Political Prisoners in India: On the State’s Conspiratorial Lawsuits and Agencies
On 5 March 2024, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court acquitted Professor GN Saibaba, Hem Mishra, Prashant Rahi, Vijay Tirkey and Mahesh Tirkey of all charges against them. Pandu Narote, who was only 33 years old, died while in jail. In fact, this is a custodial murder, for which the concerned officials should…
On 5 March 2024, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court acquitted Professor GN Saibaba, Hem Mishra, Prashant Rahi, Vijay Tirkey and Mahesh Tirkey of all charges against them. Pandu Narote, who was only 33 years old, died while in jail. In fact, this is a custodial murder, for which the concerned officials should be prosecuted and punished. The extent of cruelty was such that the jail administration did not even get him treated when he was sick. Before he died, he was bleeding from his eyes and urine in the last days of his life.
Acquitting the other five accused, the High Court in its judgement remarked that “merely downloading communist or Naxalite literature from the Internet or having sympathy for communist philosophy is not a crime under UAPA.” In today’s era when any kind of disagreement with the government is criminalised, such a comment by the High Court holds great importance.
JNU student, political and cultural activist Hem Mishra, who was imprisoned in the Anda Cell along with Professor GN Saibaba in the same case, had already said in an interview given to a media portal named ‘Catch News’ when he came out on bail in 2015 before being acquitted that “believing in any ideology, even Maoism, is not a crime”. It took 10 years for the Bombay High Court to understand this.
It is noteworthy that the Bombay Court has acquitted all the people in this case for the second time. This is a wonderous case in the judicial history of India. Last year on 14 October 2022, the Mumbai High Court acquitted all the accused on the basis of technical irregularities committed by the police during the trial, which were also illegal. But the ghost of Maoism haunts the government so much that the Maharashtra government immediately appealed against this decision in the Supreme Court, after which the Supreme Court stayed the High Court’s decision in a special hearing and said that “as far as terrorist or Maoist activities are concerned, the brain is more dangerous and direct involvement is not necessary.” The Supreme Court, agreeing with the Maharashtra government, ordered that the trial be heard again not on the basis of technical flaws (even if they are illegal). On March 5, all the accused in this case were acquitted again on this basis. This proves that this entire case was not only fake, but it was also fabricated and run illegally. But unfortunately, no case will be filed against the police administration or the people responsible for it. This is the failure and limitation of this justice system.
The intention of the state and the police system engaged in its protection, the justice system behind running this case, has been exposed not once but many times during the entire trial. Hence, this case is an example. In 2017, the judge of the Gadchiroli Sessions Court, while sentencing all the accused including GN Saibaba to life imprisonment, said- “In my opinion, life imprisonment is not enough for the accused, (they should be hanged) but due to sections 18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the hands of the court are tied. In my opinion, this is a suitable case for punishment.” The judge further explained the reason for his hatred in this decision. Declaring GN Saibaba and others as an obstacle in the development of Gadchiroli district, he said- “Gadchiroli is still the same as it was in the year 1982. All the accused are responsible for this, they are members of the banned organization CPI Maoist’s frontal organization Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF), who did not allow foreign investment here, due to which it remained underdeveloped.”
This judgement clearly reveals the judge’s bias more than his knowledge of law, he did not refrain from ruling on this bias either, which is legally wrong. The development model in favor of which the judge was writing the judgment is such an anti-human model in which the plunder of natural resources, the genocide of tribals is considered right. While Professor GN Saibaba, Hem Mishra, Prashant Rahi, Vijay Tirkey, who exposed this model to the whole world, were given life imprisonment, according to the judge, this punishment was not enough for them because the hands of the judiciary were tied by the law, otherwise the professor and others with him could have been given death sentence. In fact, Professor GN Saibaba, Hem Mishra and other such people are not obstacles to development, rather they are the biggest obstacle in the plunder of resources being done by the domestic and foreign imperialist companies, protected and nurtured by the state. Till the time they were out of jail, they were continuously exposing the plunder of the tribal lands and all the precious resources found under it and the genocide of the tribals, which was being carried out through the state-sponsored “Operation Green Hunt”, in front of the whole country and the world. To continue this model of development based on plunder without any hindrance, many people like GN Saibaba have been put in jail so that the voice of protest can be silenced. Rupesh Kumar Singh, an independent journalist from Jharkhand, who was exposing this model of development through his reports, is also lodged in Bhagalpur jail today on charges of having links with the Maoists. In fact, this has become the story of not just one place but the whole country. The state police agencies – NIA, ATS etc. have all been put to the task of pursuing those who oppose this model of development, so that there is no hindrance to imperialist loot. The conspiracy of the Bhima Koregaon case is a perfect example of this, under which those who speak, write and speak against this model of development are in jail, and those who are outside have been threatened with the same fate. The Bhima Koregaon government conspiracy has become an example of state repression all over the world, on which books are being written, articles are being written and appeals are being issued, but the government is not paying any heed.
