Won't allow Left extremists to mislead youth: Maha MoS

Left-wing extremists will not be allowed to make the youth the soft target and mislead them, said Maharashtra's Minister of State for Home (Rural) Deepak Kesarkar on Wednesday.

"Until police has got a proof, they don't take any action. When there is a proof then only court grants police custody. Hence, it is clear that the government has got evidence in this case. The other thing is, it is such a movement how anyone can support a Naxal ideology. Naxalites do not believe in state government, central government, they have a parallel government and army. This is not good for democracy and everyone needs to think about it. We have lost many constables and officers in this fight," said Kesarkar while commenting on the multiple raids and arrests in connection with Bhima Koregaon violence.

Yesterday, five left-wing activists were arrested from various cities across India in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence by the Pune Police. The raids were carried out in Mumbai, Ranchi, Hyderabad, Faridabad, Delhi and Thane. The Pune Police arrested Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Gautam Navlakha, Gonsalves and Sudha Bhardwaj following the raids.

Justifying the crackdown, he further said, "Left wing extremists won't be allowed to make our youth the soft target. They look for a soft target and are misleading the youth of the country and it is our duty to stop it. It is not a political action. It is our duty to take action against Naxalite forces. A lot of people are being killed as a police informer and the people who are supporting it openly are wrong. There should not be a politicisation of this issue".

However, from the other end of the political spectrum, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury condemned the police action in harsh terms and gave a call for protest.

He said, "Tomorrow at Jantar-Mantar there is going to be a protest by various left and progressive organisations. There is very big resistance coming to this attack on the democratic right".

Alleging of misuse of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Yechury said, "UAPA was passed by Parliament under the assurance that only for confirmed terrorist and those on whom there is credible information will this act be invoked. However, the current action makes it obvious that the government is acting in a partisan way".

Later in the day, Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) also released a press note and condemned the arrests of activists. Terming it as 'government-sponsored terrorism', BSP chief Mayawati, through her written statement, said, "Through such action, this government is trying to divert the attention of people from its extreme failures. However there is widespread anger among people against this spiteful action, and it is clearly visible. The government should avoid such an undemocratic act.