The immediate release of poet-activist Varavara Rao and other accused in the Elgar Parishad case was demanded in a statement by 145 international professors and scholars.
The statement says, “Varavara Rao, poet, writer, activist and long-time speaker of truth to power has been imprisoned for two years now, along with 10 other scholar-activists. They have been charged with inciting violence in the Bhima Koregaon case, a charge widely regarded as false, and over the past two years the government had failed to bring the charges to court and start the trial. The conditions in the jails in which these prisoners of conscience have been kept are said to be unhealthy and the threat of spread of infection has grown.”
It adds: “Mr. Rao, who is 80 years old, has tested positive for COVID-19 and is seriously ill with several co-morbidities. His condition suggests clear neglect of his health by the authorities. We join other international scholars in appealing for the immediate release of Varavara Rao and the other Elgar Parishad activists.”
The statement has been by Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor and Professor of Linguistics Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Jan Breman, Emeritus Professor, University of Amsterdam; Barbara Harriss-White, Emeritus Professor, Oxford University; Dr. Hugo Gorringe, Co-Director. Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Edinburgh; Jens Lerche, Reader in Agrarian and Labour Studies, Department of Development Studies, SOAS, London, and 140 others.
