Image Credit: cjp.org.in
Surendra Gadling is a human rights lawyer and Dalit rights activist based in Nagpur. He is known for taking up cases of extra-judicial killings, police excesses and atrocities against Dalits and Adivasis in Gadchiroli and Gondia districts. He is considered to be an expert in special laws like UAPA, the Forest Rights Act and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
He represented Arun Ferreira between 2007 and 2012. Until his arrest, he was handling the case of G.N. Saibaba, a wheelchair-bound Delhi University professor jailed for alleged Naxal links. He is known to take up most of his cases pro bono.
While working as an apprentice in the railways, Surendra started the Awhan Natya Manch, which would organise cultural evenings in the bastis of Nagpur and engage in conversations around rights and oppression. He has also been a member of the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR) and the Committee for Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP).
Gadling was part of an independent fact-finding team that probed the encounter killing of 40 alleged Maoists by the police in Gadhchiroli in April 2018. He has also been a voice against persecution of the lawyers by the police machinery. He conducted a fact-finding mission in Chhattisgarh and brought out a report about persecution and harassment of lawyers who take up cases pertaining to tribals trapped in UAPA cases.
Gadling has been deeply involved with issues related to backward communities, in defense of reservation and in defense of the independence of the judiciary. He has been instrumental in spreading awareness and organising public meetings on various human rights issues.
Among the persons Gadling defended, many were charged with UAPA/TADA and labeled as terrorists or Naxalites. Some of these names will definitely be part of history for their contribution towards society. He was also part of the Bhima Koregaon fact-finding team.
By deploying the heaviest of police bandobast, cordoning off the court premises, issuing alerts on the court hearing days, the police would often throw its weight to intimidate him and his clients in many of the cases he was involved with.
Despite all this, Gadling has been successful in convincing the courts of law about the innocence of his clients and in the discarding of many ridiculous allegations. He has fearlessly defended many even when there was strong objection from bar associations, negative publicity in media and open threats from investigating bodies.
He has been appointed special public prosecutor in cases filed by women’s organizations on multiple occassions. In one dowry death case, despite a hostile investigation team, Gadling managed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt and obtained the conviction of the husband. After the completion of the case, fulfilling his duty as prosecutor, Gadling wrote to the higher-ups in the police department seeking stern action against police officers from the investigation team for their divisive role.
It is clear that the role of Gadling as a lawyer and activist has been quite unpleasant for the powerful people in the police department. Given his committment to defend those who have been labelled “Naxals”, police officials have made every effort to target him. There have been many instances where police officials have conveyed their displeasure towards him in various ways for handling these cases.
During the trial of Prof G N Saibaba, Mr. Bawache – the then Investigating Officer in the case – had said in the court premises itself that once Saibaba is sent to jail it will be the turn of Advocate Surendra Gadling. This particular threat was given right in front of the juniors and associates of Gadling.
It was clear that the threat was administered only to ensure that the defense counsel does not dare to function with a free mind. True to his threat, Mr. Bawache even got one of the surrendered Naxalites to give 164 statements in which he has attributed some of the most ridiculous allegations against Gadling. Mr Bawache is known to be closely supervising the present case without officially being part of the investigation.
Gadling though has never been intimidated by such threats. There was even a the time when he had to keep his anticipatory bail order in his pocket as he participated in his own wedding. However this time the BJP-led central government in collusion with the police have managed to find a way to silence him, but only temporarily.
Therefore the 6th June 2018 arrest of Surendra Gadling along with other political prisoners by the Pune police due to accusations of Maoist links, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) is baseless. Either the charges against him must be substantiated in some way or he must be freed from imprisonment immediately.
We demand Surendra Gadling and other political prisoners be released and the charges against them dropped immediately.
