Chaos in China-Pakistan: Republic of Balochistan Declared Independence after India-Pakistan War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qBtb3qbiJE
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https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJ6hEWRpO9u/?igsh=ZHY5ZWk3eXlycGgx  BBC interview

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/may/20/radical-translation-of-heart-lamp-by-banu-mushtaq-wins-international-booker-prize Ambika Mod read from ‘Heart Lamp’ | The Booker Prize https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2XZ8R2U_k4

- https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0cSlg4d3NZc

Absurd Case Against Ali Khan Mahmudabad & Perils Of Chilling Effect  https://www.livelaw.in/articles/absurd-case-against-ali-khan-mahmudabad-perils-of-chilling-effect-292967 Kalpana Kannabiran 22 May 2025  Televised interviews with the complainant-chairperson sadly exposed a total lack of comprehension on her part, of the post – rendering her complaint malicious and false. Despite this, the Hon'ble Supreme Court, while granting interim bail has directed the constitution of a Special Investigation Team by the Director General of Police, Haryana, consisting of senior police officers to determine the 'meaning of the words' in the post; ordered surrender of his passport; and barred him from posting content on social media. While it is a relief to have him released from custody, the wide-ranging powers placed in the very same police establishment that arrested him is a cause for concern.

JD: I wonder what kind of petition can individual or an organisation like pucl file to tell the supreme court that it is failing in its duty to protect fundamental right if it is not able to protect us from such 'chilling effects' on our fundamental rights.

SS:  This subject judgement is at least partly comparable with Supreme Court judgement on June 24 2022 ordering probe against Teesta Setalvad charging her with falsifying evidence in the Zakia Jafri case just out of the blue!

Here also the Court, virtually suo moto, visions "dog whistle" and orders constitution of an SIT to conduct an open-ended probe. This is too ominous.
Calls for a broad-based national campaign.

Rethinking Learning Spaces   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca7usGiXzD0 | Pranith Simha | TEDxDantewada Reimagining learning spaces and empowering communities is key to transforming public education. Alternative approaches can create inclusive, democratic learning for tribal children. Pranith Simha is the Founder & Executive Director of Bachpan Banao, a grassroots organization revitalizing public education in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh. A dropout from IISER Pune, he found his calling in education through Disha, a student initiative for slum children. Since 2012, he has led transformative programs like Padhe Dantewada-Likhe Dantewada and Sapno Ki Shala, an alternative school promoting democratic learning. His latest work focuses on youth-led children’s libraries that foster creativity and safety. 

Marathi actor's wife, two others face charges after recitation of Faiz Ahmed Faiz's ‘Hum Dekhenge’  https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/marathi-actors-wife-two-others-face-charges-after-recitation-of-faiz-ahmed-faizs-hum-dekhenge-101747752959037.html  According to a complainant Dattatraya Shirke cited by PTI, the The speaker allegedly said during the recitation, “Jo song ke medium se ye satta hila thi, usi tarah se hamare desh mein bhi takht hilane ki pratha hai. Aaj hum jis daur mein ji rahe hain, ye daur fasciswad ka hai. Ye daur tanasahi ka hai”.

An FIR was registered at the Sitabuldi police station against Pushpa Sathidar and two others associated with the memorial programme under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 152 (endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India), 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 353 (statements conducing to public mischief) and 3 (5), which concerns common intention...

..According to Shirke, the speech and recitation of the poem, equated India's government with fascist regimes and also called for political upheaval. The police have launched a probe into the event, collecting digital video evidence of the event and recording statements of those who had attended the memorial programme.

The Supreme Court’s Order in Mahmudabad’s Case  https://indconlawphil.wordpress.com/2025/05/21/how-to-read-a-sentence-the-supreme-courts-order-in-mahmudabads-case/  Gautam Bhatia  One might expect that such a far-reaching order – that effaces two Article 19 rights (freedom of expression and freedom of movement) – would be supported by equally strong reasoning...The Court says that it is setting up this SIT “to holistically understand the complexity of the phraseology employed and for proper appreciation of some of the expressions used in these two online posts.” ...

Does the Constitution proscribe “unpatriotic” speech? Let us look at the constitutional text: specifically, Article 19(2). It immediately becomes clear that the Constitution does not proscribe unpatriotic speech, no matter what our personal views on the subject...

...I must therefore respectfully suggest that the Supreme Court’s order may not be entirely correct in law. The reasons for the constitution of the SIT are puzzling. The gag order is outside the Court’s jurisdiction. The confiscation of the passport appears excessive. In the meantime, it is reported that Mahmudabad’s laptop has been confiscated, and one therefore hopes that the Court’s order does not become an excuse for a roving and fishing enquiry by the police, going beyond the remit of the FIR.

How to Read a Sentence: The Supreme Court’s Order in Mahmudabad’s Case https://indconlawphil.wordpress.com/2025/05/21/how-to-read-a-sentence-the-supreme-courts-order-in-mahmudabads-case/ 
May 21, 2025 Gautam Bhatia One might expect the Court to explain why a Facebook post that fulsomely praised the Indian Armed Forces, before going on to gently suggest that the optics of having a Muslim woman army officer address the army’s press conference would remain only optics without addressing violence against Muslims, merits this judicial response of blood, thunder, and steel. One would search in vain. In its two-page order, the Supreme Court does not consider the substance of the allegations against Mahmudabad, and whether his Facebook post, on a plain reading, meets the ingredients of the offences that he has been accused of (and imprisoned for)...The Court says that it is setting up this SIT “to holistically understand the complexity of the phraseology employed and for proper appreciation of some of the expressions used in these two online posts.”

