The
end of World War II saw a renewed scramble for the world market led by US
imperialism which displaced the suzerainty of British domination of the world
economy in their relentless search for surplus maximisation—a ceaseless demand
of imperialist capital. While direct subjugation of the colonies made way to
indirect forms of domination and exploitation resulting in the transfer of power
to the local representatives of imperialist capital in many erstwhile colonies,
the emerging structures of governance/control had to keep in mind the growing
resentment of the peoples of the world against colonial rule. The emergence of
the state in erstwhile colonies after World War II had the image of imperialist
domination and oppression subsumed in it as many a repressive, draconian law of
colonial vintage found its proper place in the newly made constitution and legal
apparatus of these countries. The trajectory of state building and the rule of
law were very much imbued in the image of imperialism, the insatiable needs of
moribund capital which had its able representatives in the political and
business elite of many of these countries of which the scenario in South Asia
was little different.
Post-1947 India witnessed draconian laws of colonial vintage being
reinvented and selectively used with impunity against people who are raising
their democratic aspirations, right to livelihood, for a dignified existence,
for their right to self-determination. The old repressive machinery of the colonial state
with its Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, the Police Act of 1861,
Defence of India Rules, Preventive Detention Acts, not to speak of the Land
Acquisition Act of 1894 which empowers the central and state governments of
supposedly independent India to acquire land by advancing the pretext of
‘eminent domain’, ‘public purpose’ etc, and many others were perfected over the
years by the ruling classes to inflict ever more misery on the people.
The Preventive Detention Act,
Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) that were used by the British came handy
for the new ruling class as it was used in the North East and Kashmir. Later the
North East also saw the imposition of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act
(UAPA) (1967) which was copied from the Armed Forces Special Powers Ordinance
brought by the British in 1942. Today the same law has been revamped with more
teeth and implemented. Since the 1950s till date every draconian law that
received the gravest wrath of the masses of the people was then rehashed into
another law with yet stringent clauses. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that
the present UAPA is in a way a clever rehashing of the old MISA, NSA, TADA, POTA
etc. rolled into one made more stringent with the worst kind of clauses to
stifle all forms of dissent. State-wise enactment of laws equivalent to the UAPA
has also been undertaken. Further there is a concerted effort to form the
notorious National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) along with the already
constituted National Investigating Agency (NIA) which once made fully
operational can give unrestrained powers to the centre to intervene in the day
to day affairs of any region, thereby completely exposing the hollowness of the
federal union that is India.
As a
reflection of the imminent need of moribund capital to maintain the level of
profit we see the aggressive implementation of the policies of Liberalisation,
Privatisation and Globalisation (LPG) by successive governments in India since
1991 inflicting massive impoverisation of vast sections of the people in the
subcontinent. Rural economies—which have traditionally been the employment and
livelihood provider for more than 70 percent of the population—have been
stagnant with lesser and lesser opportunities. The agrarian economy is facing
the worst ever stagnation with little support from the government. In fact the
state has over the last decade steadily reduced its expenditure in the agrarian
economy which has aggravated the situation from bad to worse. Every day we hear
the tell tale stories of suicide deaths of debt-ridden peasants while there are
many untold stories of social boycott of Dalits, the systematic arson of their
households let alone rape and murder. The beginning of the 21st
century has brought forth the worsening character of this moribund
capital—deeply enmeshed in the worst ever economic crisis since the days of
Great Depression of the 1930s—creating havoc in the Indian subcontinent thus sharpening
the contradictions among the ruling classes.
Today
the subcontinent is witness to a wave of people’s movements such as those for
the right to life and livelihood, against displacement, anti-feudal anti-caste
movements, movements based on land, nationality movements, anti-nuclear,
anti-dam movements etc. These movements directly or indirectly
oppose the pro-imperialist policies of ‘Liberalization, Privatization and
Globalization’. In this scenario the so-called ‘war against terror’ has become a
convenient tool to criminally profile the rising voices of dissent, especially
the Muslim community the majority of whom live in abysmal poverty and
discrimination. We saw in a series of sensational bomb blast cases Muslim youths
being incarcerated under trumped up charges. The sensation-driven media cooked
up the plot with incriminating media trials even before the law took cognisance
of the cases. Thus even before the person gets a chance to defend
himself/herself before the court of law they are tried several times by a
considerable section of the jingoist-communal media. Many of the Muslim youth
from UP, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamilnadu, Maharashtra, Rajasthan have
become cannon fodder for the so-called ‘war against terror’ of the state as
alleged members of proscribed organisations the existence of which are never
proved. The Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) has been banned till date
and the state is yet to prove a cogent case before the tribunal about the
veracity of the ban as many of the charges on this organisation have fallen
flat. The Hindu communal elements as well as the parliamentary parties in
Kerala/Karnataka including the CPM have stoked the flames of communalism under
the garb of ‘love jihad’ to criminally profile the Muslim youth. Kashmiri
Muslims are easy targets for the grist mill of the ‘war against terror’ as it is
common sense to accept the incarceration or fake encounter of a Kashmiri youth
in the Indian subcontinent. There are numerous undeclared detention/torture
centres in Jammu & Kashmir. The Srinagar Bar Association and the leaders of
various people’s movements in Kashmir have time and again highlighted the plight
of the Kashmiri Muslim prisoners kept in various jails in Jammu. These
prisoners-mostly under-trials, are subjected to the worst kinds of treatment.
