By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi: Several organizations representing a cross section of Indians have demanded the immediate and unconditional release of those arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case such as Jesuit Father Stan Swamy.
“Instead of fabricating false cases and trying to keep these in the prison, the government should proceed with legal regulations and since they are not guilty should release them,” asserted an October 25 webinar organized with the initiative of Indian Christians for Democracy, a newly formed ecumenical forum.
The three-hour online meeting that started at 11 am also urged the government to provide those arrested in the case adequate safety and security, food and health care facilities in the pandemic time.
Jesuit Father Prakash Louis, founder of the Indian Christians for Democracy, who initiated, planned and executed the webinar, said it aimed to pressure the government to release all “falsely accused and arrested” in the case.
The webinar pleaded the government to give up its alleged practice of starting a national debate after falsely accusing people and arresting and detaining them.
The meeting highlighted what it said was a nationwide demand to repeal the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) that was used to arrest 16 activists in the Bhima Koregaon case.
The webinar released two documents in seven languages – “Bhima Koregaon A Brief” and “Stan Samy A Brief.”
The participants reiterated that the Bhima Koregaon struggle is an historical struggle for the assertion of the rights of the Dalits and what happened on January 1, 2018, in Pune was a caste and communal clash, spearheaded by the upper castes against the Dalits.
They also pointed out that even before the incidents the authorities had taken into custody many activists, academics and human rights defenders after branding them ‘Urban Maoists’ and accusing them of causing security threat to the nation.
Just after the January 1, 2018, violence the police arrested many more activists and academics and human rights defenders on false charges.
The participants bemoaned that the police did not follow proper procedure to make the accusation and arrest those people and file the chargesheet against them.
They pointed that some have been languishing in jail since August 2018. Some were ill-treated and were not given proper food and other basic facilities, the webinar alleged.
It also noted that the cases were directly overseen by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Maharashtra government under the direction of the federal home ministry that allegedly has the track record of being communal, casteist, corrupt, autocratic, authoritarian and undemocratic.
The participants regretted that the federal home ministry shifted the Bhima Koregaon case to National Investigation Agency as soon as a new coalition government came into power under the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. This was done without consulting the Maharashtra government, they added.
Since then, the agency undertook more arrests without any proper investigation, filing of charge sheet, hearing of those accused.
“It is reported earlier that over 5,000-page chargesheet was prepared and now it has gone up to 10,000 pages and how many thousand pages it would take to close this case is a million dollar question,” a statement from the webinar said.
The speakers highlighted that those arrested in the case are reputed people with high academic and intellectual caliber, who have committed to the cause of the poor.
They were particularly concerned over Father Swamy, an 83 year old priest suffering from Parkinson’s disease. He has spent more than 40 years for the protection of the rights of the Adivasis of Jharkhand state in eastern India.
The priest “is now struggling to defend his own rights as a human being, a citizen, a senior citizen and a person with ailments,” bemoaned the speakers.
What is heartening is the priest spirit continues to be “very high” as he identifies “with all those falsely accused and arrested by the vested interests.”
One of the speakers was Aloka Kujur, an activist, poet and human right defender of Jharkhand who has worked closely with Father Swamy.
She noted that the priest who fought to defend the rights of the Adivasis is himself denied of his rights by the government. “Stan worked for the release of all the under trails in Jharkhand prisons,” she said fighting hard to control her tears.
“If Stan is not there, the Adivasis of Jharkhand would be finished,” she warned. The government, she added, wants to dislodge and displace the Adivasis from their original habitats so that it could help corporate firms to exploit the land’s rich resources.
“To succeed in this it is arresting those who are opposing this move and imposing NIA in the name of national security,” she alleged and urged the participants to network together for the release of the Jesuit and others.
The webinar also regretted that many Dalit, Adivasi, Minority youth all over the country are languishing in the jails after being named ‘Maoists’ and ‘Terrorists’.
“Many youth due to the caste exploitation are accused of having stolen from an upper caste landlords house or farm and are also treated as undertrials even after 10 to 15 years,” the webinar noted and demanded their release.
Some of coorgnizers of the webinar were: Alliance Defending Freedom, All India Christian Union, Aman Bradari, Catholic Priests’ Conference of India, Coalition of Religious for Justice (Western Region) Delhi Forum, Indian Christians for Democracy, Indian Christian Women’s Movement, Jesuits in Social Action, National Council of Churches in India, National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations, North East India, FORUM of Religious for Justice and Peace, Muslim Women’s Forum, and United Christian Forum.
The 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence refers to violence during an annual celebratory gathering on January 1, 2018, at Bhima Koregaon near Pune to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon.
The violence and stone pelting by anti-social elements on the gathering resulted in the death of a 28-year old youth and injury to five others. The annual celebration also called Elgar (loud declaration) Parishad (council) convention was organized by retired justices B.G Kolte-Patil and P. B. Sawant.
The Battle of Koregaon on January 1, 1818, is of importance for Dalits. On that day, some 800 troops of the British Army, with large number of Mahars (leather workers), defeated a numerically superior force of the Peshwa Baji Rao II.
The British erected a victory pillar in Koregaon to commemorate the dead soldiers. In 1928, Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar led the first commemoration ceremony there. Since then, Ambedkarite Dalits gather at Bhima Koregaon every year to celebrate their victory against the upper caste Peshwa regime, whom they see as their oppressors.