Raids a brazen attack on democratic rights, reminiscent of infamous Emergency: Left parties

The CPI(M) today lodged its strong protest against the police raids on several civil and human rights activists and left intellectuals, and said it constituted a brazen attack on democratic rights and civil liberties.

The CPI(M) Polit Bureau demanded withdrawal of the cases against these activists and their immediate release, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation said the move was "reminiscent of the infamous Emergency" of the 1975.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation said the arrests and raids are an attempt to brand all dissenting voices as "anti-national" and intimidate them as the parliamentary polls draw near.

Two Left-wing activists Varavara Rao and Sudha Bhardwaj were arrested today as the Pune police carried out searches at multiple places in various states on the residences of people suspected to have Maoist links, a senior police official said.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon-Bhima village, triggered by an event called 'Elgar Parishad' (conclave) held in Pune on December 31 last year.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) -- CPI(M) -- said the raids which were carried out in Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, Goa and Hyderabad have led to the arrests of some of the activists such as Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao and Gautam Navlakha.

The police have also taken away laptops, mobiles and other personal papers from the homes of those raided, the party said.

"Ever since the Bhima-Koregoan violence against Dalits, the Maharashtra Police along with central agencies have been targeting Dalit rights activists and lawyers who have been taking up their cases. False charges have been levelled and the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act invoked.

"These constitute a brazen attack on democratic rights and civil liberties. The Polit Bureau demands the withdrawal of the cases against these activists and their immediate release," it said in a statement.

The CPI(ML) Liberation said those arrested include noted rights activist Sudha Bharadwaj who has lifelong been a lawyer and champion of the rights of the most oppressed in Chhattisgarh, as well as Vernon Gonsalves, Gautam Navlakha and others.

In a statement, the party said, "The attempt to project the peaceful Bhima-Koregaon event as an act of terrorism is utterly baseless and condemnable."
The party said, "It is shocking but not surprising that under the BJP rule at the Centre and in Maharashtra, rights activists are arrested and booked on terror charges under draconian laws - while terror outfits such as Sanatan Sanstha and Shiv Pratishthan unