Stan Swamy lived a life of service to the poor and oppressed. He paid for his commitment

 

Stan Swamy died Monday afternoon in the Holy Family Hospital in Bandra, Mumbai. A thorn in the Narendra Modi government’s unknown plan for development in the forests of Jharkhand has been removed. Those who wanted him out of the way will be happy — though crocodile tears may be shed.
Citizens of this ancient land who have a heart will shed a genuine tear or two. I am one of those who is grieved. There will be many more like me, some vocal but mostly silent mourners whose cerebral dislike for injustice rankles in their guts. I may be categorised as a co-religionist of the Jesuit priest, but the great majority of the mourners cannot be accused of even a whiff of parochial feelings.

No to the deportation of Dr. Banu Büyükavcı from Germany!

The Nuremberg Department of Foreigners and the German state started the deportation process of Dr. Banu Büyükavcı for "reasons of public interest". Dr. Banu Büyükavcı is known for the long-running political trial in Munich of the Turkish Communists of TKP / ML , known as the "Munich Communist Trial". 

She is one of the ten, arrested in the international police operation in five European countries, coordinated and organized by the German state, on April 15, 2015 on charges of being members of the TKP / ML, under Article 129 / b of the German Penal Code. The trial ended on July 28, 2020, and the ten communists were sentenced from 2 years and 9 months to 6 years and 9 months in prison. Banu Büyükavcı was sentenced to 3 years and six months in prison while she was remanded in custody for 32 months, 4 of which in complete isolation and was released on parole on 19 February 2018.

Common statement signed by Greek activists, academics, writers and students Save the life of the Indian writer and activist Varavara Rao!

(The list of signatures is being updated)

Varavara Rao, a poet, a writer, an activist and an advocate of democratic and social rights for decades against the arbitrariness of Indian governments, has been jailed for almost two years along with ten other activists, lawyers, journalists, etc. They are all accused of inciting violent incidents in the Bhima Koregaon case, a charge that is considered false, while the government for the last two years has failed to prove the charges in court to start the trial. The conditions in the prisons, where these prisoners of conscience are being held, are said to be unhealthy and the threat of the Coronavirus pandemic spreading has increased the risks. Varavara Rao, at the age of 80, has been tested and proved to be positive for COVID-19 and has many concomitant illnesses. His condition reveals the absolute neglect of his health by the prison authorities. We join our voices with academics from all over the world, intellectuals, journalists, members of the Indian Parliament, international humanitarian organizations, the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) and others, and we demand the immediate release of Varavara Rao and the other pre-trial imprisoned activists of the same case.

Chained Muse: Notes from Prison by Varavara Rao

In November 2019, when the Bhima Koregaon accused were still housed in Yerawada Central Prison and their case had not yet been transferred to the NIA, the Telugu poet penned some thoughts about his experience there, and the carceral nature of the state.

With news coming in about the worsening health of Varavara Rao (VV), his family held an urgent press conference on July 12, 2020 to demand adequate medical care for the incarcerated 80-year-old Telugu poet. Held in prison for the past 22 months as an under-trial in the Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case, VV’s health has become a crucial cause of concern since May 28, when he fell seriously ill and had to be hospitalised in the Taloja Central Prison and later was shifted to the state-run JJ Hospital.

Callous Disregard For The Health Of Varavara Rao Must Be Condemned! Release Him Immediately!

Release Varavara Rao immediately! Condemn the State’s blatant and callous disregard for the health of the 80-year-old revolutionary poet! Demand the release of all political prisoners!

The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) demands the immediate release of the revolutionary poet Varavara Rao who has tested positive for COVID-19. As per information received by family members, Varavara Rao’s health has rapidly deteriorated over the last couple of weeks. This is also evidenced by his weakening physical state, incoherent speech and inability to independently perform daily or bodily functions. After persistent efforts of family members in highlighting his health condition, the jail authorities, who had denied these concerns, were compelled to shift Varavara Rao to JJ Hospital in Mumbai on July 13th.

China Arrests Student Leader for Celebrating Mao Zedong’s Birthday

The Chinese state security arrested a student leader of Peking University for attempting to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of Chinese communist leader and the founder of the People’s Republic of China, Mao Zedong, inside the university campus on 26 December. Qiu Zhanxuan, head of Peking University’s Marxist Society was forced into a black car by a group of seven to eight men who identified as ‘public security department’ officials.

Under Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party has started building a cult of individual and despite paying occasional lip service to the late founder of the People’s Republic of China and the leader of the Chinese Revolution, Mao Zedong, the party has recently officially distanced itself from celebrating any legacy of the leader fearing a public sentiment rising in favour of socialism and thereby fuelling a massive unrest against the unbridled capitalist exploitation, inequality and oppression the majority of the people are subjected to.

BannedThought.net Banned in India!

