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Last year, we saw the state respond to COVID-19 as a law & order problem rather than a public health disaster. We saw the violence of #PandemicPolicing , more criminalization, inadequate support for prisoners...What’s the situation during #COVIDSecondWaveInIndia? Open #Thread 1/n
Police’s arbitrary and disproportionate use of force is again at display with the most marginalized - food vendors, hawkers, rickshaw drivers and other workers - facing the brunt of the brutality. https://www.india.com/news/india/viral-video-2-cops-brutally-thrash-indore-man-for-not-wearing-mask-his-son-pleads-them-to-stop-watch-4563851/ 2/n
Last week, Chakkan Bhuiyan, a Dalit man, was killed by the police after being beaten for stopping for fuel. 3/n https://twitter.com/detsolnet/status/1388684417753751556
“You’ll never see police beating up ministers or businessmen for violating the lockdown. There’s is a different law for them and only we poor people are beaten to scare the rest of the classes,” 4/n https://www.siasat.com/telangana-night-curfew-raises-fear-of-police-brutality-2126873/
Meanwhile, overcrowding and lack of adequate healthcare in jails across the country are putting prisoners at severe risk with additional challenges to recovery from COVID-19 5/n https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/almost-all-jails-overcrowded-prison-officials-struggle-to-enforce-equitable-distribution-covid-7287797/
#DecongestPrisons #ReleasePrisoners 8/n https://twitter.com/cpaprojectindia/status/1387416534671233026
Instead of releasing prisoners, arrests of activists and protesters continue unabated without any recognition of the challenging conditions in custody due to Covid 19 #EndClampdownOnDissent 9/n https://twitter.com/amaanbali/status/1389228268423761920
Continued arrests & police harassment 10/n https://twitter.com/ismataraa/status/1389206543665483777
3 Delhi prisons have become epicenters of covid 19. https://m.thewire.in/article/health/overcrowded-delhi-prisons-witness-massive-spike-in-covid-19-cases 11/n
Little has been done to decongest the prisons..12/n https://twitter.com/nitikakhaitan/status/1390154155541483522
PUDR demanded urgent action for testing, healthcare & release of vulnerable prisoners... https://m.thewire.in/article/health/covid-19-pudr-asks-delhi-hc-to-take-action-on-alarming-situation-in-citys-prisons 13/n
Those who were released on parole to decongest prisons last year have had to return now. Another committee of civil society members also demanded that more prisoners be released in light of the situation on interim bail or emergency parole. 13/n https://twitter.com/lokaneetajinee/status/1389649492555845633
As of today, the Supreme Court has ordered immediate release of prisoners 14/n https://twitter.com/jeevika_shiv/status/1390985465482813444
Families of Kashmiris who have been detained in jails across the country, esp since abrogation of S. 370 further worry they may never again see each other https://thekashmirwalla.com/2021/05/kashmiri-prisoners-may-never-return-home-now-not-even-in-death/ 15/n
Police violence against food vendors on the premise of lockdown #COVID19India 17/n https://twitter.com/Amitsen_TNIE/status/1391645075034148865?s=20
Along with decongesting prisons & upholding prisoners’ right to health to tackle COVID-19, there needs to be long term changes to overcrowding & the medical infrastructure. Read this thread & letter of demands 
18/n https://twitter.com/cpaprojectindia/status/1391772551110483970
18/n https://twitter.com/cpaprojectindia/status/1391772551110483970
