Today, from 6-8 p.m., a well-attended virtual meeting was held in solidarity with advocate-activist Prashant Bhushan, against whom the Supreme Court had initiated a suo moto contempt case and, as anticipated, has pronounced him guilty.
Tomorrow his sentence is due to be announced. The Court sits at 11 in the morning and this is listed as no.2 There'll be demonstrations of solidarity - both virtual and real, since morning. It's being apprehended that, given the trend, the punishment meted out to him may well exceed what has been provided in the rulebook. A number of speakers affirmed their solidarity with Bhushan and the cause that he represents. The opening speaker made a very vital point: what's happening to Bhushan today is just not indicative of severe undermining of "democracy" in the country, but also the very dismantling, that's underway, of the Republic that had been born on the 26th January of 1950. Another pointed out that, as it appears, the incumbent regime has a four-point action plan: (i) to eliminate electoral opposition forces, (ii) hollowing out of the vital watchdog institutions - while leaving the empty shells in place, (iii) attack and terrorise all opposition - minorities and dissenters, in particular and (iv) homogenise ideology - by capturing all spaces where ideas are formed, expressed and transmitted from. Speakers also urged that tomorrow must be a day of resistance and not mourning. One, in fact, hoped that by targeting Prashant Bhushan, the power that be has perhaps helped to unleash a wave of resistance, which would otherwise have been quite difficult. All in all, there was general acknowledgement that this resistance is just not for the sake of Bhushan, who as a vanguard public spirited fighter deserves unreserved support of all right thinking people, but also for restoring the democratic India itself, and, hence, too vital. The protests will be transmitted live since 10:30 at < www.facebook.com/swarajabhiyan>. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/greenyouth/CACEsOZhFcgd-QZ-bhzPfWiH4qgS1wm39%2BhxsJs7rpA2R%3D-pDUw%40mail.gmail.com.