(Written by Nilkantha Mandal (Neel), law student at Bengal Law College, Santiniketan)
Launched by Socialist Party (India)
Endorsed by:
1. Nilkantha Mandal (Neel), student, Bengal Law College, Santiniketan
2. Sandeep Pandey, PhD, UC Berkeley; Visiting Faculty, IIT Kanpur, IIT Gandhinagar, BHU Varanasi, IIM Ahmedabad
3. Lubna Sarwath, PhD and Former Visiting Lecturer, Trisakti University, Jakarta, Indonesia
4. Bobby Ramakant, Citizen News Service
5. Shreekumar, PhD, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; taught at National Institute of Technology Karnataka
6. Surabhi Agarwal, MPhil, Hyderabad University
7. Viplav Teltumbde, Wani Dist. Yeotmal, Advocate |
8. A.K. Bhatnagar, Lucknow, Retired from Railways |
9. Aakar Patel, Bangalore, Writer |
10. Abdul Hameed Nayyar, Islamabad, Pakistan, Retired |
11. Abdul Mabood, NCT Delhi, Trainer |
12. Aditya Kumar Singh, Lucknow, Lawyer |
13. Aditya Yadav, Delhi, Student |
14. Adwait Deshpande, Sewagram, Teacher |
15. Afzal Ahmad Khan , Lucknow India, Retired |
16. Ahmar Raza, New Delhi, Retired officer |
17. Akhter Sadiq, Chicago – USA, Retired businessman |
18. Alka Hingorani, Mumbai, Teaching |
19. Alok Laddha, Chennai , faculty |
20. Amit Bhaduri, Saraswatpur 18, Dharwad, Karnataka, Former Professor Emeritus, JNU, Independent Researcher |
21. Amit Kumar, New Delhi, Student, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi |
22. Amit Singh, IIT Bombay, |
23. Amitabha Basu, New Delhi, Retired scientist, CSIR-NPL, New Delhi |
24. Anand, Varanasi, Prerna Kala Manch |
25. Ankit Goyal, Chandigarh, Chemical Engineer |
26. Anushree Das, Rampurhat, Birbhum, Student |
27. Apeksha Vora, Mumbai , |
28. Archit, Jaipur, |
29. Ashim K Mukherjee, Varanasi, Retired Professor, IIT (BHU) |
30. Ashish Kothari, Pune , |
31. Ashish Ranjan, Ahmedabad , Educational Activist |
32. Atish Indrekar Chhara, Ahmedabad, Theatre Activist |
33. Bharat Mohta, Chennai, Student |
34. Bijender Rai, Delhi, Buisness |
35. Bittu K R, Sonipat Haryana, Scientist, Activist |
36. Bittu Kondaiah, Sonipat Haryana, WSS |
37. Cedric Prakash, Ahmedabad, Human Rights & Peace Activist |
38. Chakri, Vizag |
39. Chetna, Delhi |
40. Chhotebhai, Kanpur, National Convenor, Indian Catholic Forum |
41. Chintan Patel, Gujarat |
42. Clifton D’ Rozario, Bengaluru, Lawyer |
43. D Viveka, Malad, Mumbai 400095, Life member / Religious, Society of the Sacred Heart |
44. Deep Chandra Joshi, Gurugram, Community Development |
45. Devansh Chaudhary, Kolkata, Student |
46. Dimple Oberoi Vahali, Shimla, Independent Activist |
47. Dr Shuchita , Sitapur, Socialist Party (India) |
48. Dr Y Srinivas Rao, Tiruchirapalli, Assistant Professor, Bharathidasan University |
49. Dr Rohan D’Souza, Japan , Kyoto University |
50. Dr Satinath Choudhary, New York, USA, Retired college professor |
51. Dunu Roy, India, Delhi, Hazards Centre |
52. Ekeko, India, LT&T |
53. Firoz, delhi, teacher |
54. G. Arunima, New Delhi, Academic, JNU |
55. Gabriele Dietrich, Madurai, Professor (rtd.) |
56. Gaurav Kumar Rai, Mau, Advocate |
57. H.Vageeshan, Hyderabad, Teacher |
58. Harbans Mukhia, Gurgaon , Formerly JNU |
59. Harishchandra Bind, Mirzapur, Gram Sudhar Sangharsh Samiti GS3 |
60. Hasan Abdullah, Delhi, |
61. Hiren Gandhi, Ahmedabad, Social Activist |
62. I D Khajuria, Jammu Kashmir, Peace Activist, President , Jammu Kashmir Forum for Peace and Territorial integrity of State |
63. Jagmohan Singh, Ludhiana, Association For Democratic Rights Punjab |
64. Jatin Sheth, Ahmedabad, Constructive Political Activist |
65. Javeed Mirza, India, TAJ Software |
66. Jawad, Pakistan, Sociologist/Anthropologist/Educationist |
67. Jayant, Varanasi, Social Commitment |
68. Joe Victor, Siliguri |
69. Joseph Mattam, Anklav, wmritus professor |
70. Junaid Ahmed, Chicago |
71. K Babu Rao, Hyderabad, |
72. K Basheer Ahmed, Illinois, USA, Phrmacist turned Respiratory Care Practitioner |
73. Kaku, Delhi, Craftsman |
74. Kausharali Saiyed, Ahmedabad, SPI |
75. Keshav Sharan, Varanasi, Free lancer |
76. Khalid Abdus Sami, Roselle Illinois 60172, None |
77. Koel Das, Kolkata, |
78. Krunal, Wardha, Nai Talim Samiti |
79. Laxmi Ghosh, Bengal law college, santiniketan, L.L.B. student |
80. M. I. Uddin, USA, Teacher |
81. M.Rajaullah Quraishi, Chicago area, |
