New Delhi: Feminist activists and academics from around the world have issued a statement in solidarity with Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, two members of the Pinjra Tod women’s movement arrested by the Delhi police in cases related to their presence in anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests.
The statement said that the two women were “being held as part of the Narendra Modi government’s brutal clampdown on dissent against the deeply discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).”
Kalita is an MPhil student at the Centre for Women’s Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and Narwal is a doctoral student at the Centre for Historical Studies at JNU.
They were first arrested on May 23 for their presence at the Jaffrabad anti-CAA protest and were subsequently released on bail. But after the court granted her bail, the Delhi police moved again and on May 28 arrested them in a separate case related to the violence that broke out in Delhi, under various charges including murder, rioting and criminal conspiracy. Narwal has also been charged under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Also read: ‘No Direct Evidence’: Pinjra Tod’s Devangana Kalita Gets Bail in Daryaganj Violence Case
“The government is taking advantage of the dispersion caused by the COVID19 crisis,” the signatories said, also pointing to the arrests of students Safoora Zargar and Meeran Haider, activists Ishrat Jahan, Khalid Saifi and Gulfisha Fatima and hundreds of other Muslim youth “as a means of punishing the widespread protests against the CAA-NRC”.
“We demand that the unfair and false charges against Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal be dropped and that they be immediately and unconditionally released along with other peaceful protesters from the nationwide movement against the Citizenship Amendment Act CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC),” the statement said.
The entire statement has been reproduced below:
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International Feminist solidarity with Indian feminists
Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal and other political prisoners
We, the undersigned feminists, community activists and academics from around the world stand in solidarity with Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal who are being held as part of the Narendra Modi government’s brutal clampdown on dissent against the deeply discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The government is taking advantage of the dispersion caused by the COVID19 crisis.
Devangana and Natasha are feminist activists and founding members of the Pinjra Tod – ‘Break the cage’ collective (For more info: https://www.facebook.com/pinjratod) made up of women students fighting for their rights. Devangana studies an MPhil at Centre for Women’s Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Natasha is a doctoral student at the Centre for Historical Studies, at the same university.
According to the Pinjra Tod collective, the two feminist activists were arrested without prior notice by the Delhi Crime Branch and Jaffrabad Police Station in association with the peaceful anti-CAA sit-in protests at the Jaffrabad Metro station on February 22, 2020. Three months after this event, Devangana and Natasha were arrested by the Delhi Police from their homes at 5.30 pm on 23rd May. They were presented before the Duty Magistrate at Mandaoli jail on May 24th and were granted bail, with the magistrate observing that “the accused were merely protesting against NRC and CAA and did not indulge in any violence”.
However, immediately after this order, police officials from the crime branch moved a fresh application seeking arrest and 14 days police custody. This includes grave charges such as attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, rioting and obstruction and assault of public servant while discharging duty and sections under the Arms Act. Two days of police custody remand has been subsequently granted, while rejecting the request for 14 days police custody remand. These arrests come after two months of brutal repress with the detention of students Safoora Zargar and Meeran Haider, activists Ishrat Jahan, Khalid Saifi and Gulfisha Fatima and hundreds of other Muslim youth as a means of punishing the widespread protests against the CAA-NRC.
We demand that the unfair and false charges against Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal be dropped and that they be immediately and unconditionally released along with other peaceful protesters from the nationwide movement against the Citizenship Amendment Act CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
In solidarity
Helen Dixon
Savannah Sevenzo
Paula Campos
Mipsie Marshall
Carmen Herrera
Ma Eugenia Gómez
Marilyn Major
Judith Centeno
Jessica Martinez
Kath Pick
Dr. Maisa Shquier
Anneka Dixon-King Veronica
Veronica Campanile
Xochilt Hernandez
Claire Bessel
Tatiana Sequeira
Jess Moriarty
Rivka Cymbalist
Dr. Melanie Richter- Montpetit
Maria C. Fernandez
Melody Ross
Laura De Franco
Naomi Foyle
Jaqueline Berumen
Persephone Pearl
Sofia Montenegro
Helen Shears
Angie Largaespada
Penelope Aldworth
Delphine Lacombe
Emy Laurens
Claudia Isabel Medina
Rachel Porter
Yerina Rock
Alice Corble
Biddy Richards
Hanady Muhiar
Ximena Salazar
Punam Khosla
Imke Elstner
Jacqueline Herranz
Katy Oswald
Liliana Quesada S
Mayela Hurtado
Carol Gisselle Pinzon
Akila Richatds
Catherine Murphy
Karen Kampwirth
Jessica Isla
Hailey Sawle-Mason
Charlie Oswald
