16-05-2021 The Asian Independent

www.theasianindependent.co.uk
NEWS
16-05-2021 to 31-05-2021
23
Bhima Koregaon, COVID-19
and custodial apathy in jails
On May 15th, several family
members of the 15 prisoners
accused in the Bhima Koregaon-
Elgaar Parishad case addressed the
press via an online press conference.
Some of the arrestees have spent
three years behind bars and continue
to await trial. Even as the COVID-
19 pandemic rages with greater
intensity, several among those incarcerated
have contracted the virus.
Most of the arrestees are over the
age of 60 and most suffer severe
comorbidities. Despite the rapidly
deteriorating health of the incarcerated,
particularly most recently in
the case of Prof. Hany Babu basic
medical attention has been denied to
them. Demanding that those imprisoned
be released on bail in light of
the looming threat of the pandemic,
Prof. Babu’s wife Jenny Rowena,
Adv. Surendra Gadling’s wife Minal
Gadling, Fr. Stan Swamy’s friend
Fr. Joseph Xavier, Mahesh Raut’s
sister Monali, activist Harshali
Potdar of Republican Panthers
Jatiya Antachi Chalwal and friend
of Sudhir Dhawale, Adv. Sudha
Bharadwaj’s friend Smita Gupta
addressed the press.
Harshali told us of conditions
within Taloja Jail from Sudhir
Dhawale who informed her that
majority of the staff including cleaners
and cooks inside prison have
tested positive for COVID-19. The
hospital inside Taloja is currently
treating 60-65 people for the virus.
No testing facilities are available
inside jail. Instead, the jail is testing
people who are fit in order to show
that there are no cases. Eight persons
inside Sudhir Dhawale and
Vernon Gonsalves’ barrack have
tested positive. Yet the prison staff
have refused to test them. Sudhir
Dhawale despite being over the age
of 45 has been denied the vaccine as
he does not have an Aadhaar card.
Despite the fact that his documents
have been confiscated by the police,
being denied the right to be vaccinated
while in the custody of the
state raises the question, “whose
responsibility is it now?” The letters
being sent by them are reaching the
family with a delay of over a month
and video calls are not available.
Despite the Prison Act 1894 that
ensures that prisoners are entitled to
basic medical facilities. However, in
Taloja, there are no doctors, nurses,
lab technicians, etc. but only three
ayurvedic practitioners. Right to
proper food and water, right to intermingle
with other prisoners, communication
with family members
and lawyers through letters and
calls, speedy trials, etc. – all of these
rights are being violated.
Speaking of her husband Prof.
Hany Babu currently under treatment
in JJ Hospital after testing
positive for COVID-19 and suffering
a grave infection in his left eye,
Jenny Rowena spoke of the dangerous
situation inside jail. Despite
a 22-year-old undertrial prisoner
dying of COVID-19 inside jail
after complaining of sore throat
and still being denied medical
attention, the prisoners are expected
to take care of others who are
patients in the jail hospital which is
in fact a series of rooms with no
facilities. After developing a severe
eye infection on May 3rd, Prof.
Babu was not hospitalized. While
Jenny Rowena and Babu’s lawyers
made several desperate calls to the
prison authorities and informed
them to address the eye infection
which had spread to his cheeks and
forehead pushing his eye outward,
the jail authorities did not provide
him medical care. After May 7th,
his vision started being affected
and he was unable to coordinate
both eyes. Hearing this the family
has been in sheer panic. After
repeated efforts to reach the jail
superintendent to provide updates
of Babu’s medical condition, Babu
was taken to a small hospital where
he was prescribed arbitrary antibiotics.
Even though a follow-up
appointment was scheduled, Babu
was not permitted to visit the hospital.
Jenny and the legal team
intervened with the Chief Minister
to intervene and eventually Babu
was taken to the hospital on May
12th.
With limited water supply, unable
to wash clothes and maintain
hygiene, Prof. Babu struggled to
wipe his pus-filled eyes. Having to
use the same cloth again and again
without assistance to administer eye
drops given to him by the doctors in
the small hospital. While the prisoners
are tested for COVID-19 with
the Rapid Antigen Test and then test
negative, when taken to the hospital
after their situation worsens, the
RTPCR test reveals that they are
positive for the virus. Jenny emphasized
that every arrested person is a
human being but instead they are
being left to die in prison. When all
over the world people are demanding
decongestion of prisons, this is
not happening in India. While Babu
has been arrested on the basis of
documents found on a computer
which has repeatedly been found a
malicious plant, this should be noted
and all of them should be released.
Despite this, even the medical
reports of Babu have not been provided
to the family. The state should
be responsible for addressing the
medical conditions of the prisoners.
In this extraordinary situation,
extraordinary steps must be taken to
release these persons who are all
eminent persons who have worked
for the betterment of society.
Fr. Joseph Xavier spoke of how
Fr. Stan Swamy has never complained
about his health in 7
months. But on May 14th, for the
first time Fr. Stan spoke of his deteriorating
health. Furthermore, he is
disturbed by what he is seeing inside
prison. The Jesuits and the family
members are deeply concerned
about his health. While Ayurvedic
medicine is available inside prison,
it is not good enough to address the
precarious health conditions and
spread of COVID-19 in Taloja
prison. Being an 84-year-old suffering
from Parkinson, loss of hearing
and now suffering fever, cough and
troubles in his stomach, it is necessary
that he be provided allopathic
medicine and a doctor for diagnosis
and treatment. He has to be vaccinated
for COVID-19 urgently. He
cannot be denied vaccination just
because he does not have an Aadhar
card. While Fr. Stan has a hearing
problem, phone calls are not adequate
to communicate with him.
