[Reader-list] press release on the arrest of jnu hem mishra jnu student and cultural activist

[Asit Das]

Condemn the arrest of Comrade Hem on fake charges by the Maharashtra
police! Resist the ongoing witch-hunt of students, intellectuals and
activists who dare to stand up against systemic injustice, oppression and
state repression! Immediately & Unconditionally release Hem who was on his
way for medical treatment!
Democratic Students’ Union condemns in strongest possible terms the
arbitrary arrest of Hem Mishra, one of our activists by the Maharshtra
Police. Hem Mishra is from Almora, Uttarakhand. He is the son of K.D
Mishra, a retired school teacher. Hem has done his diploma in Mass
communication and B.Sc in Mathematics from Uttarakhand. In 2009 he joined
BA programme in Center for Chinese Studies, in School of Language
Literature and Cultural Studies. He is also a prominent cultural activist
and singer. He is active in Democratic Students’ Union and Revolutionary
Cultural Front. He is also an executive member of Committee for Release of
Political Prisoners (CRPP). He is well known among the political circles in
Delhi and Uttarakhand as a student and cultural activist.
Hem has been struggling over the years with certain physical challenges in
his left hand. He has undergone repeated surgery and the ensuing
complications left him in agonizing pain. He has had to undergo two rounds
of expensive operations in the recent past from Vellore. He had on several
occasions shared his wish to pay a visit to Prakash Amte’s People’s
hospital in Bhamaragarh to enquire about the possibility of free treatment
therein. Early this week he had left from Delhi with the same purpose and
was picked up by the notorious Maharashtra police somewhere in Maharashtra
on his way to the hospital. It was on the 24th of August that the police
finally admitted his arrest and said he has been sent to Police custody for
10 days. Hem is well known in Delhi and Uttarakhand as a mass activist. Yet
the police are trying to frame him with bogus charges like, he is a
‘prominent Naxal courier!!’ Hem has a played a major role in exposing as
well as countering the anti-people designs of the state through songs,
poetry, plays and street theatres in the capacity of a cultural activist
lending his voice to that of the oppressed. He, as part of an organized
politics, shares the vision for a radical social transformation of the
society towards a new democratic society and a new democratic culture –
free of oppression, injustice and inequality. His arrest therefore doesn’t
come as a shock. The state right now is in a spree to clamp down on
students and democratic rights activists and trying to stifle voices of
dissent. We strongly condemn this witch-hunt of activists. We must unitedly
and resolutely fight the fascist designs of the state and its targeting of
political activists. His arrest is in continuation of the ongoing clamp
down on democratic rights activists that Hem has been framed with such
false charges. We are witness to similar framing of Jayeeta Das a student
and woman activist of Matangini Mahila Samity, the hounding and framing of
Kabir Kala Manch activists and similar witch hunting of other democratic
rights and cultural activists. We condemn this arbitrary arrest and demand
his immediate and unconditional release.
---- DEMOCRATIC STUDENTS’UNION
Contact: dsuatjnu at gmail.com, 09711826861