Preparations Underway to Fabricate another Bhima Koregaon Case in Uttar Pradesh
After the Maoist connection case of GN Saibaba and the conspiracy of the Bhima Koregaon case, NIA and ATS are making the Bhima Koregaon case a model in many places across the country and harassing those who disagree with the government by filing cases against them and raiding their homes. A day before the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, political activist Prabha alias Anita Azad in Uttar Pradesh had a miscarriage in jail. It would be more appropriate to say that her health condition was deliberately ignored leading to the traumatic and cruel incident. These are some of the most brutal methods of suppressing dissent, which continue even after being sent to jail. Their sole purpose is to torture those who disagree with the government, physically and mentally, in such a way that new voices stop rising. The amount of anger and resentment that should have been seen in civil society over the murder of Anita’s child did not emerge. It is an important fact that despite Anita stating her medical condition, the ATS brought her from her mother’s house in Raipur to Lucknow. During her appearance in the Lucknow Special Court, she also stated her medical condition. 10 days before the miscarriage, the Lucknow Special Court rejected Anita’s bail plea filed on medical grounds, while it was also mentioned that she had already had a miscarriage a few months ago. This is her second miscarriage in a year. Anita and Brijesh, who are farmers and political activists, were accused on 18 October 2023 in a case registered in 2019 by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS). They were called for questioning in this case in 2019, then they were released. The ATS says that they have been arrested on the basis of the forensic investigation report of the electronic devices that were seized during the raid at their house 4 years ago in 2019. ATS says that both of them were working for the Maoist party by forming organizations like ‘Mazdoor Kisan Ekta Manch’ and ‘Savitribai Phule Sangharsh Samiti’. It said that the couple was propagating Maoist and anti-national ideology by forming these two organizations. It is evident from the very name of the organizations that talking about unity of workers and farmers and spreading the ideas of Savitribai Phule is not an anti-national activity in any way.
The Uttar Pradesh ATS did not stop here. On March 5, the day Professor GN Saibaba was acquitted of the charges, the advocate Kripa Shankar, who fought the couple’s case, and his wife Binda, a typist in the High Court, were arrested by the ATS in the same case, calling them Maoists. This clearly shows the State’s intention that the narrative of ‘urban Naxal’ or ‘over ground worker’ of the Maoists should continue to spread in the society. In fact, Kripa Shankar is a human rights lawyer from Uttar Pradesh, who was practicing law in the Allahabad High Court of Uttar Pradesh and is fighting in court against the state repression on the people. The important thing about Kripa Shankar is that he was preparing himself by studying specifically on repressive laws like UAPA to understand them. He was developing as a UAPA specialist lawyer, but he himself has been implicated under this law and sent to jail. The condition of both Kripa Shankar and Surendra Gadling, who is in jail in the Bhima Koregaon case, is exactly the same today. Both are paying the price of their legal battle by going to jail. This is what happened with Surendra Gadling 6 years ago, who paid the price of fighting legal battles for GN Saibaba and many others by going to jail. Today, Kripa Shankar is paying the same price for protecting democratic rights.
For the last one year, preparations are going on in full swing to make another Bhima Koregaon case in Uttar Pradesh. NIA is continuously raiding the houses of students, political activists, human rights activists, lawyers and a false story is being fabricated like ‘Elgar Parishad’. This time the story is not about a conspiracy to assassinate the Prime Minister, but that Maoists are spreading their feet in North India. These people are ‘over ground workers’ of the Maoist party. ‘Over ground workers’ is part of the new terminology of the Indian Brahminist Hindutva fascist state which is an extension of ‘urban Naxal’. NIA says that efforts are being made to revive the work of the Maoist party in the Hindi belt of North India. Based on this story, the NIA is conducting raids at various places so that democratic voices can be crushed in the name of Maoism. A clear picture of this can be seen in the press statement issued by the NIA recently, in which they said that the NIA has been moving aggressively in recent months to thwart the nefarious plans of the Maoist organization. Many Hindi newspapers have played an important role in spreading this propaganda. Such newspapers are one step ahead of an agency like the NIA in spreading this state-sponsored propaganda without any facts and references at different times for the last several years.
Use of UAPA as an Everyday Criminal Law
Telangana has a brutal history of state repression in dealing with democratic rights movements. In the past, the police in connivance with intelligence agencies have openly killed many democratic rights activists in fake encounters. In the last one year, Telangana has seen a surprising number of FIRs implicating more than 140 civil society and mass organization leaders in UAPA cases. Many people have even been booked under three to four UAPA cases. The truth of these FIRs is revealed by the fact that it also contains the names of many people who have died many years ago.
Like the Bhima Koregaon case, where the NIA used some suspicious letters allegedly plotting to assassinate the Prime Minister of India to fabricate fake cases against well-known activists and intellectuals across the country. On the same lines, a new story was fabricated in Telangana. Through the Godi media, a narrative was created that a diary was found with the arrested Maoist leader, which contains many important information as well as the names of these activists.
Based on this, raids were conducted on the houses of various lawyers, students, journalists, professors and democratic rights activists and the same story was repeated. The NIA uses many such fake diaries as a toolkit across India to implicate various activists in false cases.
