During the Coronavirus lockdown, the anti-CAA protesters were either busy providing food and other relief material for the needy, downtrodden or marginalised or were facilitating those who were trying to help the people in need to fight this pandemic.
However, in the meantime, reports of arrests of anti-CAA protestors and student leaders and activists surprised one and all because the lockdown was imposed to ensure contain Coronavirus effectively and not to silence the critics. But the establishment on the pretext of lockdown started to nab the protestors who were then actively involved in safeguarding the rights of citizens and protecting the fundamentals of the Constitution that guarantees the right to the citizens.
Reports are emerging that the protestors are again trying to hit the streets to reclaim their rights of citizenship and to demand immediate release of all those arrested during the lockdown. Many socio-political groups through virtual press conferences have registered their concern over the manner the protestors have been arrested during lockdown and demanded their release. Will the protest gain momentum once again and will it be equally supported by the people this time is the big question. Many analysts believe that the anti-CAA protestors have made a lasting impression on the minds of the people which is not likely to fade away soon.
On 3 June, members of over 190 student organisations as well as social activists and individuals from across the country protested to highlight the repression of anti-CAA activists and democratic voices of dissent and registered their protest while uploading photos of their protest on social media. The protesters condemned the arrest of anti-CAA protestors and demanded the release of Jamia students Safoora Zargar, Meeran Haider and Asif Iqbal Tanha and JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita along with activists Ishrat Jahan, Khalid Saifi, Gulfisha Fatima, Sharjeel Imam, Shifa Ur-Rahman and many others. Many of them have been charged with UAPA.
“Laws like the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act are designed to be misused. There is no such thing as lawful use of the UAPA. In Assam, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) uses Lenin’s Photo, Words Like ‘Lal Salam,’ and Comrade’ to justify UAPA charges against Bittu Sonowal. It says that he uploaded a photo of Vladimir Lenin on Facebook,” said Ravi Nair, Director, South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre.
“The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has held that the use of phrases like ‘lal salam’ and ‘comrade’ are proof that Bittu Sonowal, a close aide of Assam farmers’ leader Akhil Gogoi, is a Maoist. It only reflects on the intelligence of the senior level NIA officers who allowed such a chargesheet to be filed.
“The usage of the UAPA against the students in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh is a scandal. The 2019 amendments did not alter the provisions in the 2004 Act regarding immunity from prosecution for government officers and authorities and for members of the armed forces. Thus, an individual wrongly arrested, detained and/or imprisoned has virtually no legal recourse to seek compensation or combat impunity,” he said.
“Central and state governments should ensure that any tough anti-terror provisions are balanced by safeguards against police brutality, corruption, and discrimination which are rampant. Section 197 of the CrPC requiring prior permission to prosecute public officials from the executive must go. The Right to Compensation for wrongful arrest and incarceration must be an absolute right. Not left to the discretion of a particular Judge or bench of the superior courts. The UAPA law is a recipe for human-rights violations. It can brand any ordinary citizen a terrorist, which is exactly what is happening in not only the case of the activists but also hundreds of Muslims and Adivasis across the country,” said Nair.
According to John Dayal, a noted social and human rights activist, “This is the most ominous phase of the lockdown, summarily precipitated without notice, to contain the spread of the Coronavirus. The virus infection curve has not yet plateaued. In fact, it threatens to climb higher with every passing day. Other crises that are a result of the Covid, the economic halt, the massive and cruel exodus of migrant labour, and the looming academic crisis, call for single-minded governance. That should have been the top priority of the BJP government at the Centre, and indeed the primary focus of the prime minister.”
“Instead, we find the government has used the Emergency-like absence of civil liberties in the virus-induced national lockdown to pursue a vicarious and venomous political agenda. Various state governments have already protested at the attack on federalism, on lack of clarity and transparency in various decisions on devolution of relief and rehabilitation, and the unwarranted mysterious secrecy behind the PM-CARES fund. The most vicious government agenda has been to terminate dissent, to silence all opposition, to quell all protest. There are no physical agitations; otherwise we could have seen scenes like the attacks on Black protesters in the USA. But the insidious attacks on Human Rights and Civil Liberties activists in the country have intensified. The coercive environment of the lockdown is seen as a fit time to arrest activists, to file FIRs against writers on the most trivial excuse, and to transfer arrested activists from one jail to another Covid-infested jail,” he said.
“The nadir of these actions has been struck in the arrest of the pregnant research scholar of Jamia Millia University in New Delhi. What is her crime, but dissent, protest and an articulation of her opposition, like mine, to the CAA? She was lifted by the Delhi Police in a clandestine operation. The lower magistracy has done the government’s bidding in denying her bail. There are no surprises here. I hope higher judiciary will defend Constitutional rights, and will release her on bail, and quash the FIR and proceedings against her,” argued Dayal.
On the misuse of UAPA, former president of AMU Students Union, Mohd Salman Imtiaz said, “It is a draconian law that suits a Jungle Raj, not a democracy. Unfortunately, the BJP Government is following the jungle script to impose its will against the principles of freedom enshrined to us in the Constitution. The arrest of people under UAPA, especially those belonging to the Muslim community and Dalit caste is condemnable and must be resisted at all costs. BJP wants Muslims and marginalised Hindu communities to surrender and serve, but we have committed ourselves to resistance against this Fascist rule. Despite pandemic, the Modi government has shamelessly jailed students and activists but that does not deter us from struggle to safeguard the foundations of India.”