ambedkar Nagar under sections of IPC 147- Punishment for rioting, 188- Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant, 341- Punishment for wrongful restraint, 342-Punishment for wrongful confinement, 332- Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty, 336- Act endangering life or personal safety of others, 353-Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty, 427- Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees and section 7 of Criminal Law Amendment Act 1932.

On November 6, 2022, Ms. Malti Rao 35, Ms. Krishna Rao 24, Ms. Vidhya 58, Ms. Permila 50 were arrested and sent to prison. On November 21, 2022, Ms. Sonpati (45), Mr. Ravi Rao (28) and Ms. Leelavati (50) was arrested. They were released on bail on December 13, 2022, after one month and eight days.

About the Human Rights Defenders: • Villagers of Gangaloor block in Chhattisgarh who are protesting the establishment of illegal paramilitary camps in Pusnar and Burji villages. • Moolwasi Bachao Manch is a civil society platform steered by educated youth that works towards protecting the constitutional, legal and cultural rights of socially marginalised groups. The Moolwasi Bachao Manch also spearheads similar ongoing peaceful protests against paramilitary camps proposed/set up without gram sabha consent in several other places in south Bastar area of Chhattisgarh such as Silger, Nahadi and Dharmaram.

Background of the Incident: Villagers in Gangaloor block in the Maoist-insurgency affected Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh have been opposing the establishment of new paramilitary camp in Burji village without due process. In end-2021, villagers – predominantly tribals – began a peaceful sit-in protest at Burji village, located 3 km away from Gangaloor police station, demanding the withdrawal of all proposed security camps in the block. The dharna was organised under the banner of Moolwasi Bachao Manch, and a stage and temporary shelters were constructed at the venue to facilitate the indefinite protest. Hundreds of villagers including men, women and children from Gangaloor and adjacent blocks took turns to visit the dharna site every day for over a year to participate in the protest. The protestors alleged that proposed paramilitary camps in Burji and Pusnar villages were in violation of provisions in the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, as they did not have consent from gram sabhas.

They demanded withdrawal of proposed paramilitary camps, and protested against the construction of a concrete road through the farm lands of hundreds of families in Gangaloor, Pusnar, Hiroli and other villages. They also demanded justice for the victims of police firing in Silger village (May 2021) and other encounters in Bastar. Activists from Moolwasi Bachao Manch also met and/or wrote to various government authorities in 2021 and 2022 demanding withdrawal of proposed paramilitary camps. Details of the Incident: Shortly after midnight on December 15, 2022, a large contingent of police and paramilitary personnel led by Mr. Anjaneya Varshney, Superintendent of Police Bijapur; Mr. Ashok Patel, Divisional Forest Officer; Mr. Pavan Verma, Officer in Charge, Gangaloor Police station; and Officer in Charge, Bijapur Kotwali Police station arrived at the protest spot in Burji in official vehicles. The police used brute force to break up the peaceful assembly of about 200 protestors. They bulldozed the stage and temporary shelters set up by protestors and destroyed or threw away their belongings such as rice, dal, vegetables, utensils, and clothes. When villagers and activists from Moolwasi Bachao Manch protested against the vandalism, police began a lathi-charge. They charged at protestors, many of whom were still asleep, and hit them with batons, forcing them to flee from the dharna site. The police force then moved to Pusnar. At 10 AM on December 15, 2022, when the protestors started trickling back to the protest site, they chased away villagers who, hitting them with batons. Meanwhile, other police and paramilitary personnel proceeded to Pusnar village, located 7-8 km away through dense forests, where they set up a security camp within a few hours. More than 25 protestors suffered serious injuries on their head, back, hands and legs due to the assault by police. Though many of them were unable to walk or stand upright for over a week, they did not visit the government hospital or access medical treatment fearing intimidation and arrest by police. Since the construction of the camp in Pusnar, police and paramilitary personnel stationed there have not allowed villagers to harvest their crops in farmlands in the vicinity of the camp. Police also beat and chase away villagers when they venture into the forest to fetch firewood and other forest produce. Tribal villagers and Moolwasi Bachao Manch activists who were part of the dharna in Burji had been highlighting violation of their constitutional and legal rights through peaceful means for over one year. While the government paid little heed to their concerns, a security camp was established in Pusnar overnight on December 15, 2022. It also appears that police personnel led by the Deputy Superintendent of Bijapur unleashed violent reprisals and assault on protestors on two occasions.

About the Human Rights Defenders: Mr. Vivekanand Pathak, Mr. Rahul Patel, Mr. Ajay Samrat, Mr. Abhishek Yadav, Mr. Navneet Singh, Mr. Harendra Yadav, Mr. Ayush Priyadarshi and Mr. Satyam Kushwaha students and ex-students of Allahabad University who have continuously and peacefully protested against the fee hike by the University. Background of the Incident: In June 2022, the fee of Allahabad University’s fee for under-graduate courses, was increased by 300%+. (from Rs 975 per year to Rs 4,151 per year). Since September 2022, Allahabad University students and student leaders have been protesting against the fee hike continuously, by protests, social media and even threatening self-harm, demanding that the fee hike be rolled back. On December 18, 2022, a fierce clash took place between students protesting against the fee hike and the police. During this there was chaos in the university campus. Some of the agitating students had even announced self-harm by burying themselves. After that, the police started forcibly removing the students who were trying to take bhu-samadhi (land burial) during which there was a lot of clashes between the police and the students. Details of the Incident: On December 19, 2022, around 12:30pm Mr. Vivekanand Pathak, an ex-student of the university was going to the university campus bank in relation with his KYC. Suddenly the security guard, Mr. Prabhakar Singh stopped him from entering the campus. When Mr. Pathak said that he was going for some work in the campus, they had an argument and the guard hit him with sticks and butt of a gun. This caused him to fall to the ground with his head bleeding. Seeing him falling on the ground, the students present there run to pick him up. Seeing this the guard started firing. Mr. Ajeet Yadav, a student leader said that Mr. Pathak even called an employee of the bank and said to the guard that “if you do not believe then talk to an employee of the bank. At this, the guard threw the mobile and started abusing Mr. Pathak. Suddenly he attacked Pathak with the butt of his pistol. By the time we reached there, some more guards had come there and started firing on seeing the students. There must have been around 5-6 rounds of firing.". The students also alleged that they were trampled by boots. According to media reports, many vehicles were damaged in the violence that followed. On December 20, 2022, at 03:17 pm an FIR 0682 was registered against Mr. Vivekanand Pathak, Mr. Rahul Patel, Mr. Ajay Samrat, Mr. Abhishek Yadav, Mr. Navneet Singh, Mr. Harendra Yadav, Mr. Ayush Priyadarshi and Mr. Satyam Kushwaha by Mr. Prabhakar Singh, security guard of Allahabad University at Colonelganj police station, Prayagraj. The FIR was registered under sections of IPC 147- Punishment for rioting, 323- Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt, 336- Act endangering life or personal safety of others, 427- Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees, 435- Mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to cause damage., 504- Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace and 392- Punishment for robbery. The FIR stated that student leader Mr. Vivekananda slapped the guard, snatched the mobile and other students together beat the guards and vandalized the collage. Another FIR was registered was registered against 43 security guards at the Colonelganj Police Station on a complaint by Mr. Vivekanand Pathak.

