English PEN is disturbed by reports that poet and activist Varavara Rao, who has been detained in India since 2018, has tested positive for COVID-19.
Our colleagues at PEN Delhi have been actively campaigning for Varavara Rao’s release and in June 2020 issued a joint statement with PEN International calling for his release:
Given his fragile state of health – especially in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak – and questions surrounding the validity of the charges under which he is held, PEN is calling for him to be released on medical grounds.
On 13 July 2020, in light of increasing concerns for his health and well-being and the continued postponement of bail hearings, they issued another appeal for his release:
It is clear that there is no danger of Varavara Rao jumping bail. His most ardent wish at this time is to be with his family: Why would he want to run away? At a moment when health and survival are uppermost in everyone’s minds, the state must rise to the occasion and save the life of this ailing poet.
Shortly afterwards, it was confirmed that Varavara Rao had tested positive for COVID-19. English PEN has since joined our colleagues at Scottish PEN and other sister centres in writing to the Indian authorities in support of Varavara Rao’s release. In the meantime, we continue to call on the authorities to ensure that he receives the necessary medical attention as a matter of urgency.
Background
A Marxist poet and activist, Rao is considered an important figure in Telugu literature, and has since the late 1960s published numerous poetry collections. He is a founder of the Virasam – the Revolutionary Writers Association. From 1966 to 1992 he ran Srujana (Creation), a monthly journal focusing on modern Telugu literature.
Rao served several stints in prison through the 1970s to the late 1980s for his writing and activism. Between 1973 and 2014 he was implicated in 25 cases with serious charges, but the prosecution could not prove a single charge in a single case and he was acquitted by law courts in all the cases. His latest arrest took place in November 2018, and he has been detained ever since. Rao is accused of his purported connection with an alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, commentators believe that he is being held for his views and that he is being penalised for his continued radical left activities and advocacy for the underprivileged communities in India, including indigenous tribal groups. Several appeals that he be freed on bail have been rejected.
Plain Talk
by Varavara Rao
It is hard to be clean
After the lines are drawn
Nor it is good to respect protocol
While talking about Naxalbari
It does not suit to tune anger
As profound as singing anguish
Yelling against
The blood stained hands
Should be at the top of your voice
But beside an obscure poem
Smelling new paper or printing ink
Nothing could be recognised
Except your photo
An eagle in the skies
Or a bear in the woods
Or a racing hound
Sniffs anything easily
Why don’t you speak out
About that which all of us react to
When even the nascent flowers
Are soaked in blood
You cannot conceal ideas
Within diapers or layers
The hands that clean the wounds
The hands that aim arrows
The hands that compose tunes
Have become open sores being wet for long
They have become the hardened blood
Turned to people’s flags after song and dance
Duty of a chisel is
To fill life into stone
But not turning life into a sculpture
Turn of phrase, don’t get scared
Come out with plain speak
That touches the heart
***
July 10, 1989
Translated by N Venugopal