Skip to main content

Varavara Rao, Nikhil Gogoi, Sai Baba: State 'determined' to let dissenters die in jail

Varavara Rao
Counterview Desk
India's premier human rights organization, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has demanded immediate transfer of well-known Telugu poet-activist Varavara Rao, 81, currently jailed in a Mavi Mumbai jail, to a specialised hospital, as he is seriously ill. An undertrial and not a convict yet, the veteran radical poet was arrested for his alleged Maoist links during the Bhima Koregaon violence in August 2018.
In a statement, Ravi Kiran Jain, president, and Dr V Suresh, general secretary, PUCL, pointing towards his chequered past, said, Varavara Rao was arrested by the Andhra Pradesh government in 1973 on the ground that his poetry incited violence, and though released on bail in April 1975, was arrested again immediately after Indira Gandhi imposed national emergency in June 1975.
Active in mobilising the marginalized against atrocities and physically attacked on many occasions, PUCL said, the way he is treated, it is “obvious” that the state is determined to let popular dissenters die in jail, as is happening with Prof Sai Baba, Akhil Gogoi, and Varavara Rao.
About 90% physically handicapped, Prof Sai Baba was arrested in May 2014 for his “Maoist links” and is languishing in Nagpur jail. A farmer rights leader, Akhil Gogoi is in Guwahati jail since December 2019 for participating in anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and tested Covid positive a few days back.

Text:

Varavara Rao is a nationally renowned Telugu poet and intellectual who has been incarcerated since August, 2018 in the Bhima Koregaon case. 
He is considered one of the best critics in Telugu literature and has taught Telugu literature to undergraduate and graduate students for about 40 years. He founded Srujana (creation), a forum for modern literature in Telugu in 1966, which was a quarterly and successfully converted into a monthly and continued till 1992. Fifteen poetry collections of his own have been published, besides a number of poetry anthologies which he edited.
He has been a critic of various governments and has been amongst the leading dissenters of the country. In 1973, the Andhra Pradesh Government arrested him under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA), which arrest was struck down by the Andhra Pradesh High Court within a month and half of his detention.
Stung by this, the Andhra Pradesh government arrested him after a few months in what became known as Secunderabad conspiracy case, on the ground that his poetry had led to violence and he was released on bail in April, 1975. (He was eventually acquitted from this case in 1989).
Again immediately after Emergency was declared, on June 26, 1975 he was arrested under MISA and was released only after the Janata Party came to power.
He was active during the subsequent period in mobilisation of the marginalized against atrocities and was even physically attacked on many occasions. He was also implicated in various cases by the Telugu Desam Party, after they came to power, but never convicted. Again in 2005 he was arrested and finally released after about eight months on March 31, 2006 after many cases against him were quashed.
Varavara Rao was arrested in August, 2018 by the Pune police in the Bhima Koregaon case on the allegation of being a Maoist under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and various sections of Indian Penal Code.
Other co-accused in the same case which is considered to be a witch-hunt against prominent dissenters from the human rights movement, are civil rights activists such as Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha and Sudha Bharadwaj, a national office bearer of PUCL.
The case appears to be very thin with hardly any evidence against him as also other rights activists. On January 24, 2020 the case was taken over by National Investigation Agency (NIA) and while earlier he was in Pune Jail, he has been in Taloja prison since February 29, 2020. 
Nikhil Gogoi, Prof Sai Baba
However, this statement is being issued in the present context of serious life threatening health condition of Varavara Rao. Varavara Rao who is 81 years old, has been suffering from various ailments including piles, prostate enlargement, coronary artery disease, oedema, hypertension and vertigo. His health deteriorated towards the end of May, 2020 and he was kept in Taloja jail hospital.
It is clear that the last 22 months spent by Varavara Rao in jail has worsened his health, with the process itself turning into a punishment
On May 28, 2020 his health took a turn for the worse and he fainted. He was transferred from Taloja Jail to JJ Hospital in Mumbai and it appears that as his bail application was coming up, within three days he was transferred back to Taloja Jail without any marked improvement in his health. Since then he has been kept in Taloja Hospital. It is well known that facilities in prison hospitals are very elementary and are especially thin during Covid times.
On July 11, 2020 when a call was made to his family, Varavara Rao went into a delirium and hallucination. It is learnt that in view of his serious ailment, Varavara Rao has been kept with a companion, a coaccused in the jail, who informed the family members that Varavara Rao has been hallucinating regularly, has not even been able to walk or go to the toilet or brush his teeth without assistance and required immediate expert medical help – for neurological issues and not just physical issues. Such treatment is not possible in the jail.
It is clear that the last 22 months spent by him in jail has worsened his health, with the process itself turning into a punishment. It is obvious that the State is determined to let popular dissenters die in jail, as is happening with Prof Sai Baba, Akhil Gogoi and now Varavara Rao.
We would like to stress that Varavara Rao is an undertrial and is not convicted of any offence. The Supreme Court has in several cases laid down that even convicted persons are entitled to the best of health care in jail. Especially in the present Covid times it is all the more necessary that adequate medical care and precaution be taken.
The Bombay High Court in recent Judgment in a case filed by the PUCL concerning Covid time situation of the prisons, emphasized the need to take adequate precautions by the jail authorities.
In this situation the PUCL demands that Varavara Rao be immediately transferred to a specialized hospital of the choice of his family, checked by experts including neurologists and given full access to healthcare facilities immediately. PUCL also demands that Varavara Rao’s family members be permitted to be with him until he recovers fully.
PUCL also hopes that the courts will take notice of his serious medical condition, advanced age and co-morbidities that put him at additional risk, and release him on bail.

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam*  The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani*  A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid*  We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

40,000 Odisha adolescent girls ask CM: Why is scheme to fight malnutrition on paper?

By Our Representative  In unique a postcard campaign to combat malnutrition, aimed at providing dietary diversity, considered crucial during adolescence, especially among girls, signed by about 40,000 adolescent girls from over 10,000 villages, have reminded Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik that his government's Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG), which converged with Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman  ( POSHAN ) 2.0 in 2021, is not being implemented in the State.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das  Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.