Meanwhile, faculty and students told Sabrangindia that, on Friday, December 2, a protest has been organised by students against the hoolaginism of the ABVP at the Delhi University (DU). Section 144 has been imposed by the Delhi police prohibiting gatherings.

Also, anti-Brahmin and Baniya casteist grafitti appeared on the walls of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). ABVP has alleged that AISA and the left are responsible for this, as they are “anti-national and anti-Hindu”. The Left has pointed out that it is the ABVP that is at the source of the violence (attacks on meetings, disappearance of Najeeb Ahmed after a ABVP attack, beating up students on the campus and in hostels) but to date –due to the impunity enjoyed by the outfit --no action has been taken even when they are identified on CCTV camera.

[[Najeeb Ahmed, a first year MSc Biotechnology student in the JNU went missing on October 15, 2016 after the alleged attacks on him by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the ruling party. This had sparked students’ movements across the country. His mother Fatima Nafees has been tirelessly following up his case. On multiple occasions she has faced extreme police brutality despite peacefully demanding for her son to be found.]]

All these developments have seriously vitiated the atmosphere on campus. JNUTA (JNU Teachers Association) has stated that there is no security on campus and that the JNU administration has failed completely. Both sides, meanwhile have demanded a speedy “free and fair enquiry” into these recent attacks.

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ABVP goons attacked students campaigning on campus for a meeting demanding the release of Prof. G.N. Saibaba. Armed with rods and hurling bricks that injured several students who have been taken to Hindu Rao Hospital for treatment. ABVP students even surrounded the hospital where students were taken for treatment. Police reached after desperate calls and finally “removed” ABVP aggressors from the hospital. The SHO of Maurice Nagar police station was also present at the hospital but it is yet unclear whether an FIR has been filed and against whom in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

December 1: The incident took place during a protest organized by Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch (BSCEM). According to reports, students from the Campaign against State Repression (CASR) were campaigning on the DU campus when they were allegedly attacked with stones first, then with lathis (batons).

Teachers and professors associated with the All India Forum for the Right to Education (AIFRTE) shared photos of the students attacked with Sabrangindia

Ravinder Singh, a final-year law student and the incumbent president of Bhagat Singh Chatra Ekta Manch, told the media (ABP News and Quint ) that around 10 to 12 students were holding a campaign to spread awareness about GN Saibaba’s unjust incarceration. Out of the blue, 40–50 ABVP students attacked them with lathis. Many students were injured, he added. Protestor Rajveer said his friend was hit with a brick, while another was pinned down and beaten up.

According to media reports the injured students were immediately rushed to the Hindu Rao Hospital. The students who were seeking treatment at the hospital allege that 40 to 50 people also surrounded the hospital and threatened them.

Ehtmam, a law graduate from Jamia Millia Islamia who was a part of the campaign, claimed that ABVP said that if they step out of the hospital, they will attack them again. This threat was given in front of police officials, he added.

Ravinder said that while some of the alleged attackers had the Aam Aadmi Party’s flag tied to their knees, he was certain that they all were from the ABVP.

Background:

On January 5, 2020, at the height of the anti CAA 2019 protests in the capital a masked mob armed with sticks and bricks went on a rampage at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), beating up students and vandalising university property. Many of them were identified as directly associated with the ABVP; to date they have not been arrested.

The Supreme Court, on November 10, granted journalist and human rights activist Gautam Navlakha who is one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, his request for house arrest, albeit with rather stringent conditions. The bench of Justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy, during the hearings, was inclined towards granting Navlakha’s request for house arrest. While he has been ordered to be placed under house arrest now under some severely stringent restrictions, the same are applicable only until December 13 which is the next date of hearing and the court will decide whether to continue his custody in house arrest and on the same conditions, on that date.

The court noted that while chargesheet has been filed against Navlakha on October 9, 2020 no charges were yet framed against him and that he has been in custody as an undertrial prisoner since April 14, 2020. The court evaluated the medical reports but the Additional Solicitor General SV Raju pointed out that Navlakha insisted that his treatment be carried out at Jaslok Hospital where his brother-in-law is a doctor and thus his medical reports are afflicted with the vice of bias and hence the doctor recommendation merit rejection. Senior Advocate Mr. Kapil Sibal countered this contention by stating that the doctor’s recommendations have their foundation in scientific material unearthed through investigations carried out at the hospital which have been, in fact, carried out by other doctors.

In April, the Bombay High Court had denied Navlakha’s plea to be placed under house arrest while referring to Gautam Navlakha v. National Investigation Agency 2021 SCC Online SC 382 whereby the Supreme Court had laid down certain criteria for considering request of house arrest,

“151. We observe that under Section 167 in appropriate cases it will be open to courts to order house arrest. As to its employment, without being exhaustive, we may indicate criteria like age, health condition and the antecedents of the accused, the nature of crime, the need for other forms of custody and the ability to enforce the terms of the house arrest. We would also indicate under Section 309 also that judicial custody being custody ordered, subject to following the criteria, the courts will be free to employ it in deserving and suitable cases.”

The Supreme Court was ‘mystified’ as to why the High Court did not consider Navlakha’s age (70) as a basis to consider his application for house arrest. “The state of health of the petitioner also cannot be described at any rate as being perfect. Far from it, as we have noticed the multiple health issues with which the petitioner is confronted,” the court observed.

The court was also dissatisfied with the argument put by the ASG that Navlakha’s brother-in-law being the one of the doctors in his case was afflicted with the vice of bias. “Quite apart from the fact that the Doctor in question is a medical professional, his observations are based on investigations which have been carried out by the other Doctors. Therefore, they do not prima facie, at least, appeal to us as reasons for rejecting the medical report which, in fact, was based on evidence and contain inputs of the Orthopedist Dr S. Kothari,” the court said.

The court held that as far as his health is concerned, he may not be unjustified in making the request for house arrest. While considering his request, the court noted that the chargesheet was filed in 2020; charges have not yet been framed and that it is unlikely that trial will start or will make any progress towards culmination in the foreseeable future. It further noted that Navlakha has been in custody since 2020 and also that Navlakha had been placed under house arrest before and there was no complaint of his conduct then. “This means, prima facie, there does not appear to have been any case that he will misuse the facility of house arrest,” the court observed.

Conditions for house arrest

The court stated that the house arrest would be granted subject to Navlakha depositing a sum of Rs. 2.4 lakhs with Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner which is a rough estimate of expenses which would be borne by the State for making available police personnel at his house arrest location. Additionally, he shall provide local surety for Rs. 2 lakhs.

The following conditions have been laid out:

Sahba Husain alone is allowed to reside with the petitioner, along with one house keeping staff

The petitioner will not use mobile phone, internet, computer, laptop or any other communicating device while he is in house arrest

The petitioner will be permitted to use the mobile phone which may be provided by the police personnel on duty once in a day, to be used for 10 minutes only and only in the presence of police personnel.

The mobile of the companion will not have internet facility. It shall be, in other words, the basic device which facilitates only the making of a phone call and SMS.

The State is allowed to carry out surveillance and recording of the phone calls being made by the companion.

