Political parties and social activists reacted strongly to the arrest of activists for 'Maoist links' in nationwide raids on Tuesday.
In a co-ordinated crackdown across six States, the Pune police on Tuesday raided the homes of several activists and arrested Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, civil liberties activist Gautam Navlakha, trade union activist Sudha Bharadwaj and Telugu poet Varavara Rao for alleged links to the Communist Party of India-Maoist. The simultaneous raids were conducted in Mumbai, Thane, Sankhali in Goa, Delhi, Faridabad in Haryana, Hyderabad and Bagaicha near Ranchi.
The perpetrators of the Bhima Koregaon violence remain untouched, but human rights activists and lawyers who stood up for the democratic rights of the victims are being arrested, the Opposition said.
The CPI(M) demanded the immediate release of the activists and withdrawal of the the cases against them. "This is just following the trend set by the right-wing forces to brand anyone who raise their voice as urban Maoists. Instead of arresting the actual perpetrators, they are attacking the activists and lawyers who stood up for the Dalits," CPI(M) general secretary, Sitaram Yechury told The Hindu .
CPI(ML) leader Kavita Krishnan called it an undeclared emergency and said the arrests came "on the heels of the murderous attack on Umar Khalid".