Maria Alonso
Patricia Camarena
Jasia Lisicki
Sara Henriquez
Tania Montenegro
Sarah Boyes
Mary Bolt GonzÌÁlez
Sandra Ramos
Bertha Simmons
Alice Evans
Pablo Castilla Weeber
Babs Macgregor
Andrea Ramirez
Donach Malachy Jess Frances
Maria Serrano Gomez
Enrieth Martinez
Jerker Edstrom
Ruth San Martin
Sandy Dillon
Xavier
Mandy Freewoman
Tamara Rego
Sally Brooks
Margarita Rebolledo
Hannah Martin
Daisy Zamora
Lauriane SILVESTRI
Juno Tongue
Meghan Froehner
Maria Serrano Gomez
Karin Konstantynowicz
Ma F. Espinoza
Daniela Amann
Chuck Hay
Martina Herrera
Deborah Regan
Kate Evans
Ma Teresa Blandón
Norma Castillo
Carolina Maldonado
Ma Queijeiro de la F
John Spall
Ean Murphy
Cindhy Barrientos
Jane Kalmakoff
Montserrat PÌ©rez
Natasha M
Danielle Agyemang
Diana Herrera
Hector Valdivia
Bertha Ines Cabrales
Dolene Miller
Dyuti
Marisol Tello
Patricia Camarena
Sarah Houston
Priyashri Mani
Laxman Belbase
Ma Esther Quintana
Anna Tibblin
Ayesha banu
Marcus Lundstedt
Sabahat Jahan
Sara Herrera
Kent Larsson
Sanzana Tabassum
Karen Guti̩rrez
Reyna Yanes
Ann Svenson
Linn Lukschandl
Taurai Albert Mutasa
Davide Lopalco
Cristina CÌ_rdoba
Surbhi Mahajan
Susanne Kremer
Gabi Bjorsson
Carolina Neu
Nandita Dhawan
Sheepa Hafiza
Gargi Banerjee
Sayana Basu
Rajashri Dasgupta
Nandini Ghosh
Rekha Pappu
Bidisha Dhar
Shivani Gupta
Monika Mandal
Yeasir Yunus
Madhuparna
Kaavya Singh
Barbara Van Dyck
Areej Hussain
Maria Styrman
Sarah Becker
Sujata Rakshit
Sudeshna Banerjee
Meghna Singh
Roshni
Drishti Chhibber
Vikram KB
Vemuri Sushrutha
Claudia Treacher
Sweta Dash
Pratikshya Mishra
Jyotsna Siddharth
Dipannita Saha
Sonam Kumari
Dr. Ashley Tellis
Shraddha Pattnayak
Tanveer Ahmad
Annie Raja
Soma Mandal
Nikita Agarwal
Barbro Mellberg
Priyanka Mittal
Deepika Joshi
Karthikeyan Hemalatha
Dr Laura Jenkins
Abhijit Roy
Shivangi Sharma
Avani Bansal
Elana Crowley
Bharati Motwani
Ranjana
Akanksha Agarwal
Dr. Manjeet Rathee
Jahnavi Rudra
Shiksha Khemani
Morgan Jones
Kenny Bhatia
Pushpa( Mahila Mukti morcha)
Alison Carney
Surabhi
Chitra D.
Pooja
Ronojoy Banerjee
Dr Sonali Mohapatra
Anwesha B
Chhaya Basu
Komal Saigal
Veronica Slater
Nishant Shah
Shubham Roy
Rachelle c
Kritika Agarwal
Musarrath Banu K
Prashastika Sharma
Basundhara chakraborty
Ankita
Akanksha Agarwal
Sarbari Ghosh
Ruchika Tara Mathur
Lesley Roberts
Patrick Welsh
Anuja Saha
Pheiffer Sutherland
Subhranil Ghosh
Anna Hogg-Sjoquist
Ronjini Ray
Gunjan Rana
Prishanti Pathak
Effie Makepeace
Snehal Shah
Shah Ruknealam
Sabita Malik
Deepa
Satish kumar
Ibrahim Bashir
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John Curry
Chandrayee Dey
Mitul Verma
Sarah Grey
Naomi Addyman
Emiliano Granatelli
Claudia Sorrentino
Saumya Dadoo
Rajesh Malik
Elena Iacomini Mariani
Apeksha Vora
Beccy Pook
Chloe Vaast
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Kathrine Knus Larsen
Dr. Friederike Landau
Sushma Gulati
Samta
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Sheela
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Ram Kumar
PARVEEN KUMAR SONI
Sara Nicolini
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Subhash kaushik vpo
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Samta
Narender Singh
Krishana Kumari
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Manmeet Devgun
Harmony Siganporia
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Deepak Ahlawat
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Jagmati Sangwan
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Anisha Pucadyil
Alejandra Guibert
Ramesh Chander
Deepika
Catherine LeClozio
Alberto Terrasi
Prachi Adesara
Shamini Kothari
Ruth Dixon
Vanessa Amoroso
J Khatri
Arpita Biswas
Alka
Teresa Briz
BHASKAR Parveen
Rajesh Kumar
Suresh girdhar
Sharma Meenakshi
Sameer
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Divya Srivari
Rian Bailey
Bijaya Biswal
Rajan
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Mohammad Mishal
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Martyna Blaszczyk
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Princy
Vasundhara Kanjilal
Udbhawna Abeer
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Mekki Karlsson
Anita
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Shakuntla sharma
Sushma Gulati
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Sofia Granberg
Mangat ram
Heather Tucker
Saroj Rajkumari
Antonia Gomez Komal Kumar
Breana Timlin
Vibhav Mariwala
Kaneez Fathima
Lizet Aguilar
Harman Jaggi
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Luisa Genes
Dians Ceci
Dr Ludo F
Baljit Singh
Noopur Tiwari
Mara C Martínez Cruz
Anjali
Maria Salazar Mejia
Carmen Ma Chong V.
Amy Zamarripa Solis
Irela Solorzano
Rosa Osejo
Rosabell Laurenti Sellers
Xandice Armah
Frederik de Groot
Aabha Muralidharan
Mamta Patel
Silke Heumann
Rohan Kathpalia
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Leigh oswald
Charlotte Br̩da
Carolina Merlo
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Henry Bell
Marietta Veulens
Shruti
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Steni Thomas
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Shefali Sharma Shruti Devgan
Peter Fuchs
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gretchen gordon
Pearl Burzin Unwalla
Anamaria Bejar
Lori-Ann Lima
Sanjana Pegu
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PRAVEENA
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Abhinav Kapoor
Shakira Simmons
J. Subramanian
NIKHIL GUMBER
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Saroj Malik
Denise Engel
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Patricia Siles
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