Last Tuesday (28th August) became another black day of Indian history. At the dawn, the Pune Police, raided the houses of eminent human rights activists, as is usually done in the cases of hardcore criminals, and detained five of them – Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai; Gautam Navlakha in New Delhi; Prof. Sudha Bharadwaj in Faridabad and Varavara Rao in Hyderabad. The act is being condemned as a bid to silence dissident against “fascist” manners of the regime and arrogance of upper casts to crush the Dalits, downtrodden and minorities.
As Mr. Param Bir Singh, ADGP put, the controversial action was taken in an 8-month-old case of Bhima Koregaon violence (January 1). It is alleged that the accused incited Dalits with their speeches at an Elgar Parishad event held in Pune a day before, and that this event was funded by a banned Maoist outfit. The speakers reportedly included newly-elected Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, JNU student Umar Khalid, Radhika Vemula, Soni Sori, Vinay Ratan Singh, Prashant Dontha and others.
The Elgar Parishad was held on 31st December to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the historic defeat of the Brahminical regime of Peshwa Bajirao-II at the hands of a small force comprising mostly of Mahar Dalits under the command of East India Company at the banks of River Bhima near village Koregaon in Pune. Next day, on January 1, the Dalits were attacked by groups of upper caste rouge elements, while they were heading towards the war memorial erected in the British era to pay their tributes to Dalit warriors and celebrate the “victory against oppression” at a war memorial. The Pune police is blamed of partiality. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was the first to visit the monument with other Dalit leaders on this day – the greatest instance of Dalit martial valour.
After eight months of the violent incident, the police clamped down upon the Dalit Rights activists, blaming them for the violence and indulgence in ‘Unlawful Activities’. The police claimed to have “evidence to clearly establish their roles with Maoists” and that they incited the violence.
The ADGP Singh said in a press conference on Friday, “The case was registered on January 8 about an incident of December 31, where hate speeches were delivered.” He said, “Sections were imposed for spreading hatred. The investigation was conducted. Almost all the accused were associated with Kabir Kala Manch.”
THE SC MOVE
The Supreme Court immediately came to the reprieve of the five by ordering not to send them to jail but keep under house arrest till next hearing on September 6. The Apex Court noted, “Dissent is the safety valve of democracy. If not allowed, the safety valve will burst.” The Government of Maharashtra has been put on notice to present the pieces of evidence, it had against the five.
Inconsistencies
The NDTV, citing the Reuters, reported that the remand application filed in Pune court on August 29 gave “16 reasons why the rights activists should be in police custody but had none of the dramatic claims made by the public prosecutor in the court.” One of the popular claims is “a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Modi”. Another is, “facilitating Maoist funding and weapons via Nepal.”
The police also did not mention the attacks of upper caste Maratha organisations upon the Dalits on way to celebrate historic war. The petition in the court also did not mention the involvement of any of the five targeted accused by name.
During the hearing, the public prosecutor read out from the letters allegedly seized from the accused, presenting it as evidence that they were working in collusion with Maoists. The remand report, however, only stated that they are active members of the CPI (Maoist) and are trying to “advance their cause” through illegal activities.
Claims in media
The police added more claims in the press conference on Friday, August 30, addressed by ADGP. He added that the arrested activists had brainwashed students from JNU and Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Social Sciences into doing “underground work” and claimed that they were attempting to bring down the lawfully established government. The police also claimed they have seized thousands of letters between “underground” and “over-ground” Maoists. Some letters allegedly also sought money to procure grenade launchers. An email between Wilson and a Communist Party of India (Maoist) leader spoke about ending “Modi-raj” with a Rajiv Gandhi-like ploy to “assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi”, Singh told reporters.
ADGP Mr. Singh cited from the letter: “Bhima Koregaon agitation has been successful”. “Unfortunate death of a youth must be exploited. The riots were effective and we should mobilise the Dalit population against the rising Brahmin-centred agenda of the BJP.”
Mr. Singh claimed, “As much as Rs 10 lakh was allocated to organise Dalit meetings and “polarising lectures” such as the Elgar Parishad event.
Sudha BharAdwaj
The police said the letter was written by activist Professor Sudha Bharadwaj. However, she strongly dismissed the claim as “totally concocted.” From her house in Faridabad, where she is under house arrest, she said in a hand-written statement that legal and democratic activities such as meetings, seminars, protests “have been sought to be de-legitimised by alleging they are funded by Maoists.”
Interestingly the police claimed, “Investigation revealed that a big conspiracy was being plotted to overthrow the ‘fascist-Government’ by Maoist organisations.” “The accused were helping them to take their goals forward. A terrorist organisation was also involved.”
To prove that the police have “conclusive” evidence, Singh read out from letters at the press conference, allegedly exchanged between Navlakha, Bharadwaj, activist Rona Wilson and advocate Surendra Gadling and their Maoist associates.
Wilson, Gadling, Professor Shoma Sen and activists Mahesh Raut and Sudhir Dhawale were arrested in June from Mumbai, Nagpur, and Delhi. Labelling them “urban Maoist operatives”, the police claimed to have found evidence that they were plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Last word
Recent progress of SIT Karnataka in the murder case of Gauri Lankesh, and subsequent success in cracking the murder cases of N. Dabholkar, M M Kalburgi and other ‘anti-fascist’ activists and arrests of suspects related to hardcore Hindutva outfit Sanatan Sanstha, recovery of illegal arms and ammunition and bombs from them, exposure of conspiracy of serial bomb-blasts across the state, had necessitated diverting public attention and political questioning about “Hindutva Terrorism”. The sensational arrests also seem a ploy to win the sympathy vote for failing government in 2019. The Pune episode seems that fault lines for the next general elections are being drawn between “anti-fascists” and “anti-democratic” forces.
[The writer is a civil rights activist and free-lance journalist. [email protected]]