The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Jurist irked by curbs on Geelani

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Tuesday, Dec 02, 2008
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Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Jurist irked by curbs on Geelani

Special Correspondent

KOCHI: V.R. Krishna Iyer, jurist and human rights activist, has expressed his protest to Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan over the way the Kochi police prevented S.A.R. Geelani of Delhi University from meeting him (Mr. Iyer) on Sunday.

In a statement, Mr. Iyer said he had called up the Home Minister and asked why the police of Kerala should oblige the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by denying Prof. Geelani his fundamental right to “meet me and others.”

“I hope the State government will police the police and protect the citizens against the hostility of any party, including the BJP,” he said in the statement. “Terrorism by the State organs is a tread towards totalitarianism.”

Prof. Geelani’s scheduled talk at a meeting in the city on Sunday was aborted by the police and he was not allowed to go out of his hotel room to meet Mr. Iyer. He was virtually confined to the room. A mob of RSS-BJP workers had also blocked Prof. Geelani from meeting the press.

Police accused

Prof. Geelani, in a statement, said the Kerala police seemed to be encouraging the fascist elements and endangering the democratic space in India and the future of democracy.

“I condemn this illegal and undemocratic attitude of the police and ask the government of the State to act against those police officers who were responsible for denying the people their democratic rights and encouraging the fascists in the State,” the statement said.

Blaming the Sangh Parivar for the troubles, Prof. Geelani said: “This is sheer fascism and terrorism which should not be tolerated and since Sangh Parivar claims that it represents the Indian culture, democracy-loving people of India are duty-bound to come out and condemn this fascism in unequivocal terms.”

He found fault with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Left Democratic Front government for allegedly playing into the hands of the Sangh Parivar. “Innocent Muslims in North India, Maharashtra and Gujarat are being victimised in the name of terrorism. So far, this has not happened in Kerala. Unfortunately, the recent arrests of innocent Muslim youths exposes the claim of the government in Kerala of its being democratic and secular,” the statement added.

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