Human rights groups | SabrangIndia

Release Teesta Setalvad: Indian Human Rights groups and activists

Sun, 26 Jun 2022 18:00:04 +0000

Barely 24 hours have passed since activist and journalist Teesta Setalvad was forcibly taken away by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, and support for the 60-year-old is flooding every social media platform.

On June 25, the ATS unit barged into the ancestral bungalowof the human rights defender who is the secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP). They detained her on trumped up charges, that appear to have materialised just a day after the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Zakia Jafri case.

However, impressed and inspired by her work over the years, young digital activists have taken up the mantel of spreading news of her ordeal across the internet. Teesta Stalvad is thus inspiring young India even from behind bars!

On Instagram, digital activists are posting artwork in honour of the veteran journalist and her work in the field of human rights.

Smish Designs is one such young artist who talked about Setalvad’s resolve in the field of human rights.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by smish (@smishdesigns)

“This was so painful to draw. I’ve had the honour to work with Teesta, her passion and determination to fight hate in the society left a mark on me. I wish for her security and safety back home,” said Smish.

Another artist concerned by her ordeal is Djinnmakesart. Recollecting a meeting with Setalvad as a young child, she writes how the activist’s words have stated with her till adulthood.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Djinn Clan (@djinnmakesart)

Djinn talked about how she first met Setalvad when she was eight years old. On asking for her autograph, Setalvad wrote, “Love courage and move.”

Regarding this message, Djinn said, “Those words didn’t mean a thing to me back then. But somehow, they have stuck with me. Perhaps a part of me knew that I would need to revisit these words over and over again over the entire course of my life. These words have brought me back to life in the darkest of days when I was left hopeless and helpless.” Djinn further said, “And today when I see her name in the news again for her relentless pursuit of social justice, I am secretly hoping that she is living by these same words that she wrote for my 8 year old self. I hope she does.”

On Saturday, Setalvad accused the personnel of assaulting her and taking away her phone. She was roughed up and taken to the Santacruz Police Station, where she was placed under arrest.Setalvad had filed a hand written complaint with the Santacruz Police Station saying Police Inspector JH Patel of the ATS Ahmedabad and a lady officer in civil clothes came into her bedroom and assaulted her when she demanded to speak to her lawyer. Setalvad says that she was not shown the First Information Report (FIR) or a warrant till her lawyer arrived.

Students Federation of India (SFI) has also thrown their support behind Teesta Setalvad solidifying her fan base among the youth:

Free Teesta!
Dissent cant be arrested.
Truth cant be jailed forever.
? pic.twitter.com/zM2qpgCcLR

— SFI (@SFI_CEC) June 25, 2022

Protests have been planned in all major cities to demand justice for Teesta Setalvad. Some have sought endorsements online:

*In Solidarity with Teesta & others*

* Condemning the detention and urging all to Join the Nationwide Protest on Monday 27th June 2022*

*Organise in your states, cities, towns, villages, online*

*Endorse the appeal by Sunday , 26th june 10pm*https://t.co/VOUNOTcx0g

— Kavita Srivastava (@kavisriv) June 26, 2022

Indeed #FreeTeesta is trending on Twitter

I strongly condemn the vendetta on @TeestaSetalvad, Sreekumarji and Sanjiv Bhatt arrested for standing by the Indian citizens who had suffered due to state sponsored hatred and cruelty.#TeestaSetalvadArrested #FreeTeesta #FreeTeestaSetalvad pic.twitter.com/PuqM50jsbe

— Sadaf Jafar (@sadafjafar) June 26, 2022

Condemning this abuse of human rights, Kolkata’s CPI(M) unit is observing at 5 P.M in the West Bengal capital.

At 4 P.M on June 27, a protest is planned to be held at Jantar Mantar, Delhi to condemn “Modi’s undeclared emergency and war on progressive groups.”

There is another call for a solidarity protest at 5PM on June 27 at Dadar Station (East), outside Hanuman Mandir.Organisers include noted activists, lawyers and academics such as Prakash Reddy, Vidya Chawan, Adv. Mihir Desai, Vivek Monteiro, Milind Ranade, FerozeMithiborwala, Dolphy D’Souza, Varsha Vidya Vilas, Lara Jesani, Guddi, M A Khalid, Vishal Hiwale, Nuruddin Naik among others.

