Statement by People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) against arrest of Human Rights Activists // Open Letter from civil servants about recent events
Statement by
People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) against arrest of five
Intellectuals and Human
rights Activists on 28 August, 2018
Press Release
30 August, 2018
Pune police under BJP
government in Maharashtra arrested five well known left leaning intellectuals
and activists under UAPA on August 28. Eighty
years old Varvara Rao is a famousTelegu poet.Sudha Bhardwaj is
general secretary of People’s Union for Civil Liberties, and a
leader of Chhatisgarh Mukti Morcha. Gautam Navlakha is a journalist and has been
associated with Economic and Political Weekly and People’s Union for Democratic
Rights. Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves are lawyers.
They were arrested by
Maharashtra police years ago for being associates of banned CPI(Maoist), but
were acquitted by courts of all charges as there was no evidence against
them. Arun Ferreira has been an active campaigner for the rights of people
detained under black laws like POTA and UAPA. Police also raided house of Prof
Satyanarana, the son in law of Varvara Rao in Hyderabad, and of Dalit scholar Prof
Anand Teltumbde in Goa, and eighty year old Father Stan Swamy in Jharkhand.
Police claims these arrests to be a follow up of the arrests of Prof Rona
Wilson, Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale, civil rights activists Shoma Sen and
Mahesh Raut, and lawyer Surendra Gadling, on June 6. For the time being the
Supreme Court has stayed the police custody of the accused, and ordered their
house arrests till September 6.
All of the people
arrested have been active in public life for many decades. Their ideas,
political ideology, and activities have been in public domain all these years.
Pune police has accused them of being urban contacts of the CPI (Maoist), of
being part of a conspiracy to spread caste violence at the Bheema Koregaon gathering
of Dalits in January, and of the plot to kill ‘high political functionaries’ in
the style of ‘Rajiv Gandhi assassination’ . These charges would be
laughable, but for the sinister intent of the BJP government.
Ever since Mussolini’s
March on Romein 1922, rightwing authoritarian parties have used spectacular
show of strength to attack and terrorise their political and ideological
opponents,and shore up popularity. Simultaneous arrests of these well known
critics of the Modi government in different cities of the country are designed
to produce similar public impact. As if on cue, the jingoistic media has
latched onto the news and ‘Urban Naxals’ is the new label with which opponents
of the regime are getting targeted.
There are other
reasons too why these people are under attack. The Elgar Parishad meeting
organized by a number of Dalit groups on the eve of Bheema Koregaon gathering
had publicly declared BJP government as the ‘New Peshwai’ for its anti Dalit
politics. This represented a new phase of anti-Caste politics, which can
disturb the caste calculations behind the social engineering of RSS. In
response the Modi regime has gone all out against politically active Dalits.
Cases have been filed against Jignesh Mevani for speaking at the Elgar meeting.
In Western UP Chandrasekhar has been in jail for close to two years. And,
thousands of cases have been filed for protests against Supreme Court judgement
diluting the law against atrocities on Dalits. Current arrests area part of the
long term strategy to prevent any association between left groups and
anti-Caste Dalit politics.
It is well known that
all of these five people have written, protested and fought legal cases against
state violence on the most marginalized Adivasis of Central
India. Democracy is not only a collection of institutional practices, but
is animated by a set of core ideas and values. Protection of the most
vulnerable from injustice and oppression is one of these ideas. It is also
ingrained in the Constitution via special provisions for oppressed castes and Adivasis. While these people have tried to keep this essential idea of
democracy alive in popular consciousness through their writings and activities,
Modi regime wants to criminalise this idea and banish from public domain people
who espouse it. Only then can it fully succeed in its majoritarian agenda.
Prof Satyanarayna and
Ms K Pavana, daughter of Varavara Rao, have detailed in public what they went
through when police raided their house in Hyderabad. Years of scholarly work
stored in laptops and hard drives was summarily confiscated. They were asked why
they had pictures of Phule and Ambedkar but not of gods and goddesses. Pavana was
told: ‘Your husband is a Dalit, … but you are a Brahmin, so why are
you not wearing any sindoor .. (and) .. dressed like a traditional wife?’
