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Suspend Agreements with India Until the Human Right Activists are Released : MEP to European Commission
Press Release
September 13, 2018
Nine Members of the European Parliament sent today the attached letter to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Ms. Federica MOGHERINI, regarding the raids on homes and arbitrary arrest of nine human and democratic rights activists across India on August 28 (2018).
With this letter MEPs Lídia Senra, Ángela Vallina, Paloma López, Merja Killonen, Ana Gomes, Clara Aguilera, Ciprian Tănăsescu, Claude Moraes and Julie Ward urge for the cancellation of all the agreements with the Indian government until the human rights activists are released and the hunt against the Adivasi peoples, Dalits, religious minorities population and Kashmir, Manipuri people are stopped.
They also demand the immediate release of Prof. GN Saibaba, Susan Abraham, Varavara Rao, Father Stan Swamy, Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira and Advocate Surendra Gadling, Prof Shoma Sen, Sudhir Dhawle, Rona Wilson, Mahesh Raut and all human rights defenders in India.
MEP Letter to European Commission
Ms Federica MOGHERINI
High Representative of the European Union for Foreing Affairs and Security PolicyWe, the undersigned Members of the European Parliament, condemn the raids on homes and arbitrary arrest of nine human and democratic rights activists across India, on August 28, 2018.
Amongst the people raided are Anand Teltumbde, Stan Swamy, Kranti Teluka and Prof K Satyanarayana. But the raids also included Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha and Vernon Gonsalves, all five are now under arrest charged under one of the most draconian law: the UAPA, Unlawful Activity Prevention Act.
This is one of the most barbaric laws, copied from the colonial law book, which allows an indefinite detention (arrest) of any citizen the Government suspects of having an intent to commit a crime against the State.
These raids and arrests are the follow up of the arbitrary arrests, a few months ago, of Sudhir Dhawale, Adv Surendra Gadling, Prof Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut and Rona Wilson. These five are lawyers, journalists and human rights activists who have been implicated in totally fabricated charges of organizing the violence in Bhima Koregaon at the beginning of this year.
The Indian Government adds these most recent raids and arrests to the continuous and relentless repression on the democratic voice and aspirations of the Indian. This amounts to a very serious attack on the already crumbling state of democracy in India. Regarding the words of Aakar Patel, Executive Director Amnesty International India: ʹThese arrests are a matter of grave concern. Surendra Gadling, Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen and Mahesh Raut have a history of working to protect the rights of some of Indiaʹs most marginalized people.
Their arrests raise disturbing questions about whether they are being targeted for their activism. Anyone arrested for legitimately exercising their right to freedom of expression must be released immediately and unconditionally.ʹ During the current European Parliament term, two written questions have been addressed to the European Commission regarding one of the most painful cases: the situation of the Indian teacher GN Saibaba. He has a 90% physical disability, aggravated in recent months with acute pancreatitis, and it was recommended the removal of his gallbladder.
Because of this, this life imprisonment sentence is actually a death sentence for this professor, who has done nothing but defend the rights of the Adivasis and Dalits people with words, as well as denounce the counterinsurgency strategy ʹOpera on Green Huntʹ. On June 26, United Nations human rights experts urged the government of India to release the teacher for health reasons and to ensure immediate access to medical care, including appropriate treatment and rehabilitation: ʹWe would like to remind India that any denial of reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities in detention is not only discriminatory but may well amount to ill-treatment or even torture. In particular, solitary confinement should be prohibited when the conditions of prisoners with disabilities would be made worse by this measure.ʹ
The answers given by you on behalf of the European Commission were the following:
ʹThe EU has been closely following cases of human rights defenders arrested in India, including the cases of professor Saibaba, accused of having links with Naxal militants, and of Ms. Arundathi Roy, accused of contempt of court for her article defending the cause of Professor Saibaba.
The EU Delegation in New Delhi has made appeals on humanitarian grounds with the National Human Rights Commission. The EU attaches great importance to the issues at stake, most importantly to the freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial and the rights of human rights defenders. These issues are also addressed at the EU-India human rights dialogue.ʹ ʹThe EU continues to follow the case of professor Saibaba convicted by sessions court in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra in March 2017. As Professor Saibaba lodged an appeal against the verdict with the Nagpur High Court, the case is still sub judice. The EU has been raising the case on humanitarian grounds with the Indian authorities.ʹ How can the European Commission have contacts and agreements with a Government that defends that there are first and second class humans, indiscriminately kills the Adivasis, Dalits and religious minoritiesʹ population and imprisons human rights activists? We urge for the cancellation of all the agreements with the Indian government until the human rights activists are released and the hunt against the Adivasi peoples, Dalits, religious minorities population and Kashmir, Manipuri people is stopped.We also demand the immediate release of Prof. GN Saibaba, Susan Abraham, Varavara Rao, Father Stan Swamy, Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira and Advocate Surendra Gadling, Prof Shoma Sen, Sudhir Dhawle, Rona Wilson Mahesh Raut and all human rights defenders in India.