The companion shall not delete the details about phone calls or any message sent by using the SMS facility.

The petitioner will be allowed to meet only two family members once a week for 3 hours, list of whom shall be provided to the police.

CCTV cameras will be installed at the expense of the petitioner at the entrance and exit of the residence.

Before the petitioner is allowed to enter into house arrest, the house will be screened so that prior to occupying the house, no electronic gadgets such as phone, Ipad, internet, laptop are there which shall not be permitted inside even when visitors are allowed as per the order we have passed.

The petitioner is permitted to use TV which is not a smart TV or a TV which is internet based. He also will have access to newspapers.

The petitioner will not, in any manner, attempt to influence any of the witnesses in the case.

On a need basis, the police can inspect the premises and carry out search/inspection; however, such searches should not amount to abuse and should not harass the petitioner.

The petitioner is permitted to walk outside, if he wants to, in the company of police personnel, as may be found necessary, without engaging in conversation with anyone.

The petitioner can have access to one lawyer and interact with him/her as per terms of the jail manual

The petitioner will not interact with the media

The court also directed the police that in case of a medical emergency, the police will make all arrangements to make available medical facilities at the suitable hospital and the police officers will necessarily cooperate in case the petitioner needs to be taken to a hospital if such need arises.

Also, since the ASG raised doubts about the doctor at Jaslok Hospital being kin of the petitioner, the court directed that Navlakha be taken for medical examination at KEM Hospital before next hearing, to be held on December 13.

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Nitesh Alawa is a human rights defender who works as a patwari (revenue officer) in the village of Badi Khattal in Jobat tehsil of Alirajpur district in Madhya Pradesh. Mr. Alawa has been active in the fight for rights of Adivasis in the region and has in the past raised his voice against atrocities committed against the communities. Mr. Alawa is the district president, Alirajpur of the Madhya Pradesh Patwari Union, the Media In-charge of Tribal Employees-Officers Organization and is the district vice president of the Scheduled Caste-Scheduled Tribe Officer Employee Organization. Background of the Incident:

On July 4, 2022, an Adivasi woman was burnt alive in Guna district. The accused allegedly put diesel and set her on fire. The accused also made a video of this heinous crime.

A week before the incident, the woman’s husband said that his family had sought protection from the police, citing threats from the accused persons.

The gruesome nature of the attack was met with protests across the state. One such peaceful citizens protest was held on July 24, 2022, a Sunday, in Guna by leading Adivasi groups in the state include, the Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti (JAYS). Mr. Nitesh Alawa at- tended this peaceful protest in solidarity with the victim and to demand justice. The protest was attended by adivasis from over 15 districts across the state.

Details of the Incident: On August 25, 2022, Mr. Alawa was suspended from duty and a departmental inquiry was started. He was given a show cause notice on August 18 to which he replied on August 24. The suspension order cited Rule 3(1), 5 (1), 6(1) of the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1965 and Rule 9 of the M.P. Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1966, which authorizes suspensions pending disciplinary actions.

The order stated that they had taken the action as it had come to the administration’s notice that there had been several “viral videos” circulated on social media, where Mr. Alawa has allegedly made incendiary and inflammatory speeches at the Guna meeting along with members of JAYS with an alleged attempt to create tensions among people.

Rule 3(1) of the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1965 states that every Government servant shall always, maintain absolute integrity, maintain devotion to duty and do nothing which is unbecoming of a Government servant. Rule 5 (1) of the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1965 states that no Government servant shall be a member of, or be otherwise associated with, any political party or any organisation which takes part in politics, nor shall he take part in, subscribe in aid of, or assist in any other manner, any political movement or activity. Rule 6(1) of the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1965 states that no Government servant shall engage himself or participate in any demonstration which is prejudicial to the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency, or morality, or which involves contempt of Court, defamation or incitement to an officer. It is important to note that Mr. Alawa had taken leave from work with prior intimation to his superiors. He did not attend the protest in the capacity of any political party. The protest was not political in nature and was aimed at seeking justice for an Adivasi woman who had been burnt alive. The order also states that he had been given “prior warning” regarding his activities. HRDA-India had sent an urgent appeal to the Hon’ble NHRC on September 14, 2021 pertaining to the case of Mr. Alawa (Case No. 2849/12/26/2021). He was suspended for the exact same reason – participation in a protest. Back then the protest was regarding the brutal mass murder of Adivasis in Nemawar district in Madhya Pradesh.

LGBTQI+ activist Gopi Shankar Madurai (ze/they) was allegedly beaten up by a group of 6-7 persons near their home in Delhi's Karol Bagh on Saturday, 11 November.

Madurai, who serves as the south regional representative of National Council for Transgender Persons (NCTP), is one of the few openly queer people in public office.

They were attacked on Saturday night, when they were turning home from a chemist shop, Madurai's friend Iniyan told The Quint. The intersex activist is currently admitted in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital with injuries on various parts of their body. What Happened?

Gopi Shankar Madurai had been walking on the road near his home in Karol Bagh when he was allegedly physically assaulted by a group of men.

"I spoke to Gopi just five minutes before this incident happened. Six people came and attacked them on the road. Some Ramakrishna devotees helped and took them to the hospital," their friend Iniyan shared.

"Gopi brother did not know any of the men," he added.

Intersex India – a forum for people from the LGBTQI+ community of which Madurai is coordinator – said that they had done two minor surgeries at the hospital, adding that a nasal surgery was avoided due to an underlying heart condition.

"The activist was beaten up by 5-6 people. He has received minor injuries. No arrests have been made yet because none of the accused been identified," DCP (Central) Shweta Chauhan told The Quint. A case has been registered by the police in connection with the incident and investigation is underway. 'Not the First Time'

"This is not the first time that Gopi has been attacked this year. In January, they were attacked in Mahabalipuram. That time also, the police did not help," Hayathi, a friend of the assaulted activist and member of Intersex India, told The Quint.

In January this year, Madurai had alleged that six unidentified persons had approached them on bikes with a political party sticker in Mahabalipuram, and had abused and manhandled them.

Iniyan further shared that Madurai had faced incidents of homophobic verbal abuse numerous times this year.

"Gopi is a representative of the NCTP, which is under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. If he being a government person isn't safe, who is?" questioned Hayathi.

"An attack of this nature against a prominent activist in the capital city is likely to have a chilling effect on future activism in the country. We are deeply concerned about the safety and security of intersex activists in India," a statement issued by Intersex Asia read.

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Kartik Mukhi, Mr. Rohit Mukhi and Mr. Krishna Mukhi are Dalit human rights defenders based in the Narwa hills in Jadugoda, East Singhbhum district. All three brothers are members of Bhim Army, an organisation fighting for the rights of lower caste groups and have been working to raise awareness on human rights and caste atrocities in the region for the past 3-4 years.

Mr. Dinkar Kachhap is the founder of Birsa Sena and has participated in struggles demanding justice for the victims of caste atrocities in East Singhbhum district.

