'There are many people languishing in jail under these draconian laws, where it takes them 10 years, 15 years, to finally be acquitted.' 'And, who is going to account for those years?' 'The home ministry's statistics says that between 2016 and 2019, the conviction rate (under UAPA) is only 2 per cent and the use of UAPA has increased by more than 70 per cent.' 'There are many people languishing in jail under these draconian laws, where it takes them 10 years, 15 years, to finally be acquitted.'
'Who is going to account for those years?'
'The home ministry's statistics says that between 2016 and 2019, the conviction rate (under UAPA) is only 2 per cent and the use of UAPA has increased by more than 70 per cent.' 'The government statistics itself is so revealing what the purpose of this law (UAPA) is.'
The crushing of Hong Kong's long-held spirit of democracy by a tyrannnical regime is a warning of the dangers and threat from autocrats to all who believe in the spirit of true democracy.
From technical glitches to alleged unfair normalisation procedure, thousands of students hold the Directorate of Technical Education responsible for 'playing with their careers.'
In his letter to the vice-chancellor of JNU, Bhaduri expressed pain at throttling of dissent by the university administration. He alleged a 'deliberate attempt to throttle the free and lively atmosphere of debate and discussion'.
'The protests have forced the government to announce that the NRC is not an immediate priority.' 'Even if they are trying to pursue this policy in a different guise, through the NPR, the fact that they have been forced to pause and backtrack at least temporarily shows the positive impact of the protests.' 'Moreover, various state governments have opposed the NPR which cannot be carried out without their cooperation. That is also a success of the protests.' 'The state governments would not have taken this stance against the central government if their hand had not been forced by the popular mood.'
Arrested in September 2019 by the Delhi police for making 'provocative statements' when Donald J Trump was on his visit to India, Dr Umar Khalid has now spent three years in jail without being convicted of an offence, points out Aakar Patel.
Several videos have emerged on social media which showcased people chanting slogans against restrictions imposed by the Chinese government to curb the spread of Covid.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar condemned the violence at the Jawaharlal Nehru University and said that it was a "disturbing and fascist strike" by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The raids, taking place mainly in South India, was termed by the NIA as the 'largest ever' investigation process 'till date'.
Over 400 students from different US universities have expressed solidarity with Jamia and AMU students. The students and scholars at Oxford University staged a protest march against the CAA.
'Laws have been used in a way to serve the needs of the current regime and its authoritarian ideology.'
Congress leaders expressed their solidarity with 21-year-old climate activist from Bengaluru Disha Ravi, who was arrested by Delhi Police for allegedly editing and disseminating the "toolkit" on social media and sent to five days police custody.
The apex court had earlier expressed its displeasure over the high court discussing the entire anti-terror law UAPA in a bail matter and made it clear that the judgements shall not be treated as a precedent and may not be relied upon by any of the parties in any of the proceedings.
Bhushan, who deposited the fine with the apex court Registry over his two tweets seen as contempt of court, said that he has received contributions from several corners of the country for paying the fine, and a 'truth fund' will be created out of such contributions to provide legal aid to those who are prosecuted for dissenting opinions.
Hany Babu Musaliyarveettil Tharayil, 54, a resident of Gautam Buddha Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, is an associate professor in the Department of English
The Congress needs to reorganise itself at the grassroots, infuse younger blood, and have more boots on the ground. Just offering freebies is not the answer anymore. Leadership matters, asserts Ramesh Menon.
In the last ten years, 96 per cent of the sedition cases against 405 individuals pertained to making critical remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, points out Ramesh Menon, author, Modi Demystified: The Making Of A Prime Minister.
Vijayan met Ghosh at Kerala House in New Delhi, expressed solidarity with their protest and also gifted her a book, 'Halla Bol: The Death and Life of Safdar Hashmi' by Sudhanva Deshpande. Ghosh had suffered head injuries during the January 5 attack on JNU students in the campus by a group of masked assailants.
Amidst raging protests across the country against the Citizenship Amendment Act, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government of showing "utter disregard" for people's voices and using brute force to suppress dissent that was "unacceptable" in a democracy. Condemning the government's action, she expressed Congress's solidarity with students and citizens in their just struggle.
Modi, who addressed a public meeting in Hyderabad after laying foundation stone and inaugurating several development projects, also said the lack of cooperation from the state government is leading to delay in the completion of several central projects in Telangana.
On February 14, students from IIT-Delhi, Patna and Roorkee expressed dissent over the HRD ministry's latest announcement to scrap JEE and AIEEE for ISEET since 2013.
She has been booked under the anti-terror law in a case related to communal violence in northeast Delhi in February. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana granted the interim relief from June 10 to June 19 to Jahan on furnishing two sureties of Rs 1 lakh.
The SC, however, rejected NIA's request for immediate stay to the order.
After 10 teachers and a group of students were attacked on Monday in Patiala House court complex where Kanhaiya was produced on Monday, the teachers association decided to join the students in boycotting classes.
The raids, as per official sources, began at 3:30 am and involved as many as 300 NIA officials from across its various offices.
After a dream debut seven years ago when he was sworn in as deputy chief minister after being elected MLA for the first time was followed by a slump in his political fortunes, Tejashwi Yadav has finally come back to center-stage as the kingmaker and deputy to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
'Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal are the two people who have been marked and punished'
Strengthening the party's communication strategy to improve public engagement is foremost on the Congress agenda after Rahul Gandhi had stressed that they "have to go back to the people" at the Udaipur meeting.
"The ruling establishment seems to have lost all sense of balance, and of proportion. It appears determined to undermine all democratic norms. It seems hell-bent to destroy the spirit of inquiry, the spirit of questioning, the spirit of debate and dissent, said the Congress president.
'It was more than ego.' 'It carried with it a sincere belief that he was the quintessence of the country, that the country's destiny was irrevocably intertwined with his destiny.' An excerpt from T J S George's The Dismantling of India: In 35 Portraits.
Scores of volunteers belonging to the leftist of Democratic Youth Federation of India were detained on Saturday after they tried to stage a road blockade outside the Indian Institute of Technology Madras to protest the derecognition of a students' group for allegedly criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, even as some political parties expressed concern over 'threats' to freedom of expression.
Amid growing demands for his resignation, Kumar told the MHRD officials that efforts were being made to facilitate semester registration for 'willing' students.
His spine, his heart, his pancreas -- one by one, all his organs have weakened, given the lack of medical treatment in jail, where he is kept in the notorious Anda cell. Continuous pain, frequent fainting spells, urinary problems, have all become part of his life.
The 48-second video purportedly shows some seven to eight paramilitary and police personnel entering the Old Reading Hall and beating students with lathis.
In a public show of dissent, the 'G-23' leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Kapil Sibal, who have been pressing for a leadership change and organisational overhaul in the Congress, gathered on one stage in Jammu on Saturday, saying the party is weakening and they have come together to strengthen it.
"The situation has become irretrievable", Azad, 73, said in his parting shot to Sonia Gandhi, whose trusted confidante he remained right from the time of Sitaram Kesri's unceremonious exit as the party's chief in 2000.
Poland, which has long been critical of Lukashenko and harboured many activists from Belarus, has granted her and her husband humanitarian visas.
Bengaluru police had slapped sedition charges against Amnesty after an event it had organised on allegations of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the operation of sedition law, and ruled that all pending cases, appeals and proceedings with respect to charges framed for sedition should be kept in abeyance.
According to sources, Gandhi himself is taking stock of poll preparedness by talking to leaders and listening to their views for poll strategy.
