India has figured among the top 10 countries to jail writers, academics and intellectuals in 2021 according to the Freedom to Write report published by Pen America.
According to the Pen international report, 277 writers and academics were jailed in 36 countries last year.
Of them, eight are from India which includes comedian Munawar Faruqui and Bhima Koregaon accused persons Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Hany Babu, Gautam Navlakha, Arun Ferreira and Anand Teltumbde.
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More than half of these 277 people were also in jail during 2019 and 2020, Pen international observed.
Pen America noted that many languishing in the jails in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case suffer from health ailments and have been subjected to restrictions on sending or receiving letters or reading materials.
They also mentioned the case of Stan Swamy who died at a Mumbai hospital while in police custody on July 5 last year, nearly nine months after he was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
(Inputs various news agencies)