Background of the Incident: On September 30, 2022, Ms. Geeta Beldar and Ms. Beena Beldar – both Dalit women who were working as cooks at the Shyamsundarpur Rajkiya Buniyadi Vidyalay in East Singhbhum district for 16 years – were dismissed from service by the Head Master Mr. Ashok Kumar Pal, saying that since they were lower castes, food prepared by them could not be eaten. On October 3, 2022, Ms. Geeta and Beena Beldar visited the Birsanagar police station in Jamshedpur – the designated police station under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act in East Singhbhum district – with a written complaint demanding registration of an FIR against school authorities. But the Officer in Charge of Birsanagar police station Mr. Prabhat Kumar refused to register any FIR, so they reached out to HRDs Mr. Kartik Mukhi and Mr. Bikash Hembram for support. At around noon on October 3, Mr. Kartik Mukhi, Mr. Bikash Hembram and other HRDs gathered in front of the police station and protested peacefully against the police inaction, but they were abused by the Officer in Charge and pushed and shoved around by police personnel. When Mr. Mukhi and Mr. Hembram pressed with the Officer in Charge to register an FIR, he called them pimps, grabbed them by the collar and pushed them out of the police station. An FIR based on Ms. Geeta and Beena Beldar’s complaint was finally registered in the evening on October 3 after the intervention of the Superintendent of Police, Jamshedpur City. Mr. Kartik Mukhi and Mr. Bikash Hembram also submitted a written complaint to the police regarding their assault and abuse at Birsanagar police station in the evening on October 3, but no FIR was registered based on their complaint. Details of the Incident: On October 5, 2022, at around 2 AM, when Mr. Kartik Mukhi was riding alone on his motorbike through the Sakchi roundabout in Jamshedpur, he was intercepted by 10- 12 uniformed policemen. Police personnel took away his bike key, shoved him into the police jeep, and took him to Sakchi Police Station, punching him repeatedly along the way. He was not told why he was detained or if he was arrested. Instead, his mobile was confiscated after reaching the police station, and he was repeatedly kicked and punched on his chest, back, legs and buttocks by police personnel throughout the night. Sub Inspector Deepak Maurya and the munshi of Sakchi Police station led the assault on the HRD. He was then detained at the police station. In the morning of October 5, 2022, at around 9 AM, Mr. Kartik’s mother Ms. Mamata Mukhi, his younger brothers Mr. Rohit and Krishna Mukhi and his sister Ms. Sunita Mukhi visited the Sakchi police station to inquire about Mr. Kartik. But the munshi and other police personnel refused to answer their queries, misbehaved with them, abused them and pushed them outside. While family members maintained vigil outside the Sakchi police station throughout the day, local HRDs including Birsa Sena founder Mr. Dinkar Kachhap joined them in demanding the release of Mr. Kartik Mukhi. At around 11 AM, they heard Mr. Kartik Mukhi cry out in pain from inside the police station premises.

Mr. Rohit and Krishna Mukhi entered the police station unopposed, and saw Sub Inspector Mr. Deepak Maurya repeatedly hitting their elder brother Kartik, with his baton in a separate room in the police station premises. Mr. Maurya assaulted Mr. Krishna and Rohit Mukhi when they asked why Mr. Kartik was being assaulted, and abused them in casteist terms. Mr. Maurya repeatedly kicked Mr. Krishna Mukhi on his chest and stomach till an old surgery (colostomy) in his abdomen was injured and his intestines spilled out in the open. Mr. Krishna Mukhi was crying out in pain after the assault, but despite the seriousness of his injuries, police did not take him for treatment and detained him and Mr. Rohit Mukhi inside the police station for over six hours. Mr. Kartik Mukhi was also detained inside the police station premises. Police also turned down pleas for the treatment of Mr. Krishna Mukhi and release of other HRDs from activists and family members who had assembled in front of the police station. At around 8 PM, Mr. Prabhat Kumar, Senior Superintendent of Police, Jamshedpur reached Sakchi police station. An ambulance was arranged to take Mr. Krishna Mukhi for treatment to the MGM Hospital in Jamshedpur, but he was referred from there to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences located 130 km away in Ranchi. As his condition was serious and his intestines were exposed, family members decided against taking him to Ranchi and admitted him at the Tata Main Hospital, where he underwent an 8-hour surgery. His final diagnosis as per hospital records was ‘Traumatic Colostomy Prolapse’, and the reasons for his admission stated, ‘Admitted with C/O Pain Abdomen due to A/H/O assault at 11 AM on 5/10/22 at Sakchi’. Meanwhile, the SSP assured the crowd outside Sakchi Police Station that Mr. Kartik Mukhi would be released the following day, and would not be assaulted in the interim, and asked them to go home. But soon after the crowd dispersed, the SSP asked police personnel to pin Mr. Kartik Mukhi down to the floor, and kicked him on his chest several times with his boots. He abused the HRD in casteist terms, saying ‘Ghasi hai, bada neta banta hai (You are a Scheduled Caste and strut around like a leader!)’. From 2 AM, October 5, 2022, - 10 PM October 6, 2022, Mr. Kartik Mukhi was kept under illegal detention at the Sakchi Police Station He was produced before the magistrate at around 10 PM on October 6, more than 40 hours after his detention, in violation of Section 57 of Cr.P.C.

An FIR (no. 212/2022) was shown as registered at 10:15 am on October 5, 2022. Under sections 143, 147, 149, 353, 186, 447, 506, 504 of the Indian Penal Code, by Assistant Sub Inspector Ms. Kamala Oraon. Mr. Mukh is currently lodged in Sakchi jail. Mr. Rohit Mukhi and Mr. Krishna Mukhi and local activist Mr. Dinkar Kachhap were also named as accused in the F.I.R. Other HRDs named as accused in the FIR fear they may be arrested and tortured too. The complainant, Assistant Sub Inspector Ms. Kamala Oraon, has claimed that police detained and questioned Mr. Kartik Mukhi and his relatives for violating traffic rules late in the night on October 4, but released them after obtaining an undertaking. But that claim is contested by Mr. Mukhi’s family. The complainant also claimed that Mr. Kartik Mukhi attacked the Sakchi police station at around 9 PM on October 5 along with Mr. Rohit Mukhi, Mr. Krishna Mukhi, Mr. Dinkar Kachhap and 15-20 others, and they were nabbed from the spot. But Mr. Kachhap and others were heading towards their homes at this time after the SPP assured them regarding Mr. Kartik Mukhi’s safety and Mr. Krishna Mukhi was sent for treatment.

On 11 July 2022, human rights defender Leena Manimekalai was served with summons by the Central Delhi District Court (Tis Hazari court) based on a petition seeking an injunction on the poster of her film Kaali and its promotional video. The case is now scheduled for hearing on 1 November 2022. Leena Manimekalai produced the performance documentary Kaali for a programme on multiculturalism managed by the Toronto Metropolitan University. The aim of the film is to depict Kaali as a tribal goddess who shares solidarity with queer and indigenous communities and people of colour. Leena Manimekalai is being targeted by right wing groups in India on the basis that she has hurt religious sentiments.

Leena Manimekalai is a woman human rights defender, film-maker, poet and activist from Tamil Nadu, India. Manimekalai’s filmography is driven by themes of social justice and human rights having received international praise and recognition. She is one of the India Breakthrough Talents picked by British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) for the year 2022. She has received numerous awards for her work including Emmy Award (2017), Charles Wallace Art Award (2012) in Visual Ethnography, Golden Conch at Mumbai International Film Festival and Best Documentary Prize at Singapore South Asian Film Festival. She was also the co-organizer of Asia’s first LGBTQ+ Pride Parade in July 2012. She is currently living in Canada, as a graduate fellow completing her Masters in Fine Arts (Film) at Toronto's York University.

