Denial of bail to 'public intellectuals': Will courts inquire into their writings, speeches?

Varavara Rao

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*
It is deeply disturbing that 81-year-old poet Varavara Rao has been denied bail and has now been admitted to a hospital in Mumbai. Reports suggest that the prison in Taloja, Navi Mumbai, where he was lodged, has several Covid-19 patient. The family and friends of Varavara Rao have protested in Hyderabad, as they were not even allowed to visit him.
The bail plea of Sudha Bharadwaj, who dedicated her life for the cause of workers and the most downtrodden people in Chhattishgarh by providing legal aid, has also been rejected. She was teaching at a law university.
A civil liberties activist and journalist, Gautam Navlakha, who is 60 plus, has been taken to Mumbai on remand. The Delhi High Court showed displeasure over this but we don’t know what are the police looking from him which can’t be discussed in Delhi.
And, well-known scholar Anand Teltumbde is already in jail, and his bail plea has been rejected by the court.
Another man who is now mostly forgotten is Prof GN Saibaba, who actually needs medical attention and one person to take care of him. He too is also suffering in jail.
One may agree or disagree with all these persons for what they have been writing. I don’t think any one of them was writing against the state of India. They might have spoken against the government, which is not a crime. All of them have spoken for upholding the Constitution of India.
Waging an armed struggle against the state or working against the national integration or its unity and integrity or against the Constitution of India is definitely a crime according to law, but one wonders as to what these people have done in terms of all this.
Did they instigate people to kill, or have they ever written against any community? Rao is a poet, while Teltumbde and Navlakha are human rights defenders as well as public intellectuals in their own right, and have published in all prestigious publications all these years. Bharadwaj is known for her defence of workers’ rights. Saibaba is an academic; he is physically not in a condition to move himself.
Their track record is publicly available and no one can believe that they were some ring leaders or wanting to do an Osama Bin Laden-type act on India. This is absurd, to say the least.
Public intellectuals, or even propagandists, should be identified by their speeches and writings, because except for that they don’t have anything. Most of these people have their writings and speeches available in public domain.

Let a court-sponsored commission look into writings, books, publications, public meetings of all those who are being charge-sheeted

An author or an intellectual will never force himself on people. It is not that everyone was liking their writings or work, but the government’s wrong action has compelled human rights groups to stand with them because the authorities are violating the right to freedom of expression.
It is desirable that the court seeks details of all these cases and converts them into one, or may be forms a commission to look into such matters. Let the commission look into the writings, books, publications, public meetings of all those who are being charge-sheeted.

Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand Teldumbde, Gautam Navlakha

It is ridiculous to charge a person based on heresy or fake narratives and dubious videos being supplied by those who want no freedom of expression. The Supreme Court could have formed a commission and framed categorical guidelines as what constitutes being anti-national and what does not.

Keeping things ambiguous will only aggravate the situation. One wonders why students of Jamia Millia Islamia or Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) are being charge-sheeted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The interesting part is that goons who attacked JNU as well as those who attacked, intimidated and threatened anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protesters are enjoying not only full protection but may also be rewarded. Does any criticism amount to being anti-national?
It is essential for the highest court to seriously look into this state of affairs and act. Don’t those who have been arrested for over years deserve a sympathetic hearing and bail? They are respected citizens and are paying their taxes, too. They are not big industrialists who can run away in chartered flights with defrauding public wealth. The thugs who loot people are enjoying patronage while those who raise their voice face the tyranny.
Every country has a legal process and India too has, but it should not look as if the process is more to stifle the voice of the freedom or the rights of the poor. Life of public intellectuals, authors and poets is well known. Surely, the powers-that-be have all the resources to check what have they been writing, whether the writings violate our constitutions or any other international human rights standards.
A democracy is known to respect divergent views and agree to disagree by abiding by the principles of human rights standards. We hope that courts will take this into cognizance and do what is necessary. They must remember: Prisoners too have the right to health and protection from viruses, which is threatening lives.
---
Human rights defender. Source: Author’s Facebook timeline

Comments

Modi’s Israel visit strengthened Pakistan’s hand in US–Iran truce: Ex-Indian diplomat

By Jag Jivan M. K. Bhadrakumar , a career diplomat with three decades of service in postings across the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey, has warned that the current truce in the US–Iran war is “fragile and ridden with contradictions.” Writing in his blog India Punchline , Bhadrakumar argues that while Pakistan has emerged as a surprising broker of dialogue, the durability of the ceasefire remains uncertain.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan* An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...

'Batteries now cheap enough for solar to meet India's 90% demand': Expert quotes Ember study

By A Representative Shankar Sharma, Power & Climate Policy Analyst, has urged India’s top policymakers to reconsider the financial and ecological implications of the country’s energy transition strategy in light of recent global developments. In a letter dated April 10, 2026, addressed to the Union Ministers of Finance, Power, New & Renewable Energy, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and the Vice Chair of NITI Aayog, with a copy to the Prime Minister, Sharma highlighted concerns over India’s ambitious plans for coal gasification and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR).

Labour unrest in Manesar trigger tensions: Recently enacted labour codes blamed

By A Representative A civil rights coalition has expressed concern over recent developments in the industrial hub of Manesar in Haryana, where a series of labour actions and police responses have drawn attention. A statement, released by the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), said it stood in solidarity with workers in IMT Manesar and other parts of the country, while also alleging instances of police excess during ongoing unrest.

Search This Blog