Clearly, the police acted as casteist thugs and agent of Brahmanical Hindutva,
rather than officers of a democratic state.
Many Indians have
already raised their voice against the brazen misuse of state power by the Modi
regime and condemned these arrests. Most of the opposition parties too have
come out against this action. People of India need to be vigilant against BJP’s
machinations. The very possibility of democracy in the country is at stake. PADS demands immediate
release of all arrested on June 6 and August 28. It demands stringent action
against police officials who framed trumped up charges against the accused, and
violated the right to dignity and privacy of Prof Satyanaryana and K Pavana.
Released by:
Battini Rao, Convenor PADS (95339 75195)
Battini Rao, Convenor PADS (95339 75195)
Open Letter from civil servants about recent events
This is the text of
the Open Letter issued by forty eight (at the time of going to press) retired
civil servants to register our protest and our anger over the raids on
professionals/activists associated with fighting the cause of the dispossessed.
Dear Prime Minister,
We are a group of retired civil servants who came together last year because of our concern over what we saw as an alarming decline in the secular, democratic, and liberal values enshrined in our constitution. As citizens who have had a close association with issues of public policy and governance and the administering of our Constitution, we felt it was necessary to speak out against the rise in authoritarian and majoritarian tendencies, the abuse of political power and the increasing disregard of constitutional values. We have issued several Open Letters (sometimes in concert with a group of retired veterans of the Armed Forces) and have also together with the veterans organized Conclaves on several issues of public interest. As a group, we are resolutely committed to constitutional values and principles, and are non-political, whatever the political preferences of individual members might be.
We are a group of retired civil servants who came together last year because of our concern over what we saw as an alarming decline in the secular, democratic, and liberal values enshrined in our constitution. As citizens who have had a close association with issues of public policy and governance and the administering of our Constitution, we felt it was necessary to speak out against the rise in authoritarian and majoritarian tendencies, the abuse of political power and the increasing disregard of constitutional values. We have issued several Open Letters (sometimes in concert with a group of retired veterans of the Armed Forces) and have also together with the veterans organized Conclaves on several issues of public interest. As a group, we are resolutely committed to constitutional values and principles, and are non-political, whatever the political preferences of individual members might be.
We feel compelled to
write an Open Letter once again, - in what we perceive as the most brazen
display yet- of the display of coercive authority by the State. The arrests of/raids
against Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves, Varavara Rao, Arun
Ferreira, Stan Swamy, Kranti Tekula, Naseem and Anand Teltumbde, all of whom
have been in the forefront of the struggle for justice for Adivasis, Dalits,
Muslims, members of the working class and women and children ( a struggle which
has been a continuing one irrespective of which Government has been in power)
have been the trigger. They have always used lawful and democratic means in
their efforts, and this series of arrests shows how wilful and arbitrary the
State is to intimidate and silence any signs of dissent and democratic resistance.Earlier Shoma Sen,
Rona Wilson, Mahesh Raut , Surendra Gadling and Sudhir Dhawale were also
arrested under the same charges for inciting violence in the context of Bhima
Koregain, and the same incident.
The use of draconian
laws, which deny access and circumscribe the ability of those arrested to
access protection of their fundamental rights is completely unjustified. The
imposition of this law is a circumvention of the normal processes and allows
the flimsiest of evidence to frame charges and arrest those who are politically
inconvenient and may threaten powerful commercial interests complicit with the
State. It is patently obvious that the objective is to create a climate of fear
to deter those in civil society who are critical of the Government’s treatment
of Dalits, Adivasis and other marginalised and dispossessed groups and may be
inclined to take up cudgels on their behalf.
The excuse for such
action hinges on a fabricated tale of a “terror” plot against a high
functionary in which these allegedly “urban Naxals” play a role. Incidents
quoted refer to the Elgar Parishad held earlier in the year in Pune, of which
the highly respected Justice P.B. Sawant (former Supreme Court Judge and
Chairman of the Press Council) was a key organizer. The vagueness of the
allegations, the manner and the timing of the arrests, the choice of the
persons arrested (none of whom were a part of the Bhima Koregaon incident), the
use of a law which has lower standards of evidence required for establishing a
‘prima facie’ case, all go to show the insidiousness of the intent. The
evidence in the public domain against those arrested appears to be incredible.