Since Leena Manimekalai shared the poster of her film Kaali on Twitter, she has faced judicial harassment, hate speech and death threats on social media and several criminal proceedings. On 5 July 2022, the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operation (IFSO) unit of the Special Cell, Delhi Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against her under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code. On 4 July 2022, another FIR was filed at the Hazratganj police station, in Uttar Pradesh, under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and sections 66 and 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act. Seven other FIRs have been registered against Leena Manimekalai across the country. A “look-out circular” has also been issued by authorities in India in her name, seeking her arrest at the airport if she arrives in India.

In the first two weeks of July 2022, the hashtag #ArrestLeenaManimekalai was trending on Twitter with thousands of users, largely sympathisers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India, calling the portrayal of Kaali disrespectful and hurtful to Hindu sentiments. The woman human rights defender has received hundreds of death and rape threats on her social media accounts and Hindu religious leaders have called for her execution for blasphemy and announced a bounty on her life on social media.

Following several complaints by the IT Cell of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in India, the Indian High Commission in Ottawa published a press release asking the institutions to withdraw support to the film. Subsequently, Aga Khan Museum announced that her work was no longer being shown and expressed regret that the poster had hurt the sentiments of Hindu communities. The Toronto Metropolitan University removed Leena Manimekalai from the selected list of 18 graduates chosen to showcase their works and have also withheld her honorarium.

Leena Manimekalai is also facing a defamation case filed by a film director , in reprisal for her speaking out on sexual harassment against her as part of the #MeToo movement in 2018. She is also facing a gag order and a contempt of court case, by the same director, for an article in which she was quoted on the #MeToo movement and the safety of women in India’s film industry. The film director also filed a motion to have Leena Manimekalai’s passport impounded, and she had to fight a four-tier legal battle to get her passport back.

This is not the first time that Leena Manimekalai has faced threats for her exercise of freedom of expression in defence of human rights. Manimekalai’s first feature film Sengadal (2011), based on the war in Sri Lanka and its impact on the lives of fishermen, was refused clearance by the Indian censor board stating that it made denigrating political remarks about the governments of Sri Lanka and India. She also faced serious risks from the Sri Lankan military while shooting for her documentary film White Van Stories (2015), based on enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka.

Her feature film Maadathy, An unfairy tale (2019) and short documentaries Is it too much to ask (2017), Mathamma (2003) and Parai (2004), all based on different forms of caste and gender violence, also faced censorship issues. Her poetry collection Ulagin azhagiya muthal penn (the first beautiful woman of the world) published in 2007, and her blog with the same title faced charges of blasphemy and Hindu People’s Party filed several police cases against her in Tamil Nadu. Hindu fringe elements demanded that her blog be banned, and her book was burnt in public.

Front Line Defenders condemns the judicial harassment and threats faced by woman human rights defender Leena Manimekalai, as it believes that they are directly related to her human rights work and exercise of freedom of expression. The multiple cases filed against her, and reprisals linked to her human rights work have raised serious concerns for her safety and prevented her safe return to India. Front Line Defenders urges the relevant authorities in India to cease all reprisals against Leena Manimekalai and ensure that she can carry out her peaceful human rights work and activism without any fear of prosecution.

A Pulitzer-winning photojournalist from Indian-administered Kashmir has said that she was stopped from travelling to the US by immigration authorities at Delhi airport.

Sanna Irshad Mattoo was awarded the Pulitzer for her coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic and was on her way to attend the award ceremony.

Ms Mattoo said she was stopped "despite having a valid visa and ticket".

The Indian government has not made a statement yet on why she was stopped.

News agency PTI quoted Jammu and Kashmir police officials as saying that she had been placed on a no-fly list.

Ms Mattoo said this was the second such incident in four months. The journalist told the BBC she asked officials why she hadn't been allowed to travel but was not given a reason.

She said she was "heartbroken" at not getting the chance to attend the ceremony, describing the Pulitzer as a "dream for every journalist".

Several activists and journalists have been stopped from leaving or entering the country this year.

In March, journalist Rana Ayyub - who writes for the Washington Post - was stopped at Mumbai airport when she was about to board a flight to the UK to deliver a speech at the International Centre for Journalists.

Ms Ayyub was allowed to travel a few days later after she won an appeal against the decision in the Delhi High Court and got permission.

In April, former Amnesty India chief Aakar Patel was stopped twice from boarding a flight to the US at Bangalore airport.

This followed a federal investigation into Amnesty allegedly breaking India's foreign currency exchange laws during Mr Patel's tenure as its chief. The agency called him a "flight risk". He was later asked by a court not to leave the country without its permission.

In August, Angad Singh, an Emmy-nominated American journalist of Indian-origin, was reportedly deported to New York soon after he landed in Delhi.

While the Indian government did not comment on the incident, Mr Singh's family said his passport was confiscated at the airport before he was deported. His mother alleged his treatment was a response to the documentaries the journalist had made on India's Covid crisis and farmers' protests for Vice News.

Earlier this year, the federal government deported Professor Filippo Osella, an anthropologist at the University of Sussex, who had been visiting India for more than 30 years.

Prof Osella challenged his deportation in the Delhi High Court, calling it arbitrary and unconstitutional. He also said he was treated like "a hardened criminal" by Indian authorities without being given a reason for his deportation.

Last week, the Indian government defended its decision in court, saying that the academician had been placed in the "highest category of blacklisting" based on "sufficient material" against him.

According to reports, the Indian police prevented the protest of Afghan citizens living in that country in response to the attack on the Kaaj Educational Center in west Kabul.

This protest was supposed to be held on Thursday, October 6, by a group of Afghan refugees and students living in India in New Delhi.

The protestors said that they had an official permit from the relevant departments to stage a protest, but the Indian police intervened and stopped it hours before it started.

The Indian police declared security concerns as the reason behind their decision on this matter.

After a cowardly and brutal attack on the Kaaj Education Center in west Kabul that killed and injured more than 100 innocent students, the “Stop the Genocide of Millennials” campaign has been launched in different countries by various groups of people across the world.

About the Human Rights Defenders: Mr. Nohrit Mandavi, Mr. Keshav Shori and Ms. Shalini Gera are members of Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan, an alliance of people’s movements and individuals in Chhattisgarh. Mr. Mandavi is a young activist based in Kondagaon district. Mr. Keshav Shori and Advocate Gera are well-known human rights defenders based in Kanker district. All three have been working with villagers in the Rowghat hills on issues like forest rights and human rights for several years.

Mr. Somnath Usendi, Mr. Lakhan Nureti and Mr. Narsingh Mandavi are members of the Rowghat Sangharsh Samiti, a committee of local villagers opposed to the Rowghat iron-ore mines situated at the border of Kanker and Narayanpur districts in the Bastar Division of Chhattisgarh. Mr. Usendi is the president of the Samiti and all three activists are from affected villages. They have been educating fellow villagers about the Forest Rights Act and the PESA Act, and how these have been violated in awarding the various clearances to the mines.

