Police has raided the homes of Dalit and human rights activists in Maharashtra, Telangana, Delhi, Haryana and Goa, and arrested Vernon Gonsalves in Mumbai, Gautam Navlakha in Delhi, Sudha Bharadwaj in Haryana, and poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad.
Mr. Rao’s daughter in Hyderabad, Mr. Navlakha and Ms. Bhardwaj’s homes in Delhi and Haryana respectively, and professor Anand Teltumbde’s house in Goa were also raided by police.
Varavara Rao, a poet and activist, was arrested in Hyderabad for a case related to alleged conspiracy to assassinate Prime Minister. Arun Ferreira and Susan Abraham’s houses were raided in Mumbai. Mr Vernon Gonsalves is a human rights lawyer and activist, and Susan Abraham is a civil liberties lawyer and is part of the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR). In Delhi; activist Gautam Navlakha was arrested by Pune police. In Jharkhand, Father Stan Swamy’s residential premise was raided by the Jharkhand police. Varavara Rao was arrested by Pune police in Hyderabad. Flats of senior journalist K.V. Kurmanath and T. Kranthi, a photographer in Hyderabadwere also raided.
Prof. Anand Teltumbde, currently out of Goa, confirmed the raid at his on-campus premises at the Goa Institute of Management (GIM),
Sudha Bharadwaj was produced in the court of Civil Judge Sakshi Saini in Faridabad.
According to The Hindu, “JNU professor Jayati Ghosh, accompanying Ms. Bharadwaj, alleged that the Maharashtra Police seized two laptops, two mobile phones and a pen drive from the house of Ms. Bharadwaj. She was also forced to share her Gmail and other social media account passwords. A diary with several blank pages was also seized by the police, said Ms. Ghosh. She said that Ms. Bharadwaj feared tampering of the gadgets and diary to frame her.”
“Ever since the Bhima Koregoan violence against Dalits, the Maharashtra Police along with central agencies have been targeting Dalit rights activists and lawyers who have been taking up their cases. False charges have been levelled and the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act invoked.These constitute a brazen attack on democratic rights and civil liberties. The Polit Bureau demands the withdrawal of the cases against these activists and their immediate release.”, reported the Hindu quoting CPI(M) Politburo statement on these arrests.
