Petition Demanding the Immediate Release of Shoma Sen

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

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