Activist Crackdown

BJP activists on Friday stormed the Nandigram police station in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district during a gherao programme organised in protest against the rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor at a state-run hospital in Kolkata. Over 100 BJP supporters stormed the police station on Friday morning by breaking through barricades and scuffled with the policemen who made attempts in vain to stop them. The protestors, of whom several were women, raised slogans and stayed inside the police station for some time, before exiting the premises. A police officer said the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and policemen present at the spot did not take further action to prevent the situation from escalating. The BJP activists also blocked the thoroughfare in front of the police station before dispersing. The protest was organised as part of a statewide 'thana gherao' programme over the issue. Nandigram, which was the epicentre of TMC's anti-land acquisition movement of 2007-08, is the turf

The national security trial of Hong Kong's famous activist publisher Jimmy Lai entered its second day Tuesday, with judges expected to rule by the end of the week on his lawyers' bid to throw out a sedition charge that has been increasingly used to target dissidents. Lai, 76, was arrested in August 2020 during a crackdown on the city's pro-democracy movement following massive protests in 2019. He faces a possible life sentence if convicted under a national security law imposed by Beijing. He was charged with colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring with others to put out seditious publications. His landmark trial tied to the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily that Lai founded is widely seen as a trial for press freedom and a test for judicial independence in the former British colony, which was promised to have its Western-style civil liberties remain intact for 50 years after returning to Chinese rule in 1997. After Lai walked into

CPI-ML's student wing AISA on Friday alleged that their activists were "detained" inside their flats and were not allowed to leave while Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the varsity. A senior Delhi Police officer, however, said no student was detained. "Citing the PM visit as a reason, I and AISA DU Secretary Anjali have been held in detention at our flat and not allowed to go on the campus," AISA Delhi President Abhigyan said. "We haven't been shown any warrant or order and we don't know how long they will be here," he said. Abhigyan also shared two photos of the people sitting in police uniform sitting outside their flats. Modi is on a visit to the Delhi University to preside over the varsity's centenary celebrations. Earlier in the day, he travelled in the Delhi Metro to go to the north campus.

The Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, a group of local activists who first raised the land subsidence issue in the hill town, on Wednesday threatened to block traffic on the route to Badrinath if their demands are not met by April 27. The Himalayan temple is scheduled to reopen for devotees after the winter break on April 27. The Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti's (JBSS) demands include scrapping of the NTPC's Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project and the Helang-Marwadi bypass project. In a letter to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, JBSS convener Atul Sati also demanded that the affected people should get adequate compensation and be rehabilitated properly. If all this is not done by April 27, people will be forced to hit the streets in protest, Sati said in the letter. He also said his organisation had urged the state government to constitute a high level committee consisting of local and JBSS representatives to deal with the crisis but the demand went unheeded compounding people'

Swamy died in a private hospital while waiting for medical bail in the Elgar Parishad case

Leaders of 10 opposition parties wrote to President Kovind seeking his intervention in holding accountable those responsible for "foisting false cases" on tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy

The UN body on human rights on Tuesday said it was deeply saddened and disturbed by the death of 84-year-old rights activist Stan Swamy during his pre-trial detention. It said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and the United Nations' independent experts have repeatedly raised the cases of Swamy, a Jesuit priest, and 15 other human rights defenders with the Indian government over the last three years and urged for their release from detention. Swamy, who was arrested last year under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, died at a Mumbai hospital on Monday. "We are deeply saddened and disturbed by the death of 84-year-old Father Stan Swamy, a human rights defender and Jesuit priest, in Mumbai yesterday, following his arrest in October 2020 under India's Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act," Liz Throssell, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said. "Father Stan had been

The Jesuit priest, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, died at a Mumbai hospital on Monday afternoon

Swamy was an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case

Delhi HC verdict granting bail to 3 student activists will not be used by others in securing same relief as precedent, says SC

Activist Stan Swamy is an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case

A Delhi Court on Wednesday kept the reserved order on issuing an order on the application seeking immediate release of Pinjra Tod activists Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal from judicial custody

It's unacceptable that a person should be jailed for expressing a "totally harmless" opinion, Abdullah said.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted bail to JNU student Natasha Narwal in the 2020 riots 'conspiracy' case

Student activists and bodies on Tuesday welcomed a Delhi HC order granting bail to women's collective Pinjra Tod members Devanagana Kalita, Natasha Narwal and Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha, who were arrested under the stringent UAPA in connection with a case related to the riots in the national capital last year. They also demanded that all political prisoners arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) be released. Kalita and Narwal, who are students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and Tanha were arrested in May last year. A bench of justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani set aside trial court orders denying bail to the three and allowed their appeals by admitting them to regular bail. Reacting to the court order, Safoora Zargar, a Jamia Millia Islamia scholar and co-accused in the UAPA case, said it was one of the happiest days of her life. "Bail to Devangana, Natasha & Asif in UAPA case. One of the happiest days of my life.

A Delhi court on Tuesday extended the interim protection from arrest to Shantanu Muluk and Nikita Jacob

Climate activist Disha Ravi reached the office of the Delhi Police Cyber Cell on Tuesday

A Delhi Court will on February 23 pronounce its order in the bail application filed by Ravi

The court directed Delhi Police to hand over to 21-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi a copy of the FIR and other documents related to her arrest

This week, the Indian state seemed to be bending the liberal principles of Ambedkar's constitution to lock up Dalits and their allies