N Venugopal is a Telugu poet, literary critic, translator and journalist. He is currently editor of Veekshanam, Telugu monthly journal of political economy and society. His books include Understanding Maoists: Notes of a Participant Observer from Andhra Pradesh - Setu Prakashani, Kolkata, 2013.
Prison walls cannot stop imagination and expression, however much they try to curb freedom of expression. Varavara Rao, the renowned poet and public intellectual, is again behind bars, this time round as an under-trial prisoner in Pune’s Yerawada Central Prison in the infamous Bhima-Koregaon or Urban Naxal case. In his public life spanning about 60 years, the 78-year-old poet spent more than seven years in various prisons in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, beginning with his first arrest in 1973.
As part of the state-wide protest call, in many districts people held demonstrations and in front of Varavara Rao’s house also a demonstration began in the morning. Various students, youth, writers, workers organizations participated and spoke at the demonstration. Several songs against state repression were sung. It was like a full-fledged public meeting, as it was on one of the main roads in the city.
The moot question is whether it is possible to reconcile individual liberties and state’s interests. The bigger question would be what would be the responsibility of the courts if individual liberties and state’s interests are at loggerheads and state uses illegal means to curtail individual liberties.