In a joint statement, opinion makers including social activist Swami Agnivesh, journalist Neha Dixit, activist Teesta Setalvad, journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, among others have said, “This is also an attempt by the BJP to invent a false enemy and engage in scaremongering in order to polarise the 2019 elections in its favour. Already, the government and the media houses close to the BJP have been trying to spin a false narrative of a Maoist conspiracy since June, 2018.”
“The arrests of prominent activists and intellectuals Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Kranthi Tekula and others, are nothing but an attempt by the government to strike terror among those who are fighting for justice for the marginalised,” the statement added.
They noted that the arrests should be seen in continuation with the recent attacks on pro-justice voices such as Swami Agnivesh, Umar Khalid and many other student activists from Delhi to Lucknow. “Both the arrests and the physical attacks on justice loving people must be seen in a series of attempts to stifle dissent and deny social justice,” the statement read.
Condemning the arrests as politically motivated and unjustified, they have also demanded immediate release of the arrested individuals, dropping of all false and malicious charges.