Support is also pouring in from students’ organisations like the All India Students Federation in Sri Sankaracharya University and the All India Students Association.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Aisf Ssus (@aisf_sanskrit_university)

Further the All India Lawyers Union(AILU) has also condemned Setalvad’s arrest and demanded her immediate release and withdrawal of charges. “Arrest of Teesta Setalvad, human rights activist, by the Gujarat ATS is the latest illustrative incident of oppressive and vindictive action of the state against dissent… to terrorize the activists and the civil society… to mute and silence the voice of dissent… voice against white terrorism. An action undermining the Constitution and the Constitutional ethos,” said AILU General Secretary P. V. Surendranath.

The post Release Teesta Setalvad: Indian Human Rights groups and activists appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Rights groups express solidarity with Afghanistan in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru

Tue, 24 Aug 2021 09:29:08 +0000

On August 23, 2021 conscientious Indian citizens across India came together to express solidarity with the people of Afghanistan in response to a nationwide call for demonstrations and meetings given by rights groups demanding freedom, democracy and justice for Afghanistan. Responding to this call, SabrangIndia too co-organised a solidarity meet at the Mumbai Press Club, in association with the Forum Against Oppression of Women, Bebaak Collective, Awaz-E-Niswaan and Communalism Combat (a sister publication that preceded SabrangIndia).

The meeting saw activists, including several noted intersectional feminists, come together to focus the attention of the impending fate of women and children in Afghanistan, and possible repercussions for the Muslim community in India, given the vast proliferation of Islamaphobia.

Not letting US off the hook

SabrangIndia Co-Founder and Editor Teesta Setalvad, who had covered the human rights violations in the aftermath of the first Taliban regime’s coming to power in the 90s in Communalism Combat, reminded people of the role of superpowers like Russia and the United States in ravaging the nation and leaving its people hapless. “Suddenly, after 20 years, the US has left. The country has played a major role in supporting the Mujahideen and Taliban. These groups never represented Afghani culture. Now, years later, after appeasing your people for 9/11, you have left without any transfer of people,” said Setalvad.

Forum Against Oppression of Women representative Sandhya Gokhale concurred, and asked, “What did the US do in the 20 years it was there?” Gokhale added, “During this time, the military received huge investment. It is in the military-industrial complex’s benefit to continue war. Capitalism won, humanity lost.”

She also read out two solidarity statements by activists Ulka Mahajan and Pragya Daya Thakur.

Don’t conflate Indian Muslims with Taliban

Gokhale also stressed the need for the Indian government to accept Afghani citizens without the criteria of religion. Building further upon this, feminist and queer rights activist Chayanika Shah said it is a humanitarian duty to speak about the suffering in Afghanistan. “All these countries in the world should question, what responsibility do we have? After World War 2, people discussed how to solve issues without war. That effort is nil today as countries are even siding with the Taliban. Everyone in this world should consider what Afghani people want. Taliban is not the voice of the people,” said Shah. Further, she warned against the hate narrative weaving the Taliban and Islamophobia in India. She condemned rumours stating ‘Muslims are safe under Taliban rule’ and stressed that minority folk and Muslims have the right to be in India. “Taliban is doing things in the name of religion not for following religion. This will now fuel the targeting of Islamic groups in India. People need to speak against this because the government won’t,” she said.

Meanwhile, Setalvad voiced concerns about the videos circulated on social media including the death of the 17-year-old Afghani sportsperson. Moreover, she talked about the danger faced by Afghani women journalists, leaders and teachers and expressed solidarity to sanction their space of protest. “Wherever Afghani students are present in India, we need to support them. As for refugees, we condemn the narrative that only non-Muslim individuals. This mindset is a violation of the Indian Constitution,” she said. Setalvad also urged media houses to desist from manipulating this crisis into an opportunity for Islam bashing. She asked news agencies not to conflate the Taliban with Indian Muslims. She cited other countries like Indonesia and Sudan that have Muslims as a majority of their population. However, none of them supported terrorist groups like the Taliban.

