“Democracy upholds the fundamental right to life and liberty alongside the right to freedom of speech and expression, assembly, association and movement in our country. The Supreme Court of India deemed the right to privacy as integral to the right to life and personal liberty guaranteed in Article 21 (K.S. Puttaswamy vs. Union of India 2017). The use of digital surveillance as a weapon by the government against the people of the country is a violation of this fundamental right. It makes a mockery of the principles of democracy and exposes the vacuity of the claims of national security.”
We, the undersigned, condemn the continued incarceration of the academics, cultural activists, human rights activists, lawyers, poets and trade unionists arrested in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case and unitedly demand their immediate release. After three years of media trial, harassment, raids and arrests of 16 persons, one of the arrested, Father Stan Swamy died on July 5th following wanton medical neglect in custody amounting to institutional murder.
Those who remain in custody include professors Anand Teltumbde, Hany Babu and Shoma Sen, cultural activists Jyoti Jagtap, Ramesh Gaichor and Sagar Gorkhe, writer and anti-caste activist Sudhir Dhawale, anti-displacement activist Mahesh Raut, lawyers Arun Ferreira, Surendra Gadling and Sudha Bharadwaj, human rights activists Gautam Navlakha, Rona Wilson and Vernon Gonsalves and poet Varavara Rao. Now, with the revelations in the Pegasus Project, it is clear that 8 of the 16 were under surveillance for several years before their arrest. Moreover, the Arsenal Consulting reports show how evidence was planted in the devices of at least two of the arrested. The revelations have unambiguously exposed the extent of illegal military-grade surveillance on the arrested, their families, colleagues and friends. Besides violating their privacy, the extraordinary measures taken to silence voices of dissent in the name of national security stands exposed.
The utilisation of cyber weapons to target, implicate and then incarcerate dissenting voices has expanded immeasurably, more so when these are done without oversight or accountability. With surreptitious planting of incriminating digital documents, reliance on such ‘evidence’ to establish prima facie case in courts, widespread arrests alongside a vicious media trial and, finally, prolonged incarceration without trial, the erosion of the fabric of democracy is complete. The use of highly advanced and tailored digital attacks on human rights activists, journalists, judges, lawyers, politicians and a broad range of citizens of this country shows the desperation of a government teetering on the edges of the law and the manipulation of the state machinery to serve its ends. Accompanied by legal over-reach through the invocation of colonial laws like sedition and the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the actions of the current regime shows that the incarcerated remain in the custody of unabashed impunity.
This impunity is egregious when contrasted with those upholding the principles of democracy. All the arrested have worked for the assertion of the most oppressed and marginalised in society and spoken out against majoritarian Brahmanical Hindutva forces, Brahmanical patriarchy and upheld the right to life, land, livelihood and dignity. They have steadfastly campaigned for the rights of political prisoners before becoming political prisoners themselves. While the perpetrators of violence against Adivasis, Dalits, Muslims, women, workers, peasants, marginalised sexualities and oppressed communities enjoy the protection of the state, those incarcerated in the case are publicly maligned, implausible plots and political intrigue are ascribed to them and then the draconian UAPA is invoked to deny them bail. They are further dehumanised in prison, deprived of regular access to legal counsel and communication with family members, denied adequate medical care and detained indefinitely. These are the actions of a retributive regime, a regime that upholds Brahmanical Hindutva fascism beneath the veneer of a constitutional democracy.
Democracy upholds the fundamental right to life and liberty alongside the right to freedom of speech and expression, assembly, association and movement in our country. The Supreme Court of India deemed the right to privacy as integral to the right to life and personal liberty guaranteed in Article 21 (K.S. Puttaswamy vs. Union of India 2017). The use of digital surveillance as a weapon by the government against the people of the country is a violation of this fundamental right. It makes a mockery of the principles of democracy and exposes the vacuity of the claims of national security. The Supreme Court has time and again reiterated the need to uphold the principles of democracy, demanded a review of colonial laws and upheld dissent as a safety valve of democracy. Father Stan Swamy died as an undertrial due to apathy and sheer criminal neglect. Along with timely justice, it is imperative that his co-accused are guaranteed the fundamental right to a life with dignity. Upholding the rule of law and the principles of justice, we demand the immediate and unconditional release of all the arrested in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case. We unequivocally demand the release of all political prisoners.
