In a now predictable script--in the limitless witch hunt of leftist activists in India--the National Investigation Agency (inquiring into the Bhima Koregaon case in Maharashtra) has arrested Delhi University professor Hany Babu (Musaliyarveettil Tharayil) on Tuesday July 23rd 2020.

Babu is the 12th person to be arrested in the Elgar Parishad case. Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sen, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Arun Ferreira, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Vernon Gonsalves, Varavara Rao, Anand Teltumbde, and Gautam Navlakha were arrested earlier in the same case and all are in jail.

Recent arrests have been timed to weaponize the Covid19 pandemic rampant in Indian jails, to imperil the health and life of those who criticize the Indian state's  most sensitive crimes. All the accused are respected academics, journalists, activists, and public intellectuals. The draconian black laws under which they have been accused, such as the Orwellian "Unlawful Activities Prevention Act" (UAPA), are incompatible with any conception of democracy. 

This de facto extra-legal imprisonment amounts to torture, most immediately in the case of the aged, and disabled, such as poet Varvara Rao recently diagnosed with Covid19, and being refused life-saving medical treatment. 

In a sneak preview of current events, the severely disabled Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba was arrested in 2013 based on a similar "secret folder" found on a seized hard-drive. Saibaba was ultimately sentenced to life-imprisonment along with four co-accused: Prashant Rahi, Hem Mishra, Pandu Pora Narote, and Mahesh Kareman Tirki. A fifth, Vijay Tirki, was sentenced to 10-years imprisonment. 

Saibaba's health has been devastated by the inhuman prison conditions. The UN OHCHR called for Saibaba's immediate release in 2018.  

The weaponization of a broken justice system, a pandemic, a disability, to inflict severe physical and mental harm, and potentially even death, is the first-resort of a government whose case against the accused (and sentenced) has absolutely no evidentiary basis. History will judge the masterminds of this inquisition as the true "anti-nationals".

We the undersigned call for the unconditional release of these political prisoners.

Free Hany Babu! 

Free Sudha Bharadwaj!  Free Shoma Sen! Free Surendra Gadling! Free Mahesh Raut! Free Arun Ferreira! Free Sudhir Dhawale! Free Rona Wilson! Free Vernon Gonsalves! Free Varavara Rao! Free Anand Teltumbde! Free Gautam Navlakha! Free GN Saibaba! Free Prashant Rahi! Free Hem Mishra! Free Pandu Pora Narote! Free Mahesh Kareman Tirki! Free Vijay Tirki!