Educationist, popular historian Sohail Hashmi targeted under oppressive UAPA

Statement in support of veteran cultural activist Sohail Hashmi, whose house was raided in Delhi along with that of several senior journalists on October 3 morning, endorsed by nearly 600 individuals:

***

We the undersigned strongly condemn the Delhi police special cell action against journalists including Urmilesh, Abhisar Sharma, Bhasha Singh, Githa Hariharan, Aunindyo Chakravarthy, Sumedha Pal, D Raghunandan, Sanjay Rajaura, Aditi Nigam and several others. Along with these names we would like to register our condemnation on the harassment of Mr. Sohail Hashmi.
Around 6 am on 3rd October 2023 Delhi police special cell raided Sohail Hashmi’s house, in the Newsclick case which is now being investigated under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). His family was harassed in early morning commotion where police personnel barged into his house, including his and his daughter’s bedroom. The cops have eventually seized his personal computer, hard disc along with the flash drives – all containing significant files of his work life. This raid in the name of law was one among many similar such attacks carried out by the special cell in the NCR today, where scores of journalists, intellectuals and activists have been questioned – while some have been taken for further questioning – and their personal works have been seized.
We the strongly condemned this outrageously fiendish act of the government whereby they are hellbent to stifle every dissenting voice with vicious impunity.
We of course not be silenced by such intimidating tactics of the government where an educationist, film maker, a popular historian, a person committed to the secular fabric of the country like Sohail Hashmi is being targeted in an investigation under oppressive UAPA. The law which is infamous for wilfully targeting the members of minority community in its brief history of tyrannical operation is well documented by now. We would like to put it on record that Sohail Hashmi’s work, if it’s about anything, it is about cherishing and preserving India’s unique composite culture and its intellectual history. His work among children and on inculcating the conserving ethics about our shared history and heritage doesn’t require any further introduction. We are particularly appalled at the behaviour met to senior citizens like Sohail Hashmi, and numerous others whose houses have been raided today and were treated like criminals.
We would like to emphasise that the investigation now being made under UAPA should desist from framing innocent citizens exercising their constitutional right. We appeal all to come together in strengthening the hands of journalists, and intellectuals in such dire times and call out the wretched tactics of the government of the day in one voice.
---
Click here for those who have endorsed the statement

Comments

US govt funding 'dubious PR firm' to discredit anti-GM, anti-pesticide activists

By Our Representative The Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA) has vocally condemned the financial support provided by the US Government to questionable public relations firms aimed at undermining the efforts of activists opposed to pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in India.

Modi govt distancing from Adanis? MoEFCC 'defers' 1500 MW project in Western Ghats

By Rajiv Shah Is the Narendra Modi government, in its third but what would appear to be a weaker avatar, seeking to show that it would keep a distance, albeit temporarily, from its most favorite business house, the Adanis? It would seem so if the latest move of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) latest to "defer" the Adani Energy’s application for 1500 MW Warasgaon-Warangi Pump Storage Project is any indication.

Bayer's business model: 'Monopoly control over chemicals, seeds'

By Bharat Dogra* The Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) has rendered a great public service by very recently publishing a report titled ‘Bayer’s Toxic Trails’ which reveals how the German agrochemical giant Bayer has been lobbying hard to promote glyphosate and GMOs, or trying to “capture public policy to pursue its private interests.” This report, written by Joao Camargo and Hans Van Scharen, follows Bayer’s toxic trail as “it maintains monopolistic control of the seed and pesticides markets, fights off regulatory challenges to its toxic products, tries to limit legal liability, and exercises political influence.”

Militants, with ten times number of arms compared to those in J&K, 'roaming freely' in Manipur

By Sandeep Pandey* The violence which shows no sign of abating in the ongoing Meitei-Kuki conflict in Manipur is a matter of concern. The alienation of the two communities and hatred generated for each other is unprecedented. The Meiteis cannot leave Manipur by road because the next district North on the way to Kohima in Nagaland is Kangpokpi, a Kuki dominated area where the young Kuki men and women are guarding the district borders and would not let any Meitei pass through the national highway.

105,000 sign protest petition, allege Nestlé’s 'double standard' over added sugar in baby food

By Kritischer Konsum* 105,000 people have signed a petition calling on Nestlé to stop adding sugar to its baby food products marketed in lower-income countries. It was handed over today at the multinational’s headquarters in Vevey, where the NGOs Public Eye, IBFAN and EKO dumped the symbolic equivalent of 10 million sugar cubes, representing the added sugar consumed each day by babies fed with Cerelac cereals. In Switzerland, such products are sold with no added sugar. The leading baby food corporation must put an end to this harmful double standard.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded reaction in the form of a link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Can voting truly resolve the Kashmir issue? Past experience suggests optimism may be misplaced

By Raqif Makhdoomi* In the politically charged atmosphere of Jammu and Kashmir, election slogans resonated deeply: "Jail Ka Badla, Vote Sa" (Jail’s Revenge, Vote) and "Article 370 Ka Badla, Vote Sa" (Article 370’s Revenge, Vote). These catchphrases dominated the assembly election campaigns, particularly across Kashmir.

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.

Will Bangladesh go Egypt way, where military ruler is in power for a decade?

By Vijay Prashad* The day after former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka, I was on the phone with a friend who had spent some time on the streets that day. He told me about the atmosphere in Dhaka, how people with little previous political experience had joined in the large protests alongside the students—who seemed to be leading the agitation. I asked him about the political infrastructure of the students and about their political orientation. He said that the protests seemed well-organized and that the students had escalated their demands from an end to certain quotas for government jobs to an end to the government of Sheikh Hasina. Even hours before she left the country, it did not seem that this would be the outcome.

Search This Blog