Harvard law school is one of the most prestigious law school in the world. It was founded in 1817 and located in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United Kingdom. And on the occasion of the international women’s day, they honored 21 honorees and the one name which it portrait was the name of the Sudha Bharadwaj who was held liable in Koregaon case. Each of these honorees was nominated by Harvard law school students, faculty or staff. And all were the powerful voice in their respective fields, whether they are sitting on a high court bench, standing in front of a classroom, or marching in the streets.
Koregaon incidents refer to a violation that broke out on the 1st January 2018 when Dalit where celebrating the 200th year of the battle of Bhima Koregaon. As gathering where consisted largely of Dalits, but there was an interference of Maratha group on this gathering resulted in an escalation of an already tense gathering into violation. And due to this violation, there were several protests which resulted in the death of one person and 30 policeman being injured as well as over 300 people being detained. And in a result of this Maharashtra bandh was called by Dalits group on 3rd January.
This battle of Koregaon is of legendary important for the Dalits. As on 1st January 1818, 800 troops of the British Army, with Mahars (leather worker) predominant among them defeated a numerically superior force of the Peshwa Baji Rao 2. And hence the Dalit leader B.R.Ambedker led the first commemoration ceremony here.
Sudha Bhardwaj was arrested from her residence in Faridabad by Maharashtra police on August 28, the police alleged that she and four other activist- Vernon Gonsalves, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, and Gautam Navlakha had moist links and acted as the mastermind behind violence in Bhima- Koregaon on 1st January 2018.
Though arrested, the Pune police could not take her away from Faridabad as the Supreme Court intervened in the meantime on the plea by academic-historian Romila Thapar and few others seeking a court-monitored probe by Special Investigation Team in the case. The Court had ordered to keep Bharadwaj and others under house arrest during the pendency of the case.
On September 28, the SC by 2:1 majority dismissed the plea for SIT, with the dissent of Justice Chandrachud who expressed that Maharashtra police was biased.
She was brought to Pune on October 26 and has been in jail ever since. The police are yet to file charge sheet against her and the four others.
She has been a trade unionist, human rights activist and lawyer, engaging with marginalized workers and Adivasis in tribal areas in Chattisgarh. She was also the national secretary of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties.
She used to teach on tribal rights at National Law University Delhi as a visiting faculty Her arrest was condemned by several students, faculty, and alumni of NLU-D and also several lawyers, who issued statements to that effect. Supreme Court lawyer Maneka Guruswamy also features in the Harvard list of honorees.
