A day after five prominent Left-wing activists were arrested in police raids in several states, civil rights defenders claimed today that the country was under "undeclared emergency".
A rally was organised from College Street to Esplanade area in Kolkata, where people from various backgrounds participated to condemn the arrest and demand the immediate release of the activists.
Civil rights activist Sujato Bhadra said the democracy in India was going through one of its "darkest phases".
"Indira Gandhi had at least declared the emergency officially. But the (Narendra) Modi government has imposed undeclared emergency," Bhadra said.
The National Human Rights Commission said it appears that the standard operating procedure was not followed during the arrest of Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha.
This, it added, amounts violation of their human rights.
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