 Article 19(2). of the Constitution does not proscribe unpatriotic speech, no matter what our personal views on the subject. The reasons for this are two-fold, and they are important. First, what constitutes “patriotism” is deeply subjective, and not at all susceptible to judicial standards – certainly not enough to imprison a man over. 

the Constitution very sensibly does not outlaw “unpatriotic” speech: it, and the framers, recognised that it is futile to try and criminalise contested concepts out of existence. I believe this point important to make, because sometimes the effect of good legal strategy in a particular case can be to narrow the bounds of constitutional rights and freedoms for all other cases. In our desire to affirm Mahmudabad’s patriotism, thus, it is equally necessary to affirm that the Constitution is not in the business of compelling patriotism; it only steps in where speech constitutes incitement to violence or public disorder, and not before.

Faiz’s ‘Hum Dekhenge’ recited at Vira Sathidar memorial event, wife Pushpa & 2 others booked www.msn.com/en-in/news/India/faiz-s-hum-dekhenge-recited-at-vira-sathidar-memorial-event-wife-pushpa-2-others-booked/ar-AA1F9b5z 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/05/obituaries/vira-sathidar-dead-coronavirus.html

Singing Faiz’s ‘Hum Dekhenge’ is ‘Sedition’: Nagpur Police Book Organisers of Vira Sathidar Memorial https://sabrangindia.in/singing-faizs-hum-dekhenge-is-sedition-nagpur-police-book-organisers-of-vira-sathidar-memorial/ Sukanya Shantha     May 20, 2025 A group of young cultural activists sang the lyrics of Faiz’s famous poem last week. The police complaint says, 'At a time when the country valiantly fought Pakistani forces, the radical left in Nagpur were busy singing Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poem.' 

 Sathidar, an accomplished actor, prolific writer, journalist, and political thinker, died on April 13, 2021, after battling COVID-19 for over a week. Satidhar was also an Ambedkarite and the editor of Vidrohi magazine. Since his passing, his wife, Pushpa, is one of the organisers of the annual memorial. A committee was formed after Sathidar’s death under the name ‘Vira Sathidar Smruti Samanvay Samiti’ which has been instrumental in organising the annual event. This year, social activist Uttam Jagirdar was invited to speak.

The FIR, filed by one local Nagpur resident Dattatray Shirke, cites a news report aired on ABP Majha, a Marathi channel. The channel was likely the first to find issue in reciting Faiz’s poetry in India. In his complaint, Shirke claims, “At a time when the country valiantly fought Pakistani forces, the radical left in Nagpur were busy singing Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poem.

Shirke further claims that the line “Takht hilaane ki zaroorat hai (a need to shake the throne)” constitutes a direct threat to the government. However, while the FIR quotes the above line, the actual line in the poem is “sab takht giraye jayenge”. The poem was performed by young Mumbai-based cultural activists from Samata Kala Manch.

Despite an ongoing stay by the Supreme Court on the application of sedition charges, the Nagpur police have booked the organisers and speakers under the section. On May 11, 2022, the apex court had issued a historic order, staying all pending trials, appeals, and proceedings under section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code until the sedition law’s re-examination was complete. Since then, the BJP-led government has replaced the IPC with the BNS. However, the new law does not eliminate the sedition provision. Instead, the BNS introduces Section 152, which closely resembles the sedition law without explicitly using the word ‘sedition’.

 बुरे फँसे Arnab Goswami और Amit Malviya, FIR होते ही Republic TV ने माँगी माफ़ी?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqhA-eqYMZc 

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/abhijit-iyer-agrees-to-remove-tweets-on-newslaundry-after-delhi-high-court-rap-101747813388710.html

Newslaundry journalists move Delhi High Court against Abhijit Iyer-Mitra for calling them prostitutes https://www.barandbench.com/news/newslaundry-journalists-move-delhi-high-court-against-abhijit-iyer-mitra-calling-them-prostitutes They have alleged that Iyer-Mitra used ‘vulgar’ remarks by referring to them as ‘prostitutes’ and their workplace as a ‘brothel.’  “By referring to the Plaintiff Nos. 1 to 9 as prostitutes, repeatedly, in a series of posts and articles, the Defendant No. 1 [Iyer-Mitra] has clearly launched a series of scathing and belligerent attacks against the Plaintiffs. As such, the Defendant No. 1 cannot be permitted to disseminate falsities, only with the oblique motive to gain cheap publicity and eyeballs,” the defamation suit states. 

Abhijit Iyer agrees to remove tweets on Newslaundry after Delhi high court rap https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/abhijit-iyer-agrees-to-remove-tweets-on-newslaundry-after-delhi-high-court-rap-101747813388710.html  May 21, 2025 The Delhi high court slammed Abhijit Iyer Mitra over his objectionable tweets on Newslaundry, saying that his choice of words are impermissible in a civilized society.”

An FIR has been registered against BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya and Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV, Arnab Goswami 
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/fir-filed-against-bjp-it-cell-chief-journalist-arnab-goswami/articleshow/121305841.cms  on the complaint from the Indian Youth Congress's legal cell head Shrikant Swaroop B N that the accused have "maliciously propagated the fabricated claim" that the Istanbul Congress Centre in Turkiye is the office of the Indian National Congress (INC).