Request for Solidarity

[Rich Gibson]

Dear Comrade Prof. Rich Gibson:
You might recall Comrade Prof. Anand Teltumbde who presented a paper
on caste based educational inequalities and how Neoliberalism is
further extentuating them in the education conference of Delhi
University where you also came and therefore he is one of the
contributors in the forthcoming volume. He is also a member of the
Presidium of All-India Forum for Right to Education (AIFRTE). He is
now facing impending incarceration on 6th April on trumped up charges
amids the Ccovid-19 Pandemic imposed conditions of lock down. It
clearly appears to be government’s attempt to persecute an
intellectual whose voice it finds to be discomforting. Anand is one of
those rare intellectuals who synergized caste-class analysis (Ambedkar
and Marx) quite on the lines of Shahid Bhagat Singh. He is himself a
member of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s family who was not only the most
important leaders of Dalits and oppressed masses but who also drafted
the Indian Constitution. AIFRTE has started public campaign in
solidarity with Anand and against government’s move. Therefore, AIFRTE
has created an online page with the view to inform people about Anand
and the false case filed against him by the government. This page has
some informative material in different languages including the link of
an online petition. The page can be accessed at the following link:
http://aifrte.in/i-stand-anand
The page also gives the link for an online petition we have launched:
http://aifrte.in/i-stand-anand
Activists have been translating the petition in different languages.
Of course, the signing link at change.org remains the same.
Your support is requested not only to sign it, but also to further
promote it. Will you please explore support of the Rouge Forum
comrades on urgent bases? Please do the needful even if you have
signed any other petition. We look forward to your crucial support in
this regard.

Comradely
Dr. Vikas Gupta and Prof. Anil Sadgopal