A group of civil society activists has called for an online protest against the Supreme Court’s recent direction asking professor Anand Teltumbde to surrender before jail authorities within a week in connection with the 2018 Bhima-Koregaon case.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday had rejected the plea by Mr. Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha seeking anticipatory bail in the cases registered against them.
The decision to protest was taken at a web conference of Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy, a forum of around 40 civil society activists such as writer Meena Kandasamy, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader Prakash Ambedkar, Mr. Teltumbde’s daughter Prachi and wife Rashmi, and journalists Kumar Ketkar and Nikhil Wagle. Mr. Teltumbde is likely to surrender at the sessions court in Mumbai between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. on April 14.
Ms. Kandasamy said the case against the professor was fabricated and a classic way of punishing intellectuals. Mr. Wagle condemned the court’s decision and termed ridiculous the charges levelled by the Pune Police. Mr. Ambedkar said there is a need to mobilise people and stage a protest.
Rajya Sabha member Bhalchandra Mungekar said the case defies rules of jurisprudence and pointed out that the term ‘urban naxal’ used to describe Mr. Teltumbde was coined by the Pune Police.
Ms. Prachi read out a statement released by Dalit activists such as Jignesh Mewani and Chandrashekhar Azad. The statement said the direction to surrender “is both tragic and shameful for all Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs, and minorities on many counts for all of India. When even repressive regimes around the world are releasing political prisoners in the face of coronavirus, great minds like Dr. Teltumbde are incarcerated.”
