Maoists, scholars come out in support of Telugu poet Varavara

Naveen S Garewal
Tribune News Service
Hyderabad July 21

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Telangana State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) has called upon the people of Telangana to observe a complete bandh on July 25 to press for the immediate release of poet Varavara Rao and others who are in jail and withdrawal of the GreyHounds personnel from forest areas.

A statement written in Telugu and issued here on Tuesday by Jagan, the spokesman of the Telangana State Committee of the Maoist party, urged the people to demand for the release of Varavara Rao and others jailed for the alleged involvement in Bhima Koregaon incidents, the release of all political prisoners and prisoners over 60 years.

The Telangana Police have stepped up security in view of the bandh call. Varavara Rao was arrested two years ago by the Maharashtra Police from his house in Hyderabad and has since been in the Mumbai jail, where he developed health issues recently and was later shifted to JJ Hospital in Mumbai. He had been hallucinating and was referred to a neurologist.

Last week, Rao tested positive for COVID-19 and has been reporting failing health. His daughter Pavana alleged that the government was not keeping the family informed about his health. Following media reports of the poet’s ill health, the Telangana State Committee of the CPI (Maoist) has sought his immediate release.

Rao’s bail application was listed before the Bombay High Court last week where his lawyer Sandeep Pasbola told the court: “Rao’s condition is very serious, he hit his head against the hospital bed while he was at the JJ Hospital and sustained severe injuries. Besides Covid-19, he suffers from several ailments; he is hallucinating and is delirious”. However, the court did not grant him bail and will hear arguments again on July 22.

On Sunday, 145 foreign scholars had issued a statement demanding the immediate release of Rao and the other activists in the Bhima Koregaon and Elgar Parishad cases. The signatories said that the poet-activist is a “long-time speaker of truth to power”, and alleged that the government has failed to bring the charges to court and start the trial, over the past two years. Cases of all accused will come up for hearing of bail plea later this week.