Minorities under Target
The ideology of Maoism attacks the very system on which relations in current society are based, so we can still understand why it is under the target of the current system, but the scope of repression has gone far beyond this. In this system, those who advocate democratic reforms are also under attack. When the Citizenship Act was implemented in 2019, the ‘Delhi Riot Conspiracy’ case was fabricated, targeting not just leaders, but even those who were vocal in opposition to it and only supported the movement. What is even more saddening is that students / youth were arrested and put in jail, most of whom have not been able to come out even after 4 years. The government could not even tolerate the ‘Pinjra Tod’ movement fighting with the demand of increasing the timing of girls’ hostel. Taking revenge on everyone, the ‘Delhi Riot’ case was fabricated and many students, activists, and ordinary Muslims were sent to jail. Whereas those who instigated the Delhi riots, those who gave the statement of ‘Goli Maaro Saalon Ko’ have been awarded the post of minister in the government. The Delhi riots case is fabricated specifically against minorities and women, and even here the government is making every effort to deny bail. The ‘Delhi riots’ case is a representative case of the cases filed against minorities today, and there are many such cases across the country that are fabricated on a large scale to label them as ‘terrorists’ and ‘anti-nationals’.
In colonial times, the state fabricated cases like the Meerut Conspiracy and the Lahore Conspiracy to suppress the movement of people fighting against colonial exploitation and oppression, so that people of the revolutionary stream could be crushed. In the present times, we are seeing that the Brahminical Hindutva fascist BJP-RSS government, taking a cue from its colonial masters, is using the same tactics to suppress those who raise their voices against exploitation and oppression of the people as well as the plunder of the country’s resources by foreign and domestic corporations.
NIA aka National ‘Implicating’ Agency
NIA is at the forefront of suppression of democratic rights today. Since its formation, it has implicated many socio-political activists as well as common people from different parts of the country in terrorism related cases, who were later acquitted. Most of the charges against them were proved false. There is no better agency than NIA in fabricating false stories today. A common story has been fabricated in cases related to Maoist links, which is seen in every press release of theirs. They say that they have arrested a ‘dreaded Naxalite’ who is a politburo member or a member of the central committee of the Maoist party. In the last two years, NIA has arrested so many people on the basis of this story, that there are probably more people than would constitute the central committee members of any political party, let alone a Maoist party.
After that, raids start at the residences of various activists in that state or the border states around it, and nowadays, going beyond that, across the country. Raids are conducted on the basis that a list of names of the above mentioned people has been found with the ‘dreaded Naxal’ who has been caught. Today, ‘dreaded Naxal’ and the voice of protest both come in the same category. If today, a person near you is arrested on the charge of being a Maoist, then understand that preparations have been made to suppress the civil society or any kind of voice of protest in that area. Today, instead of being a National Investigation Agency, NIA has become an agency that traps people in false charges, which is arresting people in the name of being a ‘terrorist’, ‘Maoist’ or the most popular ‘overground worker’ these days, to suppress the voice of dissent and creating an atmosphere of terror among the public.
From a Small Jail to a Big Jail
Speaking at a press conference in Delhi after coming out of jail, Hem Mishra said that circumstances have changed a lot after staying in jail for so many years and then coming out now. Importantly at the conference, he said that he has come back from a small jail to a “big jail” whose scope is nationwide, where the terror of repression is widespread and the punishment for dissent is jail.
This can be understood even better in the most important Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case till date. In this case, 16 famous political-social activists were implicated in a fake case and sent to jail under UAPA. The trial of this case, arrests under which started in 2018, has not started yet. So far only seven people have got bail in this fake case. In this case, the basic principle of justice ‘bail is the rule, jail is the exception’ has been reversed and ‘jail is the rule, bail is the exception’ has been applied. If we read the bail conditions of those who have been granted bail, we find that they have been taken out of a small jail and stuffed in a big jail. In these conditions, the fundamental right to privacy is being violated by the judiciary itself. Shoma Sen, who was the head of the English department in Nagpur University, has recently been granted bail. She was in jail for the last 6 years. Her bail conditions are as follows-
1) Shoma will surrender her passport and will not go anywhere outside Maharashtra.
2) She will inform the NIA about her residence.
3) She will tell her phone number to the NIA, will keep it active and the GPS of the mobile should always be active. Her mobile should always be connected to the NIA officer so that her location can be traced.
All these conditions are there when the judge has said on the basis of granting bail that there is no prima facie evidence against her.
Writer and human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, who is an accused in this case, has been put under house arrest in Mumbai since November 2022 due to ill health after being imprisoned for four years. To top it all, the NIA recently demanded Rs 1.64 crore from him for the expenses incurred in his security during house arrest. These two examples make it clear that the scope of freedom has become so narrow that there is not much difference between the world inside the jail and the world outside the jail. In this era of undeclared emergency and fascism, the Indian state is suppressing the intellectuals as well as the general public with the help of draconian laws. To understand and expose the narratives created by the NIA and other agencies about Maoism and terrorism, it is important to know and expose the facts related to these cases, of course this is also a crime in their eyes.
by Deepak Kumar, member of Campaign Against State Repression
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