We are republishing a joint statement shared with us by the Forum Against Corporatization And Militarization concerning ongoing state repression they are facing. The repeated arrests, detentions, torture, and court cases used against these activists is unconscionable and we condemn it as yet another example of the Indian state’s fascist attacks on any form of dissent. We encourage anyone who supports the right to dissent, activism, and struggle to reach out to sign this statement in solidarity.
Recently, the Delhi police special cell carried out a series of illegal abductions and torture of various student, labour rights, editor of a political magazine and anti-displacement activists in Delhi. Starting from 12th March, various activists were abducted by the Delhi special cell personnel in civil clothes, and taken to their office in the New Friends colony, where they were subjected to various acts of physical, sexual, and psychological torture and humiliation at the hands of the special cell police. The targeted individuals include student activists Akshay, Dristy, Gaurav, Ilakkiya, Kiran, Nazariya magazine editor Rudra, labour rights activists Shiv Kumar and Manjeet, anti-displacement activists Baadal and Ehtmam. Social activist Aman, who had come to Delhi to file a habeas corpus for Manjeet, was also picked by the police in a clear attempt to obstruct judicial processes.
Shiv Kumar was subjected to brutal beating, and was hung upside down, and forced to give false testimonies at gun point under threat of elimination. Rudra and Gaurav were forced into obscene acts in custody, and subjected to multiple forms of physical and sexual torture, humiliatition, and psychological torture. Kiran, Akshay, Rudra and Manjeet were beaten using leather and rubber straps and subjected to slurs and demeaning treatment and sexual violence. Rudra was threatened with encounter and rape. Ehtmam was brutally beaten and subjected to islamophobic slurs and psychological torture. Ilakkiya, Baadal, and Dristy were subjected to physical and psychological torture and patriarchal slurs. All of these activists, except Rudra were released in the early hours of 15th march. Rudra was released around the mid day of 15th march. All of them were forced to sign blank papers and notices before being released from illegal custody.
It is to be noted that among the abducted activists, several of them have suffered similar physical, sexual, and psychological torture at the hands of the special cell last year in July. Baadal, Ehtmam, Gaurav and Rudra were abducted similarly and tortured. They still have recurring flashbacks, panic attacks and psychological problems from that time. Shiv Kumar has also been subjected to third degree torture during the farmers’ protest in 2021 – an ongoing case in the Chandigarh high court. He has been diagnosed with PTSD due to the torture he suffered earlier, and has been under treatment for the same. Akshay, Ilakkiya and Kiran had been undemocratically jailed for a month for participating in the air pollution protests at India gate last year November. They had been brutally beaten by the police then too.
The special cell police claimed that the illegal interrogations took place for a missing person case of Vallika Varshri, former editor of Nazariya magazine, which is in fact a bogus case. Vallika herself appeared before a Delhi court on 16th March and testified that she, as an adult, had in fact left her home and cut off contact with her family by herself and nobody had forced her to do so. The reported abduction, illegal detention, and custodial physical, sexual, and psychological tortures constitute grave violations of the Indian constitution, the Protection of Human Rights Act, and India’s obligations under international law. The DK Basu guidelines, laid out by the Supreme Court of India in 1997, prohibits any illegal detention by the police. It says that the police must have identification badges on themselves, provide a signed arrest memo, allow the person to inform a relative, allow the person to apply for legal counsel and medical examinations must be conducted on the person every 48 hours. Article 7 and 9 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which the Indian State has signed and ratified, prohibit torture and inhumane treatment, and arbitrary detentions and arrests, respectively. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) article 7 also prohibits any kind of torture. Even though the Indian state has signed but not ratified the UN Convention Against Torture, it is still legally obligated under the UDHR and ICCPR to stop any kind of custodial torture which it has repeatedly committed.
The abducted activists are members of Forum Against Corporatization And Militarization (FACAM) and its constituent organisations. FACAM is a joint platform of various student and youth organisations, workers’ organisations, teacher’s forums, intellectuals, and individual democrats formed to oppose the Indian government’s war on people waged in service of domestic and foreign capital. FACAM had recently given the call to observe anti-imperialism week from 23rd march to 31st march, commemorating the martyrdom anniversary of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru on 23rd march. FACAM had also announced a People’s Convention Against Imperialist Loot, which will happen on 31st march. The Indian state, using its state-employed goons, the police, has subjected these activists to torture as part of its broader attempt to suppress any democratic voice against open corporate looting. This reflects the deeply rotten nature of Indian state apparatus that has shed all semblance of democratic conduct, trashed all pretenses of the rule of law, all in line with the open affirmation of its Brahminical Hindutva Fascist ideology, which under the RSS-BJP has become the de-facto state ideology.
Exposing the Hindutva-corporate nexus and its genocide and displacement of Adivasis to facilitate open and unhindered looting of resources, is being treated as a crime and the activists are being punished for it. Under Operation Kagaar, thousands of people, including children, have been massacred amounting to a genocide, displaced, and subjected to brutal violence to facilitate land grabbing, mining, and extraction of resources by transnational corporates. Intense militarization in the form of deploying CRPF, CoBRA, DRGs, and police forces, along with technology imported from Israel such as drone surveillance and aerial bombardment, have been used on the Adivasi peasantry of resource rich regions. Maoist rebels have been captured, tortured, and killed in fake encounters, violating both the Constitution of India and international law. FACAM has been advocating against this war on people. The repression on FACAM members is an attack on the broader democratic dissent to the anti-people policies of the Indian state. In fact, the attack on democratic rights and progressive ideology has been the very essence of Surajkund scheme, which is a plan for the consolidation of a Brahmanical Hindutva Fascist Indian state, one that would serve the interests of the corporates better.
We, the undersigned organisations and individuals, stand in unwavering solidarity with the affected activists. We condemn in the strongest terms, the illegal abduction, brutal torture and assault, sexual abuse, rape threats, and humiliation of the 11 activists belonging to various labour rights organisations, student organisations, a political magazine and anti-displacement forum. We call forth all international bodies, media, and progressive and democratic individuals to condemn the same, and demand justice.
We demand the following:
- A swift, transparent, independent investigation on the illegal abductions and torture. Those responsible must be held accountable.
- The unlawfully seized belongings including electronic devices of the activists are returned to ensure protection from tampering of the same.
- The unlawful torture chambers of the Delhi Police Special Cell must be disbanded with immediate effect and all torture equipments seized.
- An immediate end to the harrassment of activists across India. Their safety and well-being must be ensured as well.
Signed,
Forum Against Corporatization And Militarization
Jal-Jangal-Jameen USA
New Labor Organizing Committee
People’s Defense Committee
Revolutionary Student Union
Jal-Jangal-Jameen USA 