Sudha Bharadwaj

Sudha Bharadwaj is a trade unionist, communist, and a civil rights activist against land acquisition, who has worked and lived in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh for 29 years. She is the general secretary of the Chhattisgarh People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), the founder of Janhit (a lawyers collective), and associated with the late Shankar Guha Niyogi’s Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha.[2]

Sudha Bharadwaj
NationalityIndia
Occupationtrade unionist, activist, lawyer
Parent(s)

Early life

Bharadwaj was born an American citizen, to Krishna and Ranganath Bharadwaj, who were pursuing their PhDs in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in the United States. Bharadwaj returned to India at the age of 11, gave up her US citizenship at the age of 18, and joined the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, to study mathematics, completing the five-year integrated course in 1984.[3]

Activism

Having been exposed to horrific working conditions of laborers in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar during her time as a student at IIT, she moved to work with Niyogi’s Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha in 1986.[2] Determined to provide holistic development of the workers, Sudha got her law degree in 2000 from a college affiliated to the Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University in Raipur.

While being associated with Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha, Bharadwaj fought passionately against corrupt bureaucrats to ensure proper wages were paid to the workers in the mines and plants located in Bhilai. She also engaged in issues of Dalit and tribal rights, specifically the right to land, the right to education, health and for security against corrupt landlords.[2] Bharadwaj also wrote a critique of Binayak Sen's imprisonment, strongly condemning the judgment delivered by the District and Sessions Court, Raipur.[4]

She is also a Visiting Professor at the National Law University, Delhi[5] and is the vice-president of the Indian Association for People's Lawyers (IAPL).[6]

Arrest

On 4 July 2018, Republic TV aired a program in which Arnab Goswami claimed that Sudha Bhardwaj had written a letter to a Maoist named Prakash stating that a "Kashmir like situation" has to be created. Sudha issued a public statement contesting these claims.[7] She called the attack malicious, motivated and fabricated, and added that she was targeted for publicly condemning the arrest of Surendra Gadling in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence and two other lawyers in Sterlite protests.[8]

She was arrested by the Pune Police on suspicion of being involved in Maoist terror activities 26 August 2018, along with five other accused across the country.[9] Human rights defender and Freelance journalist, William Nicholas Gomes condemned the arrests of Sudha Bharadwaj and demanded Immediate and unconditional lift of the house arrest orders on Sudha Bhardwaj in a letter to Justice H.L. Dattu Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission.[10][11] On 26 October 2018, a Pune Sessions Court rejected the bail applications of Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves, observing that the material collected by police, on the face of it, shows their links with Maoists.[12][13]. On May 29, 2020, a National investigations Agency court in Mumbai again rejected Bharadwaj's plea for interim bail on medical grounds.[14]

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References
  1. "Row in JNU after Dean replaces speaker invited by centre for economic studies". The Indian Express. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  2. Masoodi, Ashwaq (7 November 2015). "This land is your land". LiveMint.
  3. "The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Opinion | Enemies of the State". The Telegraph (India).
  4. "Critiquing The Binayak Sen Judgement". Outlook India.
  5. "NLU-D Faculty, Staff, Students & Alumni Issue Joint Statement Condemning Activist Lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj's Arrest | Live Law". Live Law. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  6. "Lawyers protest arrest of Nagpur advocate Surendra Gadling". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 7 June 2018. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 28 August 2018.CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. "Human Rights Lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj Issues Public Statement Against Republic TV Allegations of Maoist Link | Live Law". Live Law. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  8. "Lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj Calls Out Republic Over 'False' Allegations". The Quint. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  9. After Arrest Of Activists Over "Maoist Plot", A Midnight Drama: 10 Facts, NDTV News, 29 August 2018.
  10. "India: Drop the charges against human rights defenders". Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  11. Gomes, William. "India: Drop the charges against human rights defenders". Countercurrents. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  12. "Pune court rejects bail for Sudha Bharadwaj, two others in Elgar Parishad case - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  13. "Maoist links case: Pune court sends Sudha Bharadwaj, two others sent to police custody - The Financial Express". www.financialexpress.com. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  14. "Elgar Parishad case: Activist Sudha Bharadwaj's plea for interim bail rejected". www.hindustantimes.com. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
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