 

Source: Bannedthought.net

At 7 minutes to midnight (New Delhi time) on November 11, 2018, the Indian government sent us at BannedThought.net an email informing us that in less than two days time it would hold a hearing in New Delhi to decide upon blocking public access by people in India to this website, or at least to the parts of it which contain materials from India and which express the views of large numbers of people in India which the government disapproves of. While we were invited to send a representative to argue our case at that hearing, this is not only impractical for time and financial reasons, it would also obviously be a total waste of time. (Or possibly even lead to our representative being arrested and imprisoned as has recently been happening even to people’s lawyers in India!) The committee meeting on Nov. 14 will almost certainly be a mere bureaucratic formality in any case. And there is nothing that we could say there that we don’t already say on our website—namely that we fervently support the right of free speech and the right to publish and distribute progressive or revolutionary materials not only in India, but everywhere in the world. This extremely basic democratic right is opposed by the current ruling class in India. So there is no point for us to say anything further at this meeting or elsewhere to this despicable anti-democratic ruling class bent on the suppression of all ideas that they disagree with.

Greece. Two days of solidarity to the arrested militants and the revolutionary movement of India

On the occasion of the mass arrests of militants, activists and revolutionaries in India, a two-day program was organized, of informing the people about the popular and revolutionary movement in India, as well as denouncing these very arrests in that country.

On Friday the 5^th of October, a panel discussion took place at the books store of  “Outside of the walls” in Athens. There were many participants who were interested in finding out about the truth, in the revolutionary, workers' and popular movement, as well as in the democratic rights movement of India. The interest was apparent since all of the participants stayed until the end of the discussion but also because of the various contributions in the discussion and questions that followed. A contribution was also made by a representative of the Turkish magazine “Partizan”.

What Makes an Urban Naxal?

Bernard D’Mello* writes about his former colleague, “urban Naxal” Gautam Navlakha.

 

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government and the Hindutvavadi “nationalist” movement’s demonic drive for cultural orthodoxy seems to know no bounds. What is alarming is the former’s support for and complicity in the acts of the latter, as also the Indian state’s control of its “necessary” enemies through the use of state terror, with the category “urban Naxals” singled out in the latest of such drives (in June and August 2018) that otherwise routinely target Muslims, militant oppressed nationalities, and “Maoists.” In the government’s categorisation, the “urban Naxals,” at least so far, are lawyers, rights activists, poets, writers, journalists, and professors, deemed to be “active members” of the Communist Party of India (CPI) (Maoist).

# MeTooUrbanNaxal: Arundhati Roy

This morning’s papers (August 30, 2018) settle something that we have been debating for a while. A front-page report in the Indian Express says “Police to Court: Those held part of anti-fascist plot to overthrow govt.” We should know by now that we are up against a regime that its own police call fascist.In the India of today, to belong to a minority is a crime. To be murdered is a crime. To be lynched is a crime. To be poor is a crime. To defend the poor is to plot to overthrow the government.
When the Pune police conducted simultaneous raids at the homes of well-known activists, poets, lawyers and priests across the country, and arrested five people—high-profile civil rights defenders and two lawyers—on ludicrous charges, with little or no paperwork, the Government would have known that it was stirring up outrage. It would have already taken all our reactions into account, including this press conference and all the protests that have taken place across the country, before it made this move. So why has this happened?

India:Police fires at protesters. 13 dead. Interview with Varavara Rao

Thoothukudi firing reminds me of Nandigram, Kalinganagar; vested interest of big companies is causing these killings: Maoist ideologue Varavara RaoWe have seen the spine-chilling photograph of a policeman aiming a gun in Thoothukudi last week at the anti-Sterlite protesters. Why do you think police open fire on innocent people when there are other ways to handle law and order problem?

Not only that, you must have heard the voice of a police officer ordering to take at least one life, and seen the photograph of a police pulling a dead body saying he is not dead but pretending to be dead, and so heinously pulling him like a fallen and injured animal. In fact this was shot at neck, point blank for violating Section 144 and he fell to instant death. It is like Dyer closing the gates of Jalianwalah Bagh killing people indiscriminately. It is massacre deliberate and intentional…

Remember Kathua

Stop and ask, can depravity, brutality and injustice be justified by religion and politics?

The brutal murder and serial rape of an eight-year-old Bakherwal-Gujjar girl living in a village near Kathua, 72 km from Jammu, is horrific enough in all its detail. But, what has emerged since the police investigation led to the arrest of the alleged perpetrators of the crime is even worse, for it has exposed the fault lines in our society. How have we reached a point where the rape and murder of a child is used to fuel communal hatred and promote politically sanctioned impunity for criminals?

The gruesome details about what happened to this child between 10 January, when she disappeared, and 17 January when her brutalised young body was found, are terrifying because of what this represents in terms of human depravity. That a child could be abducted, drugged, confined in a temple, repeatedly beaten and raped, and then murdered and thrown out is horrific enough. What makes it worse is that the perpetrators included members of the local police. One of them even joined the search party with her parents after they complained that she was missing, all the time aware of where she was and what was being done to her.