As people will be aware, there is a crisis in India; not just the recent Covid-19 surge but the human rights violations by the current government for the last five years or so including the revoking of Article 370 and atrocities in Kashmir, the Citizens Amendment Act (CAA), the Farm Bill and indiscriminate arrests under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Thousands of people have been arrested under the UAPA, and are now at risk of contracting Covid-19 in crowded prisons.
June is particularly significant because it was on the 6 June 2018 that academics and human rights defenders, initially six which later increased to sixteen, were arrested on false charges of communal violence (known as the Bhima Koregaon case) and/or plotting to kill the PM Modi. There is evidence pointing to that fact that these intellectuals have been falsely arrested. This includes the the hacking of the computers of some of the accused and the planting of fake ‘letters’. They have now been in prison for three years. Several of the accused have worked with Adivasi communities defending their rights to their land and resisting large mining projects in particular.
How do we build up international solidarity with people in India?
Here is an informative leaflet to with a few suggestions. Do please feel free to circulate it.
IndiaMatters UK 