pc 15 aprile - Libertà per tutti i prigionieri politici in India

Rona Wilson

It is ironic that a man who is a leading member of the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP – based in India) is himself behind bars. Rona Wilson is charged under one of the most draconian of laws in India – Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Wilsonis a scholarfrom Delhi who was pursuing a PhD at Jawaharlal Nehru University JNUbefore he was arrested in June 2018. He holds the portfolio of Public Relations Secretary in CRPP. This essentially is an above-board organisation that acts as a watchdog on matters relating to people imprisoned for their political views and activities within the law of the land, but which the Indian State finds distasteful and/or objectionable. Such organisations are necessary in every democratic society that volunteers to keep a check on Government-Administration’s malpractices that escape the normal inbuilt checks and balances in most democratic countries. This is why similarorganisations like Amnesty International (AI) which seeks to expose injustices and campaigns for human rights are respected in most democratic countries. The work done by CRPP is similar to AI but more focussed on the political prisoners in India.

Prof. G N Saibaba

Rona Wilson and his CRPP team specialised in picking out such cases where a miscarriage of justice has occurred. They successfully campaigned for the release of Dr Binayak Sen, a physician and human rights activist, wrongfully arrested, sentenced to life imprisonment, for allegedly working with the CPI Maoist – a banned organisation in India. The campaign succeeded in securing Dr Binayak Sen’s release. The team also worked for the release of journalist Arun Ferreira, a democratic rights activist, arrested under UAPA on charges of sedition. Ferreirawas eventually released after 4 years and 8 months, cleared of all charges (only to be arrested again – see below).

Left to Right: Mahesh Raut, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen and Sudhir Dhawale

It is widely believed that Rona Wilson’s CRPP Team, with the legal brains of Surendra Gadling, a lawyer specialised in Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, were putting up a toughlegal battle to get the judgment on Prof Saibaba overturned. To scupper their efforts, the Indian Government played the often-used card of arrest based on totally fabricated charges. Rona Wilson and Surendra Gadling were labelled ‘Urban Naxalites’ and arrested in June 2018, under UAPA, along with Prof. Shoma Sen, Sudhir Dhawale and Mahesh Raut. All are known democratic rights activists, supporting the activities of CRPP. These activists were asking very awkward questions and raising very pertinent issues regarding denial of justice to Dalits, Adivasi, repression of women and persecution of those who spoke on their behalf. However, since questioning the Government is not against the law, the police concocted the story that these five people instigated the violence at Bhima Koregoan at the start of 2018. Even more bizarre is the allegation that they were conspiring to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Fabricated emails/letters were presented as evidence, said to have been found on computer belonging to Rona Wilson. This allowed the activist to be charged with the non-bailable cases and locked up in prison for an indefinite period. From behind bars, they are now having tofight a never-ending legal battle, against all odds, to prove they are innocent. It seems the norm of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ has disappeared from the Indian justice system.

Left to Right: Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha and Arun Ferreira