Communication through letters
have become inconsistent as letters
take 1 or 2 months to reach the family
and friends. On behalf of the
family members, he placed three
requests to the state and the prison
authorities – 1. Present a correct and
clear picture of the Taloja prison
conditions May 15th 2021 from the
point of view of health conditions
and protect the lives of the Bhima
Koregaon arrestees.
He said the family and friends are
prepared to address the medical
needs of the prisoners. 2. Facilitate
access to information through letters
and phone calls and to permit video
calls to ensure that the prisoners can
be provided emotional support. 3.
Finally, considering the pandemic
situation, facilitate the release of all
15 prisoners immediately on bail.
Smita Gupta spoke of Sudha
Bharadwaj’s health over the last
three years. Sudha suffers several
comorbidities including diabetes
with pulmonary tuberculosis
amongst other ailments. Having
lived in unhygienic and poorly
ventilated spaces within prison
where access to clean water is difficult,
she has developed a whole
host of new problems including
skin infections, urinary infections,
weight loss, hair fall besides others.
Her health makes her extremely
vulnerable and particularly now
when over 40 people in Byculla
Jail have tested positive for
COVID-19. While the antigen test
is less reliable, the number of cases
reported is underreported. In a
series of phone calls, Sudha has
indicated that she has been unwell
since April 7th – around the time
when she got vaccinated. Although
it was first presumed to be due to
side effects of the vaccine, it eventually
became clear that it was not
connected to the vaccine. She was
unwell for 3 weeks with diarrhea,
tastelessness and other symptoms
indicating the new strain of the
virus. The jail doctors keep prescribing
basic antibiotics although
they have had no effect. Now her
health has deteriorated and she is
unable to do her own work and
needs aid to do her daily chores
including washing clothes. She
reached out to the jail authorities a
number of times but it has all fallen
on deaf ears. In fact, when these
matters reached the wider public
through the press, the jail superintendent
called her a habitual complainer.
She has been a person who
has spent her life in difficult conditions
as an activist and the jail
superintendent’s attitude reveals
the kind of treatment prisoners
receive when they raise concerns.
The agenda is clear – to not keep
the prisoners healthy. Now, her
family and friends fear for her life.
After the press reported her condition,
she was taken to hospital
where a battery of tests was done
on her. None of the reports have
been made available to the family.
The court has asked that these
reports be made available by May
21st. There is complete lack of
transparency, especially for prisoners
with comorbidities living in
awful conditions. In this case they
are bent upon process as a punishment
and all the prisoners are being
denied the basic right to health and
life.
Wife of Adv. Surendra Gadling,
Minal Gadling spoke of how her
husband suffers from hypertension,
diabetes and asthma and requires
regular checkups and consultation
to ensure that his condition does not
regress. Worsening condition of his
eye due to refractive error is a matter
of concern. He also required a
new pair of spectacles and even this
request was not considered. She
subsequently had to courier a new
pair of spectacles recently after a
month without glasses. For the last
few months, there has been a severe
water shortage in prison which has
affected their ability to perform
basic chores. When they complain
to the jail authorities, they threaten
them with changing their barracks
or stoppage of calls and letters to the
family. The phone calls are brief,
not lasting even 5 minutes and at
most times the phone connection is
poor and they are not audible. It is
very difficult to ascertain their
health from these calls. No video
calls are allowed and even though
Adv. Gadling’s mother died a few
months ago, he was not able to see
her. His bail application to perform
the final rites was denied citing that
he was using his mother’s death to
avail bail, something which is his
right. While the pandemic has
slowed down court proceedings, the
conditions are extremely worrisome
and the continued denial of bail is
pushing them closer to death.
Prof. Babu’s brother Harish MT
mentioned that the prison conditions
are worrying for the family as the
source of infection inside prisons is
through the jail staff while family
members are denied mulaqats and
even basic communication with the
outside world. Mahesh Raut’s sister
Monali spoke of how Mahesh has
been experiencing fever, body aches
and cough and he has not been provided
medicines, thermometer or
oximeter in jail. The medicines she
tried to send were not accepted by
the jail authorities causing additional
worry for the family. She reiterates
that she will continue to try to
send him essential medicines by visiting
the jail again. It is clear that all
the family members and friends of
all 15 who remain in jail in the
Bhima Koregaon-Elgaar Parishad
case are extremely worried for their
lives and well being who remain in
inhuman conditions. Collectively
they demanded that all of them be
provided bail and be allowed medical
care at home while this pandemic
rages on.
Friends and family members
made an appeal to the press to
amplify the contents of their message
so that the wider world can
learn of what is happening to the
Bhima Koregaon prisoners. They
called for the release, at least temporarily,
on medical grounds of all
the BK prisoners and pointed out
that under the recent Supreme Court
judgment, the Maharashtra High
Powered Committee was vested
with the power to do so.
Journalists who wish to watch the
recording can access it here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/sh
are/KySMx73YzH4lIZ2WUelfHF
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