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| Sudha Bharadwaj with her daughter Maaysha |
The family members and friends* of Sudha Bharadwaj, who was arrested two years ago in the Bhima Koregaon Conspiracy Case, have described the denial of bail to the top human rights lawyer and labour leader by a division bench of the Bombay High Court on August 28 “as gross injustice.”
Maaysha, Bharadwaj’s daughter, said, it is ironical that her mother who has spent her lifetime working with the marginalized communities in their struggles for justice and dignity and upheld the rights enshrined in Constitution, is being denied the basic right to bail, especially during a pandemic, when courts have relaxed rules of parole, even for those convicted of murder. This is happening “despite her frail health.”
Bharadwaj, who is currently in the Byculla Women’s jail in Mumbai, had moved the Bombay High Court on June 11 seeking bail on medical grounds, citing vulnerability to the raging pandemic of Covid-19 on account of her health conditions.
In her bail application, she had said that she suffers from diabetes and hypertension, and has a past history of pulmonary tuberculosis – all of which coupled with her age of almost 60 years, makes her more vulnerable to Covid-19 infection. She also has complaints of osteoarthritis, which makes movement difficult.
In response, the Byculla jail authorities submitted a medical report on July 21, confirming that she has diabetes, osteoarthritis, and a history of pulmonary tuberculosis. It also showed that her hypertension had aggravated to ischemic heart disease, a heart problem caused by narrowing of arteries that causes reduced blood flow to the heart muscle and can lead to heart attack.
This was reiterated in a second medical report submitted on August 3, which caused concern to her family and friends. The jail was then asked to submit another report during the hearing dated August 17. The third medical report, dated August 21 noted only diabetes, ignoring her ischaemic heart condition.
“This is particularly worrisome as with this condition Sudha Bharadwaj is a potential candidate for myocardial infarction and should undergo further medical investigations in the form of CT angiography/echocardiogram. This report further overlooks her medical condition of osteoarthritis and records a mere general complaint of ‘bodyache’,” the statement said, terming, the medical report is misleading, fallacious and incomplete.
Maaysha, Bharadwaj’s daughter, said, it is ironical that her mother who has spent her lifetime working with the marginalized communities in their struggles for justice and dignity and upheld the rights enshrined in Constitution, is being denied the basic right to bail, especially during a pandemic, when courts have relaxed rules of parole, even for those convicted of murder. This is happening “despite her frail health.”
Bharadwaj, who is currently in the Byculla Women’s jail in Mumbai, had moved the Bombay High Court on June 11 seeking bail on medical grounds, citing vulnerability to the raging pandemic of Covid-19 on account of her health conditions.
In her bail application, she had said that she suffers from diabetes and hypertension, and has a past history of pulmonary tuberculosis – all of which coupled with her age of almost 60 years, makes her more vulnerable to Covid-19 infection. She also has complaints of osteoarthritis, which makes movement difficult.
In response, the Byculla jail authorities submitted a medical report on July 21, confirming that she has diabetes, osteoarthritis, and a history of pulmonary tuberculosis. It also showed that her hypertension had aggravated to ischemic heart disease, a heart problem caused by narrowing of arteries that causes reduced blood flow to the heart muscle and can lead to heart attack.
This was reiterated in a second medical report submitted on August 3, which caused concern to her family and friends. The jail was then asked to submit another report during the hearing dated August 17. The third medical report, dated August 21 noted only diabetes, ignoring her ischaemic heart condition.
“This is particularly worrisome as with this condition Sudha Bharadwaj is a potential candidate for myocardial infarction and should undergo further medical investigations in the form of CT angiography/echocardiogram. This report further overlooks her medical condition of osteoarthritis and records a mere general complaint of ‘bodyache’,” the statement said, terming, the medical report is misleading, fallacious and incomplete.
Maoist links 'baseless'
Meanwhile, Civicus, a global civil society organization, has called upon the Government of India to “immediately release Bharadwaj and drop all charges against her”, stating charges against her are “baseless” and there are also “concerns” for her health in prison during the Covid-19 pandemic.
A global alliance of CSOs with 10,000 members worldwide, the Civicus monitor, an online platform that tracks the fundamental rights of freedom of assembly, association and expression in countries across the world, last year downgraded India from ‘obstructed’ to ‘repressed’ owing to its “increased restriction of space for dissent” after Modi’s re-election in May 2019.