82. Madhu Bhaduri, Delhi, Retired from government service. |
83. Madhuresh Kumar, Delhi, Activist |
84. Madhusudan, Odisha, Social Activist |
85. Mahendra Dixit, Lucknow, Social Worker |
86. Mahinder Pal, Lucknow, Cultural Activist |
87. Manju K, Patna, Forum for Justice & Peace (FORUM) |
88. Martin Macwan, Ahmedabad, |
89. Meenakshi , Delhi , PhD Scholar |
90. Mohammad Imran, Lucknow, India, & Ringwood, NJ, USA, retired |
91. Muniza Khan, Varanasi Uttar Pradesh, Social Activist, Gandhian Institute of Studies |
92. Nandini Sundar, Delhi, Sociologist |
93. Nandita Narain, Delhi, St.Stephen’s College, Delhi University |
94. Navdeep Mathur, Ahmedabad, Faculty, IIM |
95. Nilkantha Mandal, West Bengal, Student |
96. Niloufer Bhagwat, Dapoli , Ratnagiri District , Indian Association of Lawyers |
97. Nisha Biswas, Kolkata |
98. Olivia Thomas, Karnataka, Social Worker |
99. Persis Ginwalla, Ahmedabad |
100. Pervin Jehangir, Mumbai, |
101. Pradeep Gohil, Varanasi, Retired Engineer/Manager |
102. Prasad Chacko, Ahmedabad, Freelance Consulting |
103. Prayaag Joshi, Balenga Para, Farmer |
104. Prithvi Raj Sharma, California, Doctor |
105. Priti, Pune, Doctor |
106. Pritika Kundu, Malda, West Bengal, India, Student |
107. Priyanka Preet, Lucknow, Student of Law |
108. Prof G Haragopal, Hyderabad, Visiting professor, Bangalore National Law School |
109. Pummy Sharma, Jammu, Research Scholar |
110. Ragini Lalit, Bhopal |
111. Rahul Pandey, Bangalore, CLE Trust |
112. Rajeev Dhyani, Lucknow, Activist, Satirist |
113. Rajinder Singh Mago , USA, |
114. Ram Puniyani, Mumbai, Center for Study of Society and Secularism |
115. Ramjanam, वाराणसी, स्वराज अभियान |
116. Rasheed Khan, USA, MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE |
117. Rita Puthenkalam, madiwala, personal |
118. Ronak M Soni, USA, Physicist |
119. Roop Rekha Verma, Lucknow, Saajhi Duniya |
120. Sagar Dhara, Hyderabad, |
121. Sagar Rabari, Ahmedabad, Social Activist |
122. Samar Bagchi, Kolkata , NAPM |
123. Sami Uddin, USA |
124. Satyapaul, 6, Lajpat Bhawan, Lajpat Nagar IV, New Delh President, South Asian Fratenity, NewDelhi |
125. Sayari Nandy, Burdwan( East), Student of B.A.LL.B |
126. Selma Nalloor, W. Bengal, Darjeeling, Retired spiritual teacher |
127. Shagun Bhargava, Delhi, Student |
128. Shahid Khan, Hamilton, Chemist |
129. Shanti Picardo, West Bengal, Teacher |
130. Sharad Raj, Mumbaj, Filmmaker |
131. Sharada Ganesh, Bengaluru, Individual |
132. Sharmila Roy, Naperville, Illinois, J.D. University of Arizona, Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin, practicing lawyer |
133. Sheeva Dubey, Mumbai, Youth for Unity & Voluntary Action |
134. Shiva Shankar, Chennai, |
135. Shoeb Jagirdar, Jalna, Business |
136. Siddharth K J, Bengaluru, Independent |
137. Somesh Rattan, Noida, Lawyer |
138. Sr Pauline Chakkalakal, Bandra, Mumbai, Visiting Prof. & Coordinator of Interreligious Partnership |
139. Sr Provincial, Guwahati, Administration |
140. Sr Shwetha BS, Assam, Teacher |
141. Srinivasan G, Bangalore, IT Proffessional |
142. Sristy Agrawal, USA, PhD Scholar, University of Colorado, Boulder |
143. Suchitra Mathur, Kanpur, |
144. Sumit Banerjee, Suri, Student |
145. Sunita CJ , Allahabad , Social Activist |
146. Surekha Bhanot, Pilani, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani |
147. Suresh Rathaur, Varanasi, Manrega mazdoor union |
148. Suvasish De, New Delhi, Secular, Socialist human-being |
149. Syed Najiullah, USA, Engineer |
150. Tapan Kumar Bose, , |
151. Tejaswini, Maharashtra, |
152. Tribhuvanesh Yadav, Lucknow, IAP |
153. Varghese Manimala, Kottayam, Kerala, Professor |
154. Venkata Subrahmanyam, Chennai, CMI, Chennai. |
155. Venkatesh, Thane, Software Professional |
156. Vimal Bhanot , Pilani, Read Professor |
157. Virginia Saldanha, Mumbai, Indian Christian Women’s Movement |
158. Vivek , Bengaluru, Research / IIM Bangalore |
159. Zafar Iqbal, Washington, Retired |
160. मदन लाल हिन्द, दिल्ली-११००९१ , पत्रकार |
161. Vidya Dinker, Mangalore, INSAF |
Free him !
The UAPA must be repealed, it has become a vehicle the BJP government uses to suppress dissent. The judiciary should not remain silent in the face of this slide towards fascism in India.
Free Shri Gadling immediately