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Two days before the Prime Minister's announcement imposing the sudden nationwide Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020, Bilal Chero* stepped out of prison for the first time in eleven years. He had been arrested in 2009 on what is commonly called in Jharkhand as 'Maobadi charges'.
Before his arrest he was just another villager subsisting by farming on his patch of land in a forested region in West Singhbhum, an area where the "party waale" [CPI (Maoist)] would come and go. "They were armed. If we didn't give them food and water, they'd kill us, you know?"
Suddenly he was informed that there was a "Naxali" case against him, and he was arrested on 22 charges including the #UAPA and Section 17 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act (association w a banned party). Meanwhile his wife & brother were killed in a security sweep of the region.
1: Amid the spread of #COVID19, the Supreme Court of India’s order directing the arrest and imprisonment of two human rights defenders, #AnandTeltumbde and #GautamNavlakha within a week, is disappointing.
amnesty.org.in/news-update/in…
amnesty.org.in/news-update/in…
2: On one hand, the court acknowledges that overcrowded prisons present a serious threat and recommends the release of prisoners during the pandemic and then it directs 2 activists who have been critical of the government to surrender before the police and to be sent to jail.
3: Both Navlakha & Teltumbde are above 65 years old & have underlying heart ailments. The 2 activists are charged under a draconian counter-terrorism law that has repeatedly been used to silence government critics.