A global alliance of CSOs with 10,000 members worldwide, the Civicus monitor, an online platform that tracks the fundamental rights of freedom of assembly, association and expression in countries across the world, last year downgraded India from ‘obstructed’ to ‘repressed’ owing to its “increased restriction of space for dissent” after Modi’s re-election in May 2019.
Pointing out that Bharadwaj has been in pre-trial detention since August 2018, when she was arrested under the “draconian” Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and accused of having links with Maoist terrorist organizations, the Civicus statement said, there is no truth in the allegation that “she and ten other human rights defenders were conspiring to incite Dalits, a marginalised group, at a public meeting which led to violence in Bhima Koregaon village in the Pune district of Maharashtra in January 2018.”
“Bharadwaj was initially held under house arrest until October 2018, when she was then moved to Byculla Women’s Prison in Mumbai”, the statement said, adding, “There are concerns that the 59 year old, who suffers from diabetes and hypertension, will be susceptible to Covid-19 in the cramped prison, where an inmate has already tested positive for the virus. A July medical report found that she is also now suffering from Ischemic heart disease.”
Civicus regrets, “Despite her underlying health issues, last week Bharadwaj’s plea for bail to the Bombay High Court was opposed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which claimed her condition is not serious”, adding, “The treatment of Bharadwaj highlights the increasingly repressive measures used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to clamp down on dissent and silence human rights defenders.”
Asserting that UN experts have expressed concerns about the terrorism charges laid against her and about the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act’s (UAPA’s) “vague definition of ‘unlawful activities’ and ‘membership of terrorist organisations’ being “routinely used to stifle dissent”, Civicus called Bharadwaj a leading human rights defender, who feature in its global campaign #StandAsMyWitness.
“Sudha is a lawyer and activist who has spent her life defending Indigenous people in India and protecting workers’ rights. However, her human rights activities have put her in the firing line of the Modi regime, which is abusing the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and using it to round-up activists and human rights defenders on trumped-up charges,” said Josef Benedict, Asia-Pacific civic space researcher for Civicus.
“Bharadwaj was initially held under house arrest until October 2018, when she was then moved to Byculla Women’s Prison in Mumbai”, the statement said, adding, “There are concerns that the 59 year old, who suffers from diabetes and hypertension, will be susceptible to Covid-19 in the cramped prison, where an inmate has already tested positive for the virus. A July medical report found that she is also now suffering from Ischemic heart disease.”
Civicus regrets, “Despite her underlying health issues, last week Bharadwaj’s plea for bail to the Bombay High Court was opposed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which claimed her condition is not serious”, adding, “The treatment of Bharadwaj highlights the increasingly repressive measures used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to clamp down on dissent and silence human rights defenders.”
Asserting that UN experts have expressed concerns about the terrorism charges laid against her and about the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act’s (UAPA’s) “vague definition of ‘unlawful activities’ and ‘membership of terrorist organisations’ being “routinely used to stifle dissent”, Civicus called Bharadwaj a leading human rights defender, who feature in its global campaign #StandAsMyWitness.
“Sudha is a lawyer and activist who has spent her life defending Indigenous people in India and protecting workers’ rights. However, her human rights activities have put her in the firing line of the Modi regime, which is abusing the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and using it to round-up activists and human rights defenders on trumped-up charges,” said Josef Benedict, Asia-Pacific civic space researcher for Civicus.
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*Maaysha Bharadwaj, Akshra Bhardwaj, Kaladas Dahariya, Ramakant Banjare, Shreya, Kavita Srivastav, Indira Chakravarti, Alok Shukla, Vaibhav Vaish, Madhur Bharatiya, VimalBhai, Priyanshu Gupta, Aparna Choudhary, Bijaya Chanda, AP Josy, Malini Subramania, K J Mukherjee, Smiti Sharma, Neelabh Dubey, Shikha Pandey, Manan Ganguli, Priyanka Shukla, Monu Kuhar, Anuradha Talwar
*Maaysha Bharadwaj, Akshra Bhardwaj, Kaladas Dahariya, Ramakant Banjare, Shreya, Kavita Srivastav, Indira Chakravarti, Alok Shukla, Vaibhav Vaish, Madhur Bharatiya, VimalBhai, Priyanshu Gupta, Aparna Choudhary, Bijaya Chanda, AP Josy, Malini Subramania, K J Mukherjee, Smiti Sharma, Neelabh Dubey, Shikha Pandey, Manan Ganguli, Priyanka Shukla, Monu Kuhar, Anuradha Talwar
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