The North East also is witnessing the increasing incarceration of people as the
protests against mega-dams are on the rise in this region. A large number of
people who have been raising the demand for the Right to Self-Determination are
being imprisoned for years together with Manipuris, Nagas and Assamese being
specific targets. Besides, scores of Sikhs, Kamtapuris, Bodos, Dimasas, Eelam Tamils, and till recently,
even Burmese freedom fighters find themselves behind bars for years together
being treated like the worst of criminals. Even the elderly among them who are
suffering from various ailments are not considered for bail on health grounds.
Manmohan Singh the prime minister of India has already made it clear
that with evident signs of a perilously slow economy of the
subcontinent—aggravated by the tightening grip of imperialism riddled with the
worst global economic crisis—all aspects of development should henceforth be
considered a national security issue. Thus any dissent against the full fledged
implementation of the pro-imperialist policies of
Liberalisation-Privatisation-Globalisation will be considered anti-development
and hence ‘anti-national’, and also might be branded as ‘seditious’. As an
extension of the same approach the Chhattisgarh government have further
criminalised the Adivasi life of Bastar region by declaring unlawful their
carrying of traditional weapons. Already criminalised under various laws, the
direct fallout is that a large
number of these adivasis are being implicated in serious cases. Thousands of
ordinary villagers are routinely picked up during search operations,
incarcerated with impunity by security personnel having scant regard for legal
procedure. Most of them implicated under “Naxal Offence” are not produced in the
courts for long periods of time, on the pretext of non-availability of
“sufficient police guards”. Hence the trial does not proceed for years together.
Out of economic difficulty and for fear of harassment, family members of the
under-trials are unable to visit them in jail thus making them even more
vulnerable. The adivasi “Naxal undertrials” are only kept in Central Jails. In
many cases in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Jungal Mahal they are put in far away
jails with maximum security so much so that their regular production in court
becomes impossible. In these regions, the prisoners have petitioned the higher
courts, all of which proved to be futile. Most of the adivasi under-trials are
dependent on government legal-aid-lawyers who more often than not never go to
meet the client or seek instructions regarding the case. Often they are amenable
to pressures from the police or prosecution. Seldom do the courts have official
interpreters/ translators to enable the adivasi communicate in their own
language. The plight of the Dalits and other oppressed sections is no different.
As the state gets desperate to stifle the voices of dissent, more and more human
rights defenders, journalists, cultural activists are coming under the
cross-hairs of its repressive machine such as the Kabir Kala Manch, Jeetan
Marandi, Utpal, Sudhir Dhawle, Abdul Nasser Maudany, Lingaram Kodopi, Qasim
Mohammad Fakhtoo, Anthony Shimray, Dayamani Barla, Dr. Sunilam, Medha
Patkar...The list goes on and appears to be endless. Last but not the least, thousands of
Maoists and people sympathetic to their cause also has been put behind bars with
several false cases tagged to them. The conditions of women political prisoners
are worse with many of them not even lodged in special barracks, devoid of
health care facilities, without charge sheets filed against them and not even
being produced before the court. Several political prisoners immediately after
being granted bail or while acquitted are rearrested with fresh charges right
before the prison from where they are released.
It is
evident from the way the state indulges in desperate acts to silence all forms
of dissent that it is the worst violator of the law and constitution of the
‘land of the largest democracy of the world’. It is also obvious that all
arrests in matters of political dissent are political in nature and the state
machinery is indulging in all these illegal, authoritarian and fascist acts with
impunity under the umbrella of the worst kind of draconian laws to ensure that
the political prisoner remains within the prison for life.
1. Repeal all Draconian Laws
including AFSPA and UAPA.
2. All arrested on political
grounds should be recognized as Political Prisoners.
3. Release all Political
Prisoners unconditionally.
4. Remove all Armed
Forces.
COMMITTEE FOR THE RELEASE OF POLITICAL
PRISONERS
Contact: 9810081228, 9810149990, thearrested1@gmail.com
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