Shoma Sen was arrested on June 6, 2018, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for charges which include inciting violence, being involved in raising funds for the banned CPI (Maoist) party and harbouring its fugitive members.
Prof Sen is a highly vocal and committed women’s rights activist who has been involved with a wide range of social and political causes. She is the founding convener of the Committee Against Violence on Women (CAVW) and has participated in fact-finding missions on the implementation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Manipur and on the sexual violence perpetrated by the Salwa Judum in Bastar, Chhattisgarh.
Prof Sen is also the former head of the Department of English at Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University. She has made significant academic contributions to the fields of postcolonial studies and women’s studies. Her academic writings have been published by journals such as the Economic and Political Weekly and the Journal of Commonwealth Literature. She is very popular among her students and is known for her kind and encouraging demeanour.
As a teacher of English, she is acutely aware of the elitist and exclusionary character of the language in India and her students report that she has always gone out of her way to try and make everyone in her class feel comfortable and confident, irrespective of how “well” they can speak. Her close engagement with issues of caste-based sexual violence and discrimination on the ground provided her with a critical lens through which to look at the writings of fellow Indian upper-caste feminists and critique their lack of understanding of the role of caste in the oppression of women.
Colleagues, friends and family members of Shoma Sen talk of how her commitment to social justice translates into extraordinary generosity and compassion in her day to day life. Sen chose to leave her birthplace and childhood home in Mumbai to settle in Nagpur because she wanted to escape her elite circles and work in a less developed region of her state. Her daughter Koel remembers how her mother always kept the doors of their home open for outsiders, often allowing young girls in need of financial and educational support to stay with them for months or years.
Prof Sen’s arrest came in the wake of the Bhima-Koregaon anti-Dalit violence that followed the Elgar Parishad conference in which Sen had participated. The police held the conference responsible for the violence, even though there are conclusive reports of how Hindutva leaders of the area such as Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote — who were upset by the assertion of solidarity by Dalit-Bahujan groups — had incited people to violence.
Recently Shoma Sen, who is 61 years old, filed for interim bail, stating that she was especially vulnerable to COVID-19 due to her history of health issues. The court rejected the plea and said that she could not be granted bail only because she was suffering from “some disease”. In the last few days, two other political prisoners, Akhil Gogoi and Varavara Rao have tested positive for COVID-19, raising concerns about the extent of the transmission of the virus in Indian jails and the need to decongest them and improve living conditions in order to protect prisoners. Under such circumstances, the continued imprisonment of Shoma Sen, along with all other political prisoners who have been incarcerated merely for daring to express their dissent against the state, is indefensible and inhumane. Sen must be released and all charges against her dropped immediately.
Endorsed by:
1. Aakar, Journalist, Bangalore |
2. Abhay Jain, Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh |
3. Abhijit Mitra, IIIT Hyderabad, Hyderabad |
4. Abhishek Savarnya, IIT Kanpur, Bokaro |
5. Adil Khan, Mumbai |
6. Aditya Kumar Gautam, Village Jamunipur, Bharawan, Hardoi, UP |
7. Aditya Yadav, Delhi |
8. Adwitee Roy, Chennai Mathematical Institute, Chennai |
9. Afzal Ahmad Khan, CFJP, Lucknow |
10. Akash Sachan, Lucknow |
11. Akshay Ragupathy, New York |
12. Amit Singh, IIT Bombay, Mumbai |