This is shameful.
The charges made
against these respected human rights defenders and intellectuals - as
broadcast by compliant sections of the media - is that they are supporters of subversive violence, applying to them the newly minted tag of the ‘urban Naxalite’, alleged to be city-based middle-class supporters of Maoist insurgents. That this tag has been applied to a group of persons who have always used lawful and democratic means in their efforts is an example of how wilful and arbitrary the State can be in quelling any signs of dissent and democratic resistance .
broadcast by compliant sections of the media - is that they are supporters of subversive violence, applying to them the newly minted tag of the ‘urban Naxalite’, alleged to be city-based middle-class supporters of Maoist insurgents. That this tag has been applied to a group of persons who have always used lawful and democratic means in their efforts is an example of how wilful and arbitrary the State can be in quelling any signs of dissent and democratic resistance .
It is evident that
these arrests follow a pattern designed by the current dispensation to tag any
dissident or critical intellectual activity as anti-national or seditious or
supportive of secession and terrorism. Ironically, while a ‘Maoist sympathiser’
is treated as a dangerous terrorist who needs to be incarcerated, a sympathiser
of Bajrang Dal or Sanatan Sansthan or Hindu Mahasabha, who flaunts the agenda
of violence and hate, is seen as pursuing a worthwhile national cause. Coming
from a political culture where ministers and legislators who fete and celebrate
murder convicts and perpetrators of mob violence are given political support
and patronage , this perversion of principles is sickening.
None of us are
supporters of Naxalism or the violent ideology it represents. In fact , as
Ramachandra Guha, an eminent public intellectual, historian and a scholar of
Gandhi, said in an interview to NDTV, the persons arrested have never preached
violence and instead always upheld the rule of law as enshrined in the
Constitution. Many of the activists arrested now and earlier in June this year
are lawyers, who in representing Adivasis whose rights to natural resources and
livelihoods stand expropriated or threatened, have bravely stood against the
joint might of the State and its “corporate cronies”. Their record is exemplary
and their focus has been unwavering, whether the government was of the Congress
or the BJP. For such persons to be charged as instigators of extremist violence
is a deliberate official falsehood foisted to damage their reputations, and is
truly bizarre and Kafkaesque.
Prime Minister, we know that this, our letter of protest and condemnation, will be given short shrift and we will be told, yet again, that the law must be allowed to take its course. The question, Prime Minister, is of those who govern and misuse the law for promoting partisan politics at the cost of justice; and that must also stand the test of public accountability and the scrutiny of evidence. The refuge that law and order is a State subject, and that the Union has no role, is not convincing enough as the opinions that have led to these arrests have been built up deliberately by a series of statements in the public domain by the current establishment. Yet, Prime Minister, we know that you have the political authority to give suitable directions to a BJP Chief Minister to withdraw the cases and we also know that should it so choose, the Union Government has the constitutional authority to issue appropriate advisories and directives, which have been used many times in your period as PM for a variety of reasons. As the prime executive authority for administering the Constitution, we hope that you will not permit the brazen trampling of the Fundamental Rights of those who work to protect the rights of the poor and the dispossessed.
The Court of course will have to take a view on the legality and the legitimacy
of the arrests. But the onus for the administration of the law vests with the
union and the state governments. These arrests could not have been made without
their prior sanction. As the Head of the Government, we expect nothing less
from you than an absolute commitment to upholding the core values of democracy
and the principles of justice and fairness. It is time that your party and your
government show their determination to stand by and protect our Constitution.
Should you choose to ignore our letter, we will know how hollow that commitment
is and demonstrate once again your willingness to crush public dissent,
especially that which defends the rights of the country’s disadvantaged castes and
classes, with the misuse of state agencies and coercive laws.
https://scroll.in/latest/892547/full-text-ex-bureaucrats-write-to-pm-call-charges-on-activists-a-deliberate-official-falsehood
