00:00I don't call it an arrest. I was abducted.
00:16Dr. Prakash Amte, who has worked with Swastu in tribal areas.
00:25I wanted to talk to him and understand his work.
00:30How did he do his work in such a difficult situation?
00:34As soon as I was coming out of Ballard station,
00:38I was thinking of going to Himalakasa, where Prakash Amte's hospital is.
00:44I was thinking of taking a bus and coming out.
00:48Suddenly, people in civilian clothes came and abducted me.
00:55I was not able to understand anything.
00:57I told them that I don't have any enmity with anyone.
01:00For three days, I was kept in an air-raid shelter in different places.
01:03I was blindfolded and taken to different places.
01:07I was not allowed to sleep for three days.
01:11I was not allowed to travel in peace.
01:15On 23rd August, 2013, I was presented to the magistrate court in Aheri.
01:23I am from Uttarakhand.
01:26When I came to the campus, Uttarakhand had become a state.
01:29But after becoming a state, the issues were,
01:32what kind of a state should it be?
01:34What kind of a state should we demand?
01:36All the issues related to this were discussed in Uttarakhand.
01:39I was also affected by this.
01:42Cultural activists like Girish Tiwari Girdha were also present in the protest.
01:46In Girdha's songs, it is said that
01:48whatever will happen in Delhi, it will be like washing utensils in a hotel.
01:51He had to bear such atrocities.
01:55I could see the pain of the people in Girdha's songs.
02:05I was affected by those songs and I came to this protest.
02:09At that time, we used to raise awareness among students.
02:13Through cultural activities, I used to participate in all the protests.
02:20I used to participate in the fight for social justice.
02:26I used to raise my voice for the political prisoners who are being imprisoned.
02:35This is the reason why I was imprisoned for the first time.
02:41I could see the pain of the people in Girdha's songs.
02:50I was affected by those songs and I came to this protest.
02:54I could spread the message of awareness among the people through my songs.
03:04Spreading this message is not illegal in the eyes of the constitution.
03:13I have always felt that I have been deceived.
03:17This is the misfortune of our generation.
03:20The media, social media, big companies and the government
03:28show the dreams of the youth.
03:30They show the dreams of being a customer of a product.
03:33They show the dreams of cars, bungalows and houses.
03:35But what is the reality?
03:37Even today, we say that we are a developed country.
03:39On the other hand, 80 crore people are given ration for free for 5 years.
03:44Why do they need to be given this ration?
03:47Because they do not have the capacity to buy it.
03:49This is the picture of a developed country.
03:52We are increasing our ideology.
03:54The space for anti-social ideologies is getting depleted.
03:59The people who speak against human rights are also being put in jail.
04:05The space for human rights that people have achieved by fighting for justice is getting less.
04:15The people who accused us yesterday, we used to put them in jail.
04:22Today, the space for such accusations has increased.
04:25The people who are against human rights are also being put in jail.
04:31There are people in the judicial system who like justice.
04:41But the justice system that we call the biggest democracy in the world is yet to achieve its goal.
04:51I feel that people will have to live on their willpower.
05:00They will have to fight for justice in the jails.
05:04When I was punished, I felt that I will have to stay in jail for a long time.
05:10I knew that I have not committed any crime in a democracy that is considered a crime.
05:16But despite that, I had to stay for a long time.
05:19There are flaws in the justice system.
05:22But I have faith in the justice system.
05:24I came here with a dream of studying in a premier institute like Jaharlal Nehru University.
05:33Today, I have more than 10 years of academic experience.
05:37So, if I look at it personally, I would say that it is a big loss.
05:44But I have just come out of jail and I have 10 years of experience.
05:48I will have to think about my future.
05:53I don't know if I will be able to tell you.
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