13. Amitabha Basu, Retired scientist, CSIR-NPL, New Delhi, New Delhi |
14. Anand Kumar, Swaraj Abhiyan, Gurgaon |
15. Anil Eklavya, Writer, Varanasi |
16. Anjor, JharConnect Jharkhand, Ranchi |
17. Ankit Goyal, Chandigarh |
18. Arfat Ahmed Matte, Belgaum |
19. Arun Agnihotri, Vadodara |
20. Aruna Roy, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, Rajasthan |
21. Ashim K Mukherjee, Retired Professor, IIT-BHU, Varanasi |
22. Ashima Singh, Retd govt servant, and agriculturist, Basti U.P |
23. Asmina Venkatesh, Maharashtra |
24. Ateek Ahamad, Child helpline foundation Lucknow, Lucknow |
25. Atul, a law student at the National Law University |
26. Avaneesh Kumar, MANAV EAKTA MANCH(मानव एकता मंच साकेत), SAKET, Ayodhya U.P. |
27. Bharat Jhunjhunwala, Columnist, Tehri Uttarakhand |
28. Bina Sarkar Ellias, Poet and Editor, Mumbai |
29. Bittu Kondaiah, WSS, Delhi |
30. Bobby Ramakant, Citizen News Service |
31. C Vanaja, Independent Journalist, Hyderabad |
32. Cedric Prakash, PRASHANT, Ahmedabad |
33. D Subrahmanyam, Retired, Gurugram |
34. Deep Joshi, Gurugram |
35. Dev Desai, ANHAD, Ahmedabad |
36. Devika J, Feminist Researcher, Kerala |
37. Diamond Oberoi Vahali, Associate professor, Delhi |
38. Dietrich Gabriele, NAPM, Tamil Nadu |
39. Dilnawaz Buhariwalla, Nagpur |
40. Dimple Oberoi Vahali, Independent Activist, Delhi |
41. Dipankar, Treelabs Foundation, Mumbai |
42. Dr Nisha Biswas, WSS, Kolkata |
43. Dr Rehan Khan, International Society for Peace & Justice, Bel Air, Maryland USA |
44. Dr Supatha Bhattacharyya, Hislop College, Nagpur |
45. Dr Tr. Yadav, Health worker, Lucknow |
46. Dr Priya Ranjan, Academic, Bihar |
47. Dr Satendra Kumar, IIIT Una, Una, Himachal Pradesh |
48. Fr Prasant, ICSW, Kochi |
49. Gaurav Kumar Rai, , Mau |
50. Gitanjali Rao, Bombay |
51. Gopal Menon, Independent documentary filmmaker, Kerala |
52. Gulmoin Khokhar, Ahmedabad Muslim Intellectuals, Ahmedabad |
53. Gulobi, Mangalore |
54. Harish Karnick, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur |
55. IKishore Saint, Freelance, Udaipur |
56. Indira Mukherjee |
57. Ishwarbhai Prajapati, Ahmedabad |
58. Jagdish Patel, Vadodara |
59. Jagmohan Singh, Association For Democratic Rights, Ludhiana |
60. Jatin Sheth, Nagrik Sashaktikaran Manch, Ahmedabad |
61. Jayant, Varanasi |
62. K V Subrahmanyan, Chennai Mathematical Institute, Chennai |
63. K. Padma, Committee for Release of Political Prisoners, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh |
64. Kapil Sharma, AIPF, Delhi |
65. Karan Kaul, Pune |
66. Kaveri Duty, Org Pvt limited, Nagpur |
67. Keki Chothia, Mumbai |
68. Krishna Yadav, Mumbai |
69. Lubna Sarwath, Ph.D. and Former Visiting Lecturer, Trisakti University, Jakarta, Indonesia |
70. Madhusudhan Raman, TIFR, Mumbai |
71. Mahendra Kumar, Badlaw Foundation, Lucknow |
72. Malathy, Hyderabad |
73. Mallika Sarabhai, Darpana, Ahmedabad |
74. Maneksha Varghese, DESH FOUNDATION , Ahmedabad |
75. Manon Gingold, Goa |
76. Mansee Bal Bhargava, Ahmedabad |
77. Marian Alexander Baby, Kerala |
78. Martin Macwan, Navsarjan Trust, Dalit Shakti Kendra, Ahmedabad |
79. Mohammad Imran, Retired Professional Engineer and Retired Certified General Appraiser, NJ, Lucknow |
80. Mohini Mullick, IIT Kanpur (Retired Faculty), New Delhi |
81. Munmun, Kirtania |
82. N Venugopal, Editor, Veekshanam, Hyderabad |
83. Nadeem, Individual, Kanpur |
84. Nadlal Master, Lok Samiti Varanasi, Varanasi |
85. Nandita Das, Mumbai |
86. Natasha Badhwar, Karwan e Mohabbat, New Delhi |
87. Navdeep Mathur, IIM, Ahmedabad |
88. Ngo Thi Lan Phuong, SCODE, Vuetnam, Vietnam |
89. Nick Nugent, Houston, TX |
90. Nidhi Kumari, Student, National Law University, Delhi |
91. Niloufer Bhagwat, Indian Association of Lawyers, Maharashtra |
92. Pankaj Chaudhary, Individual, Nirala Nagar |
93. Pankaj Rishi Kumar, Kumar Talkies, Mumbai |
94. Panna Iyer, USA |
95. Peehu Pardeshi, TISS Mumbai, Mumbai |
96. Pervin Jehangir, Mumbai |
97. Poornima Padma, Artist (alumnus of Shantiniketan), Organic Farmer, Karnataka |
98. Prakarsh, Gurugram |
99. Pramod Sharma, Yuvsatta (youth for peace), Chandigarh |
100. Pratik Roy, IIT Madras , Chennai |
