Mumbai: Human rights activists and organisations on Tuesday criticised the government move to arrest individuals under the guise of urban naxals, and called it a step to stifle the voices of dissent.
“This is nothing but witch-hunt by the government and the police against human rights defenders and activists. It shows the frustration of the regime which has not fulfilled the promises it made to the people and now wants to divert the attention by taking action against those who are talking against it,” Mihir Desai, a senior counsel at Bombay High Court and the Maharashtra convener of People’s Union for Civil Liberties, said. Over 20 organisations and activists will be holding a press conference in Mumbai on Wednesday to condemn the raids and arrests.
Sandhya Gokhale of Forum Against Oppression of Women said human rights lawyers, activists, and defenders are being arrested under draconian laws and under cooked-up charges. “The fear of losing in the coming election is prompting them to stifle the freedom of expression. But we stand united against this undeclared emergency and all draconian laws which provide illegitimate power to the government,” Ms. Gokhale said.
“I condemn the arrests of the human rights activists by the Fascist Modi regime. It is a diversion to counter the arrests of the Sanatan Sanstha members. The violence in Bhima Koregaon is just another strategy to save the likes of (Sambhaji) Bhide who engineered the riots, and also to protect the Sanatan terror network. The struggle to defend democracy, the Constitution, and the nation will carry on despite the worst repression from the Modi junta,” Firoze Mithiborewala of Bharat Bachao Andolan said.
Dolphy D’souza of Police Reforms Watch said it is unfortunate that those who stand for the voiceless are being shut by the State.
Chayanika Shah of Labiya-A Queer Feminist LBT Collective said while some of us expected this police repression, the blatant manner in which this is being unfolded is unexpected. “This is an attempt to shift the entire discourse as per the right wing’s dictation. The manner in which the raids were conducted and the arrests were made is full of violations,” she said.