Background of the Incident: The Rowghat Iron Ore mines, which cover over 2000 hectares of pristine forest land in the Rowghat hills held sacred by Adivasi communities, are situated at the border of Kanker and Narayanpur districts in the Bastar Division of Chhattisgarh. Though the mines were granted environment and forest clearances in 2009, mining operations did not take off until recently owing to stiff resistance from most villages in the project area.

The Rowghat Sangharsh Samiti, a committee of local villagers that is spearheading the resistance, alleges that laws like the Forest Rights Act and the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act were violated while awarding clearances for the mines. In two meetings held in August and September 2022, sarpanches, traditional heads, priests, and residents of 28 affected villages in the area met and decided by consensus that since no approval for the mines had been granted by gram sabhas, mining should be stopped forthwith. The Budha Dev Anjarel Mines Vikas Samiti is a recently formed pro-mining group comprised of select local sarpanches, ward members, Congress and BJP leaders and youth from affected villages. The group claims that since the entire area has been denotified, there are no forests, and hence there is no question of forest rights. Background of the incident: On August 28, 2022, and September 09, 2022, two meetings of the Duggal Pargana (traditional unit comprising around 28 villages) were organised wherein resolutions demanding immediate halt to mining activities were adopted, as no gram sabha consent had been taken for the mines. Mr. Mainuram Kumeti and Mr. Ramlal Usendi were present at these meetings. Details of the Incident: On September 16, 2022, a small team comprising journalists Ms. Gargi Verma and Mr. Mukesh Chandrakar, other local reporters and three Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan members – Mr. Keshav Shori, Mr. Nohrit Mandavi and Advocate Ms. Shalini Gera – visited the Rowghat area in order to understand the views of local villagers regarding mining and was briefed about these meetings by Mr. Mainuram Kumeti and Mr. Ramlal Usendi. The team then proceeded to Khodgaon village in Narayanpur block, which is located at the border of the mine, with two Border Security Force camps located on either side of the road leading to the mine. At around 4 PM, on September 16, when the team was interviewing a group of around 30 villagers including Rowghat Sangharsh Samiti members Mr. Somnath Usendi, Mr. Lakhan Nureti and Mr. Narsingh Mandavi in front of the community hall, a few police and paramilitary personnel also reached the spot, accompanied by the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr. Lokesh Bansal and Mr. Sukku Nureti, a surrendered Maoist and member of the District Reserve Guard. These personnel observed local activists and villagers talking to the team about their apprehensions and opposition to the mines with great interest, and left the spot in their patrolling vehicle after a few minutes. Around 6 PM, as the interviews were winding down, around 25-30 motorcycles with 50-60 riders arrived suddenly at the spot. The mob was led by Mr. Bishel Nag, sarpanch of Khodgaon panchayat and president of the pro-mining Budha Dev Anjarel Mines Vikas Samiti, and most of the young men accompanying him were drunk. They shouted slogans in support of the Budha Dev Anjarel Mines Vikas Samiti, accosted and heckled the assembled villagers, and asked the team of activists and journalists to leave the spot immediately. Mr. Nag and others attacked the assembled villagers and members of the visiting team including several women, injuring many. The driver of the car hired by Ms. Verma and Mr. Chandrakar, and a local reporter from Narayanpur – he did not wish to be named – were badly beaten up. Mr. Chandrakar was grabbed by the collar in order to drag him out of the car. The car itself was kicked and damaged. Mr. Somnath Usendi and Mr. Narsingh Mandavi from the Rowghat Sangharsh Samiti were shoved and punched several times, and many women villagers were also pushed around and loudly abused. In the melee, members of the visiting team got separated. The driver of the car, the reporters and Advocate Ms. Shalini Gera were shoved into the car by the violent crowd and forced to drive away. They made their way to the office of the Superintendent of Police at Narayanpur but were followed by a vehicle without a number plate all the way. Meanwhile, Mr. Nohrit Mandavi, who got separated from the others and was walking to back to Narayanpur, and motorcycle-borne attackers including Mr. Bishel Nag and Mr. Suku Nureti for over one hour. He was then released by them. At around 7 PM, policemen in plainclothes and riding a motorcycle stopped him barely a kilometre from Khodgaon, confiscated his phone and Aadhaar card and forced him to write his address and contact number on a blank piece of paper. Along with Mr. Bishel Nag, Mr. Suku Nureti and other attackers on motorcycles, they yanked his hand and felled him to the ground, then they kicked him with their boots. They threatened to kill Mr. Mandavi if he was seen in the area again and said he would be given special “treatment” in Bharanda police station all through the night. He was rescued from his captors by DSP Mr. Bansal and other police officers at around 8 PM, after other members of the visiting team contacted the SP and requested his intervention. Before the arrival of the police, Mr. Bishel Nag, Mr. Suku Nureti and others told Mr. Mandavi that several young members of their team were willing to testify (falsely) that he was a Maoist who visited the Rowghat hills often to further the “movement”. They threated to lodge multiple FIRs against him based on such testimonies if he spoke about his torture. Under intense pressure, Mr. Mandavi did not speak about the torture to the SP and other police officials. He also informed his fellow team members about the torture a few days later, when they had time to talk in detail. The incident raises several questions regarding the involvement of police, paramilitary and elected sarpanches in muzzling local villagers’ peaceful protest against mining in the Rowghat hills. The sequence of events indicates that police and paramilitary are colluding with vested interests to carry out reprisals against protesting villagers and HRDs who visit the area to understand the conflict. When Ms. Gera and other members of the visiting team sought to meet Superintendent of Police, Narayanpur Mr. P. Sadanand urgently at his residence and his office regarding Mr. Nohrit Mandavi’s illegal detention and torture, they were kept waiting for over 40 minutes. Instead of asking team members about the attackers and the problems they faced in talking to villagers, he interrogated them, particularly the two tribal members, Mr. Keshav Shori and Mr. Nohrit Mandavi, about who they were, which village they were from, which organisations they belonged to, where such organisations were headquartered, who led them and so on. When team members told the SP that the Rowghat Sangharsh Samiti members were afraid for their own security, he said that all the youth in the affected villages wanted mining jobs, and that the Sangharsh Samiti people had “put their hands into a bee’s hive” (madhumakkhiyon ke chhatte me haath daala hai), so the reaction of the youth was only natural. Reprisals against villagers opposed to the mines and activists supporting their peaceful movement have continued after the violent incident. On September 17, a police officer from the Central Intelligence Bureau visited the office of Mr. Keshav Shori and discouraged civil society members from undertaking such visits to Rowghat. The same day, Mr. Narsingh Mandavi was publicly chastised for opposing the mines by a large crowd of villagers led by Gulab Baghel, one of the richest men in the area and an office bearer of the pro-mining samiti. Five women of Khodgaon also submitted a complaint to the Police Station at Bharanda regarding the violent attacks on their village by Mr. Bishel Nag and other prominent members of the prom-mining group.

Ramon Magsaysay award recipient Sandeep Pandey and others who were scheduled to participate in the foot march, titled ‘Apologising to Bilkis Bano’ on Monday were detained by Gujarat Police on Sunday night.