In solidarity,
- AK Ramakrishan, Professor, JNU
- Amit Bhaduri, Professor of Economics
- Amit Chaudhuri, Novelist
- Amitabha Pande, IAS (Retd), Former Secy to Govt of India
- Amitav Ghosh, Novelist
- Ananya Vajpeyi, Writer and Scholar, New Delhi
- Anand Patwardhan, Independent Filmmaker
- Annapurna Menon, Doctoral Researcher, Univeristy of Westminster
- Anvar Ali, Poet
- Atamjit Singh, Playwright and Theatre Director
- Biju Mathew, Associate Professor, Rider University, New Jersey
- Binu Karunakaran, Journalist, Kerala
- Binu Mathew, Journalist, Kerala
- Bivitha Easo, Research Scholar, Uni of Hyderabad
- Bratati Pande, Retd faculty, Dept of Economics, Univ of Delhi
- Chaman Lal Retired Professor JNU
- Chris Sinha, Honorary Professor, University of East Anglia
- Damodar Mauzo, Writer and Critic, Goa
- Dilip Simeon, Writer, Delhi
- Freny Manecksha, Journalist, Mumbai
- Gabriele Dietrich, Activist, Madurai
- Gauhar Raza, Chief Scientist, NISCIR, New Delhi
- Geeta Seshu, Journalist, Mumbai
- Ghanshyam Shah, Retired Prof, JNU, New Delhi
- Gita Ramaswamy, Hyderabad Book Trust
- Githa Hariharan, Author
- Gyanendra Pandey, Professor of HIstory, Emory University
- Henri Tiphagne, Advocate and National Working Secretary, Human Rights Defenders’ Alert – India ( HRDA)
- InSAF India (International Solidarity for Academic Freedom in India)
- Jayasree Kalathil, Writer and Translator, London
- Jeet Thayil, Poet and Activist
- John Dayal, Journalist and Activist
- Joseph Mathai, Publisher and Civil Rights Activist
- Jyotsna Kapur, Southern Illinois University
- Kalyan Raman N, Writer and Literary Translator, Chennai
- Kanji Patel, Poet, Gujarat
- Karen Gabriel, Professor, St Stephen’s College, Delhi University
- Kavin Malar, Journalist and Activist
- Kavita Krishnan, Author and Activist, New Delhi
- Kavitha Muralidharan, Journalist and Independent Writer
- Keki Daruwalla, Poet, New Delhi
- Kutti Revathi, Poet and Filmmaker, Chennai
- KP Fabian, Analyst, Writer, Former Diplomat
- Laila Kadiwal, Lecturer in Education, UCL
- Lotika Singh, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Wolverhampton
- Madhu Bhaduri, Former Ambassador of India
- Maheen Mirza, Filmmaker, Bhopal
- Malathi Maithri, Poet, Anangu Feminist Publications
- Mallika Sarabai, Indian classical dancer and activist
- Meena Dhanda, Professor of Philosophy, University of Wolverhampton
- Meena Kandasamy, Writer and Poet
- Mohan Rao, Retired Professor, JNU
- Mridula Garg, Writer
- Mukul Kesavan, Editor
- Namita Gokhale, Writer
- Nandini Chandra, University of Hawaii at Manoa
- Nandini Dhar, writer, teacher and alternative media activist
- Nandini Sundar, Sociologist
- Nandita Narain, St Stephen’s College, Delhi University
- Naveen Gaur, Delhi University
- Neel Chaudhuri, Playwright and Theatre Director, New Delhi
- Neepa Majumdar, Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh
- Nivedita Menon, JNU, New Delhi
- Oishik Sircar, Kolkata
- Pamela Philipose, Journalist, New Delhi
- Pankaj Bisht, Hindi writer
- Pankaj Butalia, Filmmaker
- Parvati Sharma, Author
- PK Vijayan, Delhi University
- Prasad Chacko, Social Worker, Ahmedabad
- Prem Chandavarkar, Bengalur
- Pritam Singh, Professor Emeritus, Oxford Brookes Business School
- Pushpamala N, Artist, Bangalore
- Rahman Abbas, Writer
- Rajathi Salma, Novelist and Poet
- Rakesh Ranjan, Faculty, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University
- Rita Kothari, Professor, Ashoka University
- Ritty Lukose, Professor, New York University
- Rohini Hensman, Writer and Independent Scholar, Mumbai
- Roja Suganthy Singh – President, Dalit Solidarity Forum in the USA and ICWI – Executive Committee
- Rukmini Bhaya Nair, Professor Emerita, IIT Delhi
- S Anand, Publisher, Navayana
- Sachin N, Faculty, Dyal Singh College, Common Teachers’ Forum, Delhi University
- Sangeeta Kamat, Professor, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
- Sanjay Kak, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Sanjeev Kumar, Professor, University of Delhi
- Saroj Giri, Faculty, Political Science, Delhi University
- Satchidanandan, Writer and Poet, New Delhi
- Shah Alam Khan, Professor, AIIMS, New Delhi
- Sheetal Chhabria, Historian, Connecticut College
- Shuddabrata Sengupta, Artist, Raqs Media Collective
- Sivakami Palanimuthu, Novelist
- Sohail Hashmi, Writer, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Sruti Bala, Associate Professor, University of Amsterdam
- Subhasis Bandyopadhyay, IIEST, Shibpur
- Subrat Kumar Sahu, Independent Filmmaker and Journalist, New Delhi
- Suchitra Vijayan, Writer and Barrister, New York
- Sudhanva Deshpande, Author, Actor, Publisher
- Sumangala Damodaran, Professor, Ambedkar University
- Surinder S Jodhka, Professor of Sociology, JNU, New Delhi
- Swati Mukund Kamble, Independent Researcher
- Tanweer Fazal, Professor, University of Hyderabad
- Thirumurugan Gandhi, Activist, May 17 Movemement, Tamil Nadu
- TM Krishna, Musician and Author
- Uma Chakravarti, Academic and Activist
- Vanchi Nathan, Advocate, Madurai High Court
- Venugopal N, Editor, Veekshanam
- Vijay Prashad, Chief Correspondent, Globe Trotter
- Vivek Narayanan, Professor of English, George Mason University
- Vivek Sundara, Rights Activist
- Zoya Hasan, Academic and Political Scientist