Sincerely yours,
MEP María Lídia Senra
MEP Ángela Vallina
MEP Paloma López
MEP Julie Ward
MEP Merja Killonen
MEP Ana Gomes
MEP Clara Aguilera
MEP Ciprian Tănăsescu
MEP Claude Moraes
Category Archives: South Asia Bulletin
Draconian laws and fraudulent charges
‘Dear Comrade Gautamji’: on the Navlakha case
As the authorities summon the spectre of a Maoist threat, here’s what the Navlakha case shows us
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dear-comrade-gautamji/article24929134.ece?utm_source=email&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Newsletter
Attack on democracy and human rights
Wednesday, September 05, 2018
Dissent Is Democracy
Arrest of activists casts a shadow over state’s commitment to constitutional values
Written by L Ramdas | Updated: September 5, 2018 4:33:09 am
Pune police arrested (Clockwise) Sudha Bharadwaj in Faridabad, Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, Gautam Navlakha in New Delhi, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai.Written by L Ramdas
It was after nearly two years of intensive debate amongst the members of the Constituent Assembly of India that India adopted her Constitution on November 29, 1949 and this came into effect on January 26, 1950, the day we celebrate as Republic Day.
The Constitution assured every Indian citizen, irrespective of religion, caste or community, all the fundamental freedoms and rights, as indeed duties and responsibilities. It was one of the most progressive and remarkable documents produced under the stewardship of Babasaheb Ambedkar and his team of eminent, critical and intellectually mature men and women, who were able to translate the hopes and dreams of millions into a vision document spelling out the framework for a democratic, just and inclusive India
For those of us who had joined the armed forces of a newly independent nation, it was an exhilarating moment. And when we were commissioned as officers in 1952 and 1953, it is to that Constitution that we swore our allegiance. Indeed every civil servant, politician and those holding public office does likewise, starting with the highest in the land, the President of India, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
Seven decades down the line — while much has been done and achieved of which our nation can justifiably be proud — there are serious concerns about the core values we had also set out for ourselves. I refer here to the freedom of thought, expression, and religion, and the fundamental premise on which a healthy democracy is based — namely, the right to equality regardless of caste, faith and gender, and the responsibility to voice dissent and uphold our secular and inclusive polity in such a manner that the last woman or man is never excluded or exploited.
The steady erosion of these basic pillars of our democracy — as embodied in the executive, legislature and judiciary — has led to the present visible decline in following the basic norms, which have always guided our institutions. This has been exemplified in recent times by several anti- and un-democratic actions by the state, and increasingly, by non-state actors, as seen in the mob lynchings and other such manifestations of the breakdown of law and order.
The latest glaring display of this has been in the totally unwarranted and illegal manner in which five well-known human rights activists have been pursued and arrested by the Pune police from several locations across the country in total violation of their fundamental rights and the law of the land for crimes, which appear to be totally unspecified and unsubstantiated.
As a citizen and a service veteran, I feel it is my sacred duty to express my deep distress and concern, especially when too many of us, in keeping with one of the traditions with which we in uniform were trained, are silent. Our silence is not to be mistaken for consent. Large numbers of veterans are deeply unhappy with the turn of events in our republic. There are some of us who have written open letters to the highest in the land, sharing our concerns.
I am happy that in its wisdom, the Supreme Court has put a stay on these arrests. I can only echo the words of the judge who has firmly upheld one of the pillars of any democratic system when he says, “Dissent is the safety valve of democracy”.
Attack on human rights activists in India
Joint Statement condemning arrest of activists and public intellectuals
We, the undersigned, are shocked by the serial raids across the country on the homes of activists and public intellectuals who are critical of the government and the ruling party at the Centre. The arrests of prominent activists and intellectuals Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Kranthi Tekula and others, are nothing but an attempt by the government to strike terror among those who are fighting for justice for the marginalised. This is also an attempt by the BJP to invent a false enemy and engage in scaremongering in order to polarise the 2019 elections in its favour. Already, the government and the media houses close to the BJP have been trying to spin a false narrative of a Maoist conspiracy since June, 2018. Terms like “urban naxals” are invented in order to stifle any criticism of the government. We have learnt that the Delhi Police, after having arrested Sudha Bharadwaj, waited for Republic TV to arrive before taking her to the court. This simply shows that the arrests are incomplete without the accompanying sensationalist media propaganda to demonise activists, human rights defenders and intellectuals.
The so-called raids carried out on the houses of these activists are aimed at creating a spectacle, as the writings and views of these intellectuals are already publicly known and are well documented. This seems like a conspiracy to divert attention from the gravity of the Sanatan Sanstha conspiracy to carry out serial bomb attacks on Eid and Ganesh Chaturthi! The same Sanatan Sanstha was also involved in the murder of Gauri Lankesh, as per the ongoing investigations by Karnataka police. Today’s arrests have been carried out in order to give cover to the murderers of Gauri Lankesh. People like Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha and others who have been arrested are friends of the people who have dedicated their entire lives to the betterment of the Indian public. By arresting them, the BJP is only exposing its insecurities and its intolerance to any dissent or criticism of its policies.
The arrests should be seen in continuation with the recent attacks on pro-justice voices such as Swami Agnivesh, Umar Khalid and many other student activists from Delhi to Lucknow. A BJP lawmaker from Karnataka even advocated the murder of “intellectuals.” Both the arrests and the physical attacks on justice loving people must be seen in a series of attempts to stifle dissent and deny social justice.
We demand immediate release of the arrested individuals, dropping of all false and malicious charges, as these arrests are politically motivated and unjustified.
Shehla Rashid Shora, former Vice-President, JNU Students’ Union.
Mohit Pandey, former President, JNU Students’ Union.
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Author, Journalist, Publisher.
Neha Dixit, Journalist.
Jignesh Mevani, MLA Vadgam, Gujarat.
Sanam Sutirath Wazir, Human Rights Activist.
Nakul Singh Sawhney, Documentary Filmmaker.
Teesta Setalvad, Journalist and Social Activist.
Harish Iyer, Equal Rights Activist.
Swami Agnivesh, Arya Samaj, Social Activist.
Please Add names and Circulate.