The march was planned to be taken out from Bano’s native village Randhikpur in neighbouring Dahod district under the banner of ‘Hindu-Muslim Ekta Samiti’. The march was to conclude in Ahmedabad on October 4.

Bilkis Bano was five months’ pregnant when she was gang-raped by the Hindu mob while fleeing the anti-Muslim genocide that broke out in 2002. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven killed by the Hindu mob. The 11 men convicted in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 this year after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy.

“We only wish to apologise to Bilkis for whatever has happened to her and wish such heinous acts do not happen in an otherwise peaceful state of Gujarat,” the Hindu-Muslim Ekta Samiti said in the statement.

“We have been brought to a police station 15 km from Godhra. Our yatra was to apologize to Bilkis Bano, not to oppose the government. I am an anti-caste atheist, but as a person born into a Hindu family, I feel these people are a blot, and I am deeply ashamed,” Pandey said.

“This is happening in Gandhi’s Gujarat— Gandhi, who called for Truth and Non-violence. It is a matter of deep injustice that that the murderers and rapists were released and celebrated as sanskaari Brahmins, we peaceful yatris been detained. Why are they afraid of us?,” he added.

“It seems they will detain us for a day or more, so that the pad yatra does not take place as scheduled. Others who have not been detained might start the Yatra as planned. If we are prevented from doing the yaatra, I may do a 9 day fast in solidarity with Bilkis Bano,” said Pandey.

“Dr. Sandeep Pandey along with 6 others have been detained at the Godhra police station even before they could start their yatra demanding justice for Bilkis Bano. First, let the rapist free & then detain those demanding justice for victims. That’s gujarat model for us,” tweeted Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani.

The other detainees include Nitesh Gangaramani Bharatiya, Tanushree Gangopadhyay, Hanif Haji Kalandar, Noorjehan Diwan, Kausar Ali and T. Gopal krishna.

Hindus for Human Rights, a body of Indian Americans had demanded the immediate release of Dr. Sandeep Pandey and others.

“We demand that the peaceful padyatra in solidarity with Bilkis Bano be allowed to take place as planned,” it said in a statement.

As part of a nationwide ‘crackdown,’ several hundreds of people have been arrested or detained in various states by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for their alleged link to the Popular Front of India (PFI), which was banned on 27 September by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The Quint spoke to the families of two such people detailed as part of this ‘crackdown.’ Both their family and friends say they weren’t part of the PFI, but of the National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation (NCHRO) and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) respectively. However, the SDPI, which is the political arm of the PFI, hasn’t been banned.

The PFI was founded in 2006, and primarily enjoys popularity and sees the most membership in parts of South India – Kerala and Karnataka being the hubs of PFI’s base. But the PFI also has some presence in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, among other states.

The Home Ministry has said it was “necessary to curb the nefarious activities” of the organisation, declaring the PFI an “unlawful association” along with “its associates or affiliates or fronts including Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CFI), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation (NCHRO), National Women’s Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation, Kerala”.

The Quint spoke to two such people detailed as part of this ‘crackdown’ – both their family and friends say they weren’t part of the PFI, but of the NCHRO and the SDPI respectively. However, the SDPI, which is the political arm of the PFI, hasn’t been banned. DU Student, First Person in Family To Reach College

Twenty-two-year-old Shoaib Ahmad was picked up by the police from his house in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh at around 3 am on 27 September. The family, comprising of Shoaib’s parents and his two younger siblings, were fast asleep when 25-30 police personnel came ringing their doorbells. “They took away Shoaib and along with him also took away some of his books, his laptop and phone,” a relative who did not want to be named said.

Shoaib wasn’t part of the PFI, but used to volunteer with the NCHRO, which has been banned by the Union Home Ministry as one of the organisations “affiliated” with the PFI. Shoaib’s friends say he only recently began volunteering with the NCHRO, limiting himself to logistical work.

“He was a college student. So internships and volunteer work are always helpful for college students to get certificates. He would help the NCHRO with organising talks, making posters, communication work, etc.” Abuzar Chaudhary, a friend of Shoaib told The Quint.

Shoaib was a final-year student at Delhi University’s Zakir Hussain college, studying in the BA programme. He was the first from his extended family to make it to college, his friends said.

From a very humble family, Shoaib’s mother is a tailor and stiches clothes using her sewing machine at her home itself, while his father is a property dealer. “Their financial condition hasn’t been good for a while now. In fact, just a few weeks before his detention, Shoaib’s parents had managed to buy him a laptop. He really needed a laptop for his studies and was managing without one for so long. The laptop now lies in police custody,” Abuzar said.

Manishikha, another friend of Shoaib, said he was present in the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protests in Shaheen Bagh, which is when she met him for the first time. “Since then, I grew to know him as an ambitious and curious person, who wanted to study a lot and was constantly looking for avenues. He would ask me about master's programmes in various colleges, and was interested in studying international relations, philosophy and more subjects about the world. He began referring to me as ‘aapa’ and I too would think of him as a younger brother,” Manishikha told The Quint.

Manishikha added that he would volunteer with the NCHRO infrequently, since as “a person from a marginalised and economically strained background, he was more focused on excelling in studies.”

Shoaib was produced before the executive magistrate of the Delhi district court on the day of his arrest, and has since been in judicial custody, Manishikha said.

The Delhi Police's Special Cell unit along with district police had conducted raids across six districts in the city last week and nabbed 30 people allegedly linked with the PFI. Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora has in a notification declared and notified some addresses in Shaheen Bagh, Abdul Fazal Enclave and Jamia Nagar as being used for the purposes of carrying out “unlawful activities” of the PFI and its associates or affiliates.

About the Human Rights Defenders: Mr. Lutfar Rahman, Mr. Wasim Akram, Mr. Abdul Momin, Mr. Hanif Momin, Mr. Noor Mohammad, and Mr. Kaif Sk are members of the Bagicha, Jibika o Bosti Rokkha Committee (Committee to Protect Orchards, Livelihoods and Settlements), an organisation set up to represent the farmers of the Dadantola area in Farakka block of Murshidabad district. Mr. Akram and others have participated in numerous peaceful protests to safeguard their farmlands, homesteads and orchards since 2021, when they learned that high voltage transmission lines carrying electricity from a power plant owned by the Adani group in Jharkhand to Bangladesh would pass through their villages.