Don’t let regimes use women as political pawns

Awaz-E-Niswaan leader Saira Wazim – whose organisation voiced the concerns of many economically disadvantaged Muslim communities in India – expressed her solidarity with the people of Afghanistan. “We support the women there. We condemn the violence against women in Afghanistan. They too have the right to continue jobs, attain education. They have the right to assert their right,” said Wazim.

Bebaak Collective representative Hasina Khan condemned the oppression on women and children by the Taliban, a well armed extremist group that aims to enforce hardline ideals that trample upon civil rights. But, she also pointed out that right-wing regimes used the excuse of ‘defending women’s bodies and honour’ to impose a hardline agenda, while countries like the US saw this as an opportunity to militarise the region. “The US never really helped Afghanis gain freedom. RAWA’s [Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan] Founder Meena Keshwa was the first among many women’s rights activists in Afghanistan in ‘80s and ‘90s. But they were killed. We need to realise that Afghani people have also tried to dissent against the Taliban,” said Khan.

Khan appealed to all to look at similar regimes and identify parallels across the world. In India, Khan said, “Right wing groups used the ‘beti padhao beti bachao’ (educate girl child) initiative, but alienated the Muslim community.” She encouraged people to look for similar examples of right-wing groups. “We need to understand the similarities between Afghan’s Taliban and India’s Taliban. Both ideologies engaged in dirty politics using women’s bodies. Our government says they are talking to officials. To whom? There is no official government there,” she said. Khan emphasised that Muslims world-over are speaking against Taliban. “They are saying we don’t want Taliban nations in Afghanistan or anywhere in the world,” she said.

Creative and peaceful protests in Delhi

Meanwhile, over two dozen groups in Delhi led a street protest at Jantar Mantar in the capital expressing their solidarity with the people of Afghanistan. They held placards saying, “We do not acknowledge Taliban as leader of Afghanistan.” This is significant because many world leaders, including global superpowers are yet to issue statements rejecting the Taliban.

Women’s groups and human rights organisations also staged silent street protests at Delhi and Bengaluru today in response to the National call. In Delhi.ver 279 individuals have signed the National Solidarity Statement from all parts of the country. The signatories include academics, activists, film makers, writers apart from others. While in Delhi, women protesters, young and older stood in silent protest with placards and banners, the protest at Bengaluru (Bangalore) was held at Mysore Bank Circle in Bangalore demanding freedom and protection for Afghani women and demanding that the Indian Government provide refuge to all persons and not discriminate on the basis of religion.Phoograhs from Delhi and Bangalore can be seen here.

Some images of the demonstrations in Delhi and Bangalore may be viewed here:

The post Rights groups express solidarity with Afghanistan in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Counter-terror raids on civil society groups signal escalating crackdown on dissent: Amnesty

Sat, 31 Oct 2020 12:30:30 +0000

Image Courtesy:freepresskashmir.news

Amnesty International has asked the Government of India to “immediately halt its intensifying suppression of dissent.” The human rights monitor, even though forced to close its work in India has closely been following developments in the country. Most recently the raids conducted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) at the homes and offices of civil society groups, human rights defenders and journalists in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), that started on Wednesday October 28.

October 28, the NIA team conducted raids at multiple places, including properties belonging to human rights defenders, NGOs, and even a media house in Srinagar, in connection with a ‘terror funding’ probe. The NIA raided the office of popular daily Greater Kashmir, as well as the home of well known human rights activist Khurram Parvez, coordinator J&K Coalition of civil society, and journalist Parvez Bukhari. The NIA had also raided a location in Bangalore, Karnataka.

On October 29 were conducted at nine locations, two in Delhi, the rest in Srinagar. In Delhi the property of former Delhi Minority Commission chief Zafarul-Islam Khan was raided by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Khan is the founding editor of the newspaper Milli Gazette and chairman of Charity Alliance, one of the six non-profits that are under the NIA scanner now. The NGOs raided by the NIA are Falah-e-Aam Trust, Charity Alliance, Human Welfare Foundation, JK Yateem Foundation, Salvation Movement, and J&K Voice of Victims. The Charity Alliance and Human Welfare Foundation are based in Delhi, while the rest are based in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar.