101. Prem Prakash Verma, Jharkhand Nagrik Prayas, Ranchi |
102. Prithvi R Sharma, California |
103. Purandar Bhaduri, Guwahati |
104. Raj Abhishek Singh, Joint Action Committee – BHU, Varanasi |
105. Raj Kumar Sinha, Chutka Parmanu Virodhi Sagarsh Samiti, MP, Jabalpur |
106. Rajeev Yadav, Rihai Manch, Lucknow |
107. Rajiv Gupta, Former Professor and Head, Dept of Sociology University of Rajasthan, Jaipur |
108. Rajorshi Ray, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur |
109. Ram Puniyani, Center for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai |
110. Ravindra Kumar Singh, Yusuf Meherally Center, Bhagalpur |
111. Renu Savant, Mumbai |
112. Richa Singh, SKMS, Sitapur Uttar Pradesh |
113. Rishit Kapoor, Black Sheep, Kolkata |
114. Rohan D’Souza, Kyoto University, Japan |
115. Rohan Poojary, SINP, Kolkata |
116. Roop Rekha Verma, Saajhi Duniya, Licknow |
117. Roshan Pandey, Delhi School of Social Work, University of Delhi, Delhi |
118. S. K. Sah, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee |
119. Samar Bagchi, NAPM, Kolkata |
120. Sandeep Pandey, Ph.D., UC Berkeley; Visiting Faculty, IIT Kanpur, IIT Gandhinagar, BHU Varanasi, IIM Ahmedabad |
121. Sartaj Hussain, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi |
122. Satendra Singh, Nalsar, Firozabad |
123. Satyapaul, South Asian Fraternity, New Delhi, New Delhi |
124. Sayandeb Chowdhury, Ambedkar University Delhi, New Delhi |
125. Sharad Jaiswal, MGAHV, Maharashtra |
126. Sharad Raj, Mumbai |
127. Sharmila Roy, Roy Law Offices, Naperville, Illinois |
128. Shashi N Kumar, ICMR, Delhi |
129. Shashwat, Joint action committee , Varanasi |
130. Shernavaz Buhariwalla, Nagpur |
131. Shiva Shankar, Chennai |
132. Shoeb Jagirdar, People Right Vigilance, JALNA Maharashtra |
133. Shraddha Mishra, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow |
134. Shuchita, Socialist Party (India), Sitapur |
135. Shyamala Sanyal, Satnoor Village, District Chindwara, MP |
136. Siddharth Ramachandran, Boston University, Boston, USA |
137. Silloo Buhariwalla , Nagpur |
138. Sreekanth, Pune |
139. Shreekumar, Organic Farmer, taught at National Institute of Technology, Karnataka |
140. Srikanta Sahu, HCU, Hyderabad |
141. Srikanth Bandi, London, UK |
142. Suchitra Mathur, Kanpur |
143. Sudhir Singh, Lucknow |
144. Surabhi Agarwal, M.Phil., Hyderabad University; Socialist Party (India) |
145. Suvasish De, A Secular Socialist Individual, New Delhi |
146. Tushar Kanti, Husband of Shona Sen, Writers/Translator, Nagpur, Maharashtra |
147. Venkatesh Nakka, Hyderabad |
148. Vidushi Prajapati, National Law University Delhi , New Delhi |
149. Vidya Dinker, INSAF, Mangaluru |
150. Vivek Mukherjee, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad |
151. Yameena Ahmad, A/8 Abrarnagar, Kalyanpur, Lucknow |
152. Zafaryab Jilani, Senior Advocate Highcourt, Lucknow, All India Babri Masjid Action Committee, Lucknow |
153. उमेश तिवारी, टोंको-रोंको-ठोंको क्रांतिकारी मोर्चा, उत्तर करौंदिया, सीधी जिला सीधी मध्य प्रदेश |
154. नवेंदु प्रियदर्शी, बिहार शिक्षा आंदोलन संयोजन समिति, पटना, बिहार |
155. रमेश चंद शर्मा, गांधी युवा बिरादरी, दिल्ली |
156. रामजनम, स्वराज अभियान, ग्राम-भगवानपुर पो.धौरहरा वाराणसी उ.प्र. |
157. Debarati, Telangana |
158. Praachi Khera, Delhi |
159. Rashmi Tikku, Retired Associate Professor, LAD College, Nagpur, New Delhi |
160. Gayatri Chatterjee, Freelance College Teacher and Writer, Pune |
161. Vandana Misra, Journalist, Lucknow |
162. Shahzeb Jamal, Khudai Khidmatgar, Delhi |
163. S SenGupta, Retired, Mumbai |
164. Uma Chandru, Bangalore |
165. Shweta SR, Bangalore |
166. Mara Matta, Sapienza, Roma |
167. Soumya Mukhopadhyay, Kolkata |
168. Ujjwala, Maharashtra |
169. Bodhisatta Singha Roy, West Bengal |
170. Mitali Lahiri, Creative Writer, Kolkata |
171. Sharmila, IIT Bombay, Mumbai |
172. Arijita Sen, Mumbai |
173. Sushil Handa, Alumni IIT Kanpur, Saint-Lambert |
174. Vaibhav Kumar, Haryana |
175. Ashish Ranjan, Persistent Systems, Bihar |
176. Vaibhav Vaish, Mohali |
177. Harishchandra Bind, Maa Ganga Nishadraj Sewa Samiti Varanasi, Varanasi |
178. Deepani, APPSC, IIT Bombay |