Background of the Incident: A high-voltage transmission line taking electricity from Adani’s Godda power plant in Jharkhand to Bangladesh passes through the villages of Dadantola, Samaspur, Imamnagar, and Gholakandi under Farakka police station in Murshidabad district of West Bengal. Farmers and agricultural workers in these villages are opposed to the setting up of transmission lines as they fear facing huge crop losses and loss of livelihood. They also allege that work on laying transmission lines through their properties was initiated without any intimation or consultation. On May 18, 2022, Mr. Lutfar Rahaman, one of the affected farmers and a member of Bagicha, Jibika o Bosti Rokkha Committee filed a writ petition in this regard in the Calcutta High Court (WPA 9159 of 2022). He submitted that since the transmission line had been installed through his orchard without any intimation, notice for land acquisition, and compensation, the transmission line could not be taken over his property. Details of the Incident: On June 3, 2022, at 20:05 hours, Mr. Sourabh Modi, Project In-charge for laying of transmission lines in Farakka, submitted a written complaint at the Farakka Police Station. He claimed that nine named accused including Mr. Lutfar Rahman and 11 unnamed accused attacked project workers with arms and damaged a drone earlier that morning. Police immediately registered an FIR (177/2022) against that Mr. Lutfar Rahman and other accused without even questioning them once, although they had peacefully protested against use of drones to survey their lands, and despite the fact that Mr. Rahman’s petition was being heard in the High Court. The accused were charged under Sections 341, 313, 325 307, 379, 427, 506, 34 of the Indian Penal Code. On June 26, 2022, at 8 AM, Mr. Lutfar Rahman, Mr. Wasim Akram, Mr. Hanif Momin, and other HRDs and villagers began a peaceful, sit-in protest in Dadantola village, fearing that transmission lines could be laid over their lands despite their opposition. At around 10 AM, a contingent of 250 police personnel led by Mr. Debabrata Chakraborty, Officer in Charge of the Farakka police station and the Joint Block Development Officer, Farakka reached the protest site at Dadantola. They asked the villagers to call off the protest, so work on setting up the power lines could be started, but villagers opposed this and began a Facebook Live session of their protest. The police remained stationed throughout the day and left the spot at 5 PM. On July 2, 2022, at around 9:30 AM while the protest in Dadantola was ongoing, a 500-strong police contingent led by Mr. Debabrata Chakraborty, Officer in Charge, Farakka police station, and Mr. Junaid Ahmed, Block Development Officer, Farakka reached the protest spot. They asked Mr. Lutfar Rahman and other villagers and HRDs to vacate the spot, but he told them that they had a right to protest peacefully and that his petition was being heard at the High Court. When Mr. Wasim Akram broadcast the argument between police officials and Mr. Lutfar Rahman and fellow villagers live on Facebook, Mr. Debabrata Chakraborty objected, and charged at the HRD with his baton, hitting him behind his head. Villagers took him to the Beniagram Primary Health Centre, where he received three stitches for his injury. Other police personnel also resorted to indiscriminate baton-charge, dispersing the peaceful protest, and injuring Mr. Hanif Momin and other HRDs who were treated at the primary health centre. The police contingent camped at Dadantola till the afternoon, ensuring work on laying transmission lines through the properties of Mr. Lutfar Rahman and other villagers was carried out despite the matter being sub judice. Police chased and baton-charged those who tried going near the transmission towers in a bid to prevent the work, leaving around 25 villagers with injuries. Police illegally detained Mr. Wasim Akram without providing any reason or showing any warrant when he was leaving the Beniagram health centre at around 12.30 PM after receiving treatment. Mr. Abdul Momin, Mr. Hanif Momin, Mr. Noor Mohammad, and Mr. Kaif SK were detained similarly from the protest spot. The HRDs were shown as arrested in connection with FIR no. 212/2022, Farakka Police Station, which was registered at 00:05 hours on July 3, 2022. The complainant, Lady Sub Inspector Ms. Salma Farida claimed that the five arrested HRDs, nine other named accused and 35-40 unnamed accused obstructed the laying of transmission lines and abused and attacked the police personnel. Mr. Wasim Akram, Mr. Abdul Momin, Mr. Hanif Momin, Mr. Noor Mohammad, and Mr. Kaif SK were produced in court on July 3 and remanded in Farakka jail. They were released on bail on July 18, 2022. It appears that the local police and administration was complicit in forcefully laying transmission lines through the properties of Mr. Lutfar Rahman and other villagers in Dadantola although the matter was sub judice. Police registered two fabricated cases against local HRDs including Mr. Rahman without any preliminary investigation, and arrested five HRDs in flagrant violation of the DK Basu guidelines, without showing any arrest warrant or providing them access to lawyers.

About the Human Rights Defenders: Ms. Bimla Devi, Ms. Sunita Devi, Ms. Anita Devi and Ms. Tergani Devi are permanent residents of Lukumbar village in Garhwa district. Ms. Bimla Devi and others are members of the Korwa tribe and they had filed claims for individual and community rights in 2020 over a patch of land adjacent to their neighbourhood in the village, which has been kept in abeyance by the forest department.

Background of the Incident: Lukumbar village is located amidst dense forests in Ranka block of Jharkhand’s Garhwa district. Families belonging to the Korwa tribe who reside in Lukumbar have been cultivating a large patch of forest land adjacent to their neighbourhood in the village for over four generations, and a part of this land is also used by other villagers for grazing cattle, sorting minor forest produce and other activities. The Gram Pradhan (traditional village head) of Lukumbar Mr. Vasant Korwa has confirmed these facts. Villagers had submitted claims for individual and community rights over the said land under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 to the Sub Divisional Level Committee on July 20, 2020. On November 16, 2021, vide letter no. 762, the authority informed villagers that community claims could not be processed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although villagers’ claims over the said land are still pending, and Chapter III, Section 4(5) of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, clearly states that ‘no member of a forest dwelling Scheduled Tribe or other traditional forest dweller shall be evicted or removed from forest land under his occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is complete’, the forest department has been trying to free the land of encroachment and plant trees on it since 2021. But their efforts were thwarted due to protests from villagers on many occasions.

Details of the Incident: On July 27, 2022, at around 10 AM, a contingent of about 25 forest officials and police personnel led by the Van Kshetra Padadhikari, Ranka arrived in Lukumbar in three vehicles including a Commander jeep bearing registration number 0922. No women personnel were present in the contingent. Forest officials and police heckled Ms. Bimla Devi, Ms. Sunita Devi, who was six months pregnant, and other Korwa women working on their farm in the forest clearing, for which claims had been filed under the Forest Rights Act in July 2020. They asked the women to leave as they planned to plant saplings on the land as part of an afforestation programme. When Ms. Bimla Devi, Ms. Sunita Devi and other women working in the field objected to this, forest officials and police personnel abused them in casteist terms such as jangli, adivasi and korain. Forest guards and police then brutally baton-charged Ms. Bimla Devi and the pregnant Ms. Sunita Devi till they collapsed on the ground. Two other Korwa women, Ms. Anita Devi and Ms. Tergani Devi also sustained injuries during the baton charge. When Mr. Ramchandra Korwa and other villagers heard the cries of the women, they rushed to the spot. Heated arguments ensued with forest officials and police, and when the entire village gathered at the spot, the officials and guards left the village. On July 28, Ms. Bimla Devi and Ms. Sunita Devi sent a written complaint regarding the incident by post to the Officer in Charge of Ranka Police Station and the Superintendent of Police, Garhwa. The complaint, which was endorsed by other villagers, urged that an FIR be registered against the 25 forest officials and police personnel for openly flouting Section 4(5) of Chapter III of the Forest Rights Act, 2006. The complainants also urged that the perpetrators be booked under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. It appears that forest officials and police personnel in Garhwa are trying to forcefully evict tribal forest dwellers from their homes and farms in flagrant violation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006. The fact that community claims regarding the said land have been kept pending since 2020, and the non-registration of an FIR based on a complaint by Lukumbar villagers stating forest officers and police broke the law, raise further questions about the intent of the forest department and the police.