New Delhi: The People's Union for Democratic Rights has now called for granting immediate bail to activist Gautam Navlakha and all other activists accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, further demanding that their trial be held speedily and fairly.
In a statement, the PUDR said that Navlakha had now become the embodiment of the lines he had written while surrendering for questioning two years ago - that the "process itself is
the punishment".
The PUDR implied that Navlakha and his co-accused's continuous incarceration without bail had become part of the punishment the State wanted for them.
The PUDR statement, signed by secretaries, Deepika Tandon and Radhika Chitkara, further highlighted that even after two years of arresting Navlakha and his co-accused, the trial against
them was yet to begin and that in the meantime, they are being subjected to cruel incarceration, during which they are having to approach courts for every
basic human right.
The PUDR noted that Navlakha too, like Father Stan Swamy, who died in jail, waiting for bail, had to approach courts for basic rights such as getting a replacement pair of spectacles
delivered to his cell. Moreover, Navlakha is now waiting for the order on a petition to get a chair in the cell due to his acute backache.
In addition, it was pointed out that Navlakha, despite his age and health, has been kept in solitary confinement in Taloja Jail's, Anda Cell area, where there is little scope for sunlight, greenery, or space. Navlakha even had to approach the courts for the right to be let out of solitary confinement for 30 minutes every day, the PUDR said, adding that every time the NIA has opposed bail pleas based on "prima facie" guilt but is yet to prove this supposed guilt two years after arresting him.