Reacting to the recent chargesheet filed against several political leaders and activists in connection with anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protests, the Communist Party of India on Thursday said that the Delhi Police was trying to frame anyone critical of the Narendra Modi government.
In a statement, the party said that the peaceful and democratic protests against the CAA were a legitimate, constitutional expression of people’s dissent against the law. “It was the effectiveness of the protests that shook the BJP, which is now attempting to portray the protests as a conspiracy to cause riots in North-East Delhi. It is indeed shocking that the Delhi Police is trying to frame political leaders and activists who are critics of the anti-people policies and programmes of the current regime,” the party said.
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CPI leader Annie Raja, Congress leader Salman Khurshid, CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat, CPI (ML) leader Kavita Krishnan and activists including Prashant Bhushan, Anjali Bhardwaj, Yogendra Yadav, Harsh Mander, Rahul Roy, Apoorvanand and Saba Dewan have been named in the chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police. Earlier, CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury was named.
“All these people extended solidarity with the peaceful protests led by Muslim women and now this is being twisted into a grand conspiracy. In contrast, the glaring absence in the chargesheets on the role of leaders associated with the BJP, who gave inflammatory speeches, is unmissable,” the statement said.
The CPI said that there were many serious concerns about the impartiality of the probe. The Congress, the CPI(M), the CPI, the DMK and the RJD had submitted a joint memorandum to the President, highlighting these concerns.