Amnesty has stated that prominent human rights activists Khurram Parvez, the co-ordinator of J&K Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), three of his associates and Parveena Ahanger, Chairperson of the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), have reported extensively on human rights abuses in Kashmir, “including the indefinite administrative detention and extrajudicial execution of human rights defenders, torture of people in detention and the widespread impunity of the security forces in the region.”

It added that these raids are an “alarming reminder that India’s government is determined to suppress all dissenting voices in Jammu and Kashmir.” According to Julie Verhaar, Acting Secretary General of Amnesty International, “Authorities are evidently targeting these civil society and media groups because of their continued work reporting and advocating for the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir despite a harsh communications blackout that was imposed by the Indian government in the region since 5 August 2019.”

Verhaar, said this was a “worrying pattern” and that “the UAPA and the foreign funding law are being repeatedly and deliberately weaponized to intimidate, harass and restrict the ability of civil society groups from operating, in clear violation of their rights to freedom of expression and association.”

Amnesty International India had also been forced to halt its work and let go of its employees in the country from October 1, and its bank accounts were frozen by the government, shortly after it released a Situation Update on human rights in Jammu & Kashmir, stated Amnesty International adding that it was in September 2020, that APDP had “submitted almost 40 testimonies of victims who were subjected to arbitrary detention and torture by security forces in Kashmir, to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. On August 5, 2020, JKCCS published its bi-annual human rights review documenting the extrajudicial executions of at least 32 individuals and the impact of internet shutdowns in the region.”

It put on record that “UAPA and FCRA have been criticized by UN human rights experts for their overarching nature, which is used to criminalise religious minorities, political dissidents and human rights defenders. In October 2020, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Michelle Bachelet appealed to the government of India to review the FCRA and its compliance with international human rights norms, and regretted that it was being “used to deter or punish NGOs for human rights reporting”.

According to Amnesty “since 2014, several organizations have been targeted under the foreign funding law, including Greenpeace India, Lawyers Collective, Centre for Promotion of Social Concerns, Sabrang Trust, Navsarjan Trust, Act Now for Harmony and Democracy, NGO Hazards Centre, and Indian Social Action Forum. In September 2020, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the FCRA was further amended, without any public consultation, to choke civil society in India.”

Amnesty International also noted the sealing of the Kashmir Times office, by the Jammu & Kashmir Estates Department and that its editor Anuradha Bhasin, spearheaded the litigation in the Supreme Court of India against the shutdown of internet and telephone services in Jammu & Kashmir from August 5 2019.

“By directly attacking and failing to protect civil society organizations organisations, India stands in a clear violation of its human rights obligations, particularly Articles 19 and 22 of the International Covenant of the Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which it’s a state party,” stated the rights body.

Another international rights body, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), has issued a statement stressing that the freedom of religion or belief and the freedom of expression are “interdependent, interrelated and mutually reinforcing rights rooted in the articles 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Upholding and protecting these fundamental rights is the primary responsibility of member states. At the same time, freedom of expression should be exercised in a way that fully respects the religious beliefs and tenets of all religions.”

The High Representative statement noted “with deep concern the growing tensions and instances of intolerance triggered by the publication of the satirical caricatures depicting Prophet Muhammed, which Muslims consider insulting and deeply offensive. The inflammatory caricatures have also provoked acts of violence against innocent civilians who were attacked for their sheer religion, belief or ethnicity. The High Representative stresses that insulting religions and sacred religious symbols provokes hatred and violent extremism leading to polarization and fragmentation of the society. He calls for mutual respect of all religions and beliefs and for fostering a culture of fraternity and peace.”

The UNAOC statement may be read here:

https://www.unaoc.org/2020/10/a-call-for-mutual-respect/

The post Counter-terror raids on civil society groups signal escalating crackdown on dissent: Amnesty appeared first on SabrangIndia.