Members of the district unit of the Karnataka Komu Sauharda Vedike staged a dharna in front of the Clock Tower protesting against, what they termed the “assault on civil rights by the Modi government,” here on Friday.
K. Phaniraj, vice-president of the district unit of the vedike, said that ever since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of the country, there had been a systematic effort to muzzle the voice of non-government organisations (NGOs) and civil society groups, which it saw as hostile to its agenda.
Targeting
Among the worst-hit NGOs was the Citizens for Justice and Peace headed by civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad. This organisation was being hounded ever since it took up the cause of the victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The targeting of Citizens for Justice and Peace was still continuing. All kinds of flimsy charges had been made against Ms. Setalvad and the organisation. This was just an example of how the Modi government treated the NGOs and civil society groups, he said.
Pressure
G. Rajashekhar, writer and president of the district unit of the vedike, said that influential quarters had pressured Rohini Salian, the Special Public Prosecutor in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case, to go soft on the case after the Modi gfovernment came to power.
The treatment meted out to the rights activist G.N. Saibaba was a mirror to the scant regard for basic human rights in the country, he said.
‘Systematic efforts to muzzle the voice
of NGOs’
