Indian political prisoners in poor health lose family COVID | Coronavirus pandemic News

“Suppose my daughter has to be in prison for a long time and the time will come when she will not be able to see me. I’m getting older, maybe I won’t see it. “

Mahavir Singh Narwal said in November last year that his voice cracked.

When the second hard wave of the coronavirus pandemic began in India, the 71-year-old retired teacher was unable to meet her only daughter Natasha, one of India’s many political prisoners.

Narwal died on Sunday – waiting for his daughter to be released from prison in the New Delhi capital – after being hired by COVID-19 and hospitalized in the northern state of Haryana.

As her father’s condition at the hospital worsened, Natasha presented a guarantee to demand her freedom to care for her sick father. But it was too late.

A day after Narwal’s death, the court granted the 32-year-old activist a three-week provisional bail, saying it was “essential” to allow his father to be cremated.

The last of Natasha Narwal #hello his father Mahavir Narwal pic.twitter.com/MxEncUBzdG

– Charmy Harikrishnan charm ഹരികൃഷ്ണൻ (charmyh) May 11, 2021

Natasha, 32, is among dozens of activists jailed last year under the Illegal Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), a strict anti-terrorism law that allows for up to 180 days in prison without charge, despite outrage from rights groups and international organizations.

Activists have been accused of “conspiracy” to create religious riots after Prime Minister Narendra Modi staged protests against the controversial Citizenship Change Act (CAA) passed by the Narendra Modi government in 2019.

At least 50 people, most of them Muslims, were killed in one-day violence in protests against the CAA in February last year in the north-east of the capital.

Hundreds of people, including university students, rights activists, academics and journalists, were arrested when the Hindu nationalist government maintained dissent across the country, as well as a deadly pandemic.

It is certainly the darkest hour of the trip to the Republic of India. Democracy has never been so fragile.

Harsh Mander, prominent activist

Fearing the onset of viral disease in crowded prisons, activists and rights groups are calling for the release of political prisoners in India, some of whom are 70-80 years old and therefore vulnerable to infections.

But most of their requests were not heard, with the exception of the exceptions that were made only when the prisoner’s condition became critical.

“India treats underground political prisoners as terrorists and insurgents,” major social activist Harsh Mander told Al Jazeera.

“They had to be given bail for security, and for other prisoners and staff. Instead, the government has made new arrests.”

The ongoing imprisonment of activists has kept them away from the deaths and sufferings of their relatives, often removing the last moments of grief and closure.

In a statement, Pinjra Tod is linked to Natasha’s women’s collective, even after the release on bail she “can’t be happy”.

“The father who will be cremated is tired for the moment: when he came out of prison and came out in the warmth of his arms, not the terror of his cold body,” the collective said in a note.

‘Deaf system in the face of our cries of pain’

On May 3, Hany Babu, a strong activist against the jailed academy and caste, complained of an acute eye infection, which has resulted in a gradual loss of his vision, his wife Jenni Rowena said.

A 55-year-old professor at the University of Delhi was arrested in July last year by India’s top research agency for his alleged role in the Bhima-Koregaon violence.

The incident began between the Dalits – the so-called “untouchables” – and right-wing Hindu groups in the villages of Bhima-Koregaon in western Maharashtra on 31 December 2017.

The National Research Agency of India (NIA) denounced several activists and academics – Babu, Gautam Navlakha, Father Stan Swamy, Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand Teltumbde and Varavara Rao, among others – for having links with left-wing Maoist rebels and the government, killing the Indian prime minister. planning “including.

Anand Teltumbde informed Dalita on 19 February 2019 at the Pune police station [File: Ravindra Joshi/Hindustan Times via Getty Images]

Most of these prisoners are elderly activists, and have been denied bail amid the pandemic. Persistent arrests have caused serious health complications.

“[The infection] it has endangered vital organs and poses a great threat to his life if it spreads to the brain, ”Babu’s wife Rowena told Al Jazeera.

Although Babu’s lawyers wrote to officials at the Tajola prison in Maharashtra, they did not take him to the hospital. Instead, he was taken to a local eye specialist, who was given anti-bacterial medication and asked to return it within two days.

But they did not take him back, his family told Al Jazeera.

Tajola Prison has 3,500 inmates against the recommended 2,124 capacity. On May 7, a 22-year-old underground prisoner died as a result of COVID-19 while another was in prison while in hospital. Most of the overcrowded prisons in India do not have basic health facilities.

Rowen said Babua has been deprived of access to clean water to wash his eyes in prison. “He is forced to wear eye-stained towels,” he told Al Jazeera.

Other inmates have also complained of inhuman treatment and denial of medical care.

Swamy, 84, has Parkinson’s disease. He was denied a straw glass. Navlakha was denied glasses. Tembul, 72, has asthma.

Rights activist Gautam Navlakha addresses a rally in Kolkata with writer and activist Arundhati Roy, right and others in this photo from April 14, 2010 [File: Deshakalyan Chowdhury/AFP]

“It’s heartbreaking to think of Hany asking for services as basic as basic services,” says Rowena, who has spent her days in anxiety since the devastating wave of COVID-19 began.

“We are dealing with a hard and opaque system that deafens the cries of our pain,” he told Al Jazeera.

‘The darkest hour on a trip to the Republic of India’

On Tuesday, United Against Hate, a civil society initiative, organized an online event with the families of imprisoned activists, and wrote to the Maharashtra government asking for a provisional release, citing cases of coronavirus detected among prisoners and staff in prisons.

“Many underground detainees are over 60 years old, have comorbidities and rapidly deteriorate their health in the event of a COVID-19 infection,” the letter says.

“We are increasingly concerned that inmates could be infected with a deadly disease.”

Activist Mander told Al Jazeera that the UAPA is “like a blank check, reserving anything for anyone.”

“All dissent is termed as rebellion conspiracy or war against India. No reason is conveyed and the government keeps these ideas in prison for good.”

The United Nations has called on governments to reduce the prison population as much as possible due to the pandemic.

“Unfortunately, the Indian government has not yet released journalists, human rights activists or peaceful critics, among others, on charges of sedition and terrorism on harsh bail,” said Al Jazeerei Meenakshi Ganguly, director of Human Rights Watch in South Asia.

Ganguly said the Indian government, using laws like UAPA or sedition, turns the process into a “punishment”.

“The use of these laws is disproportionate and illegal,” he said, calling for the release of “defenders of human rights and freedom of expression” and “all people to make peaceful protests”.

Mander said the Indian nationalist government has accelerated the descent of India into autocracy.

“There is no doubt that it is the darkest hour of the trip to the Republic of India. Democracy has never been fragile, “he said.” It is clear that India has an agenda to become a very different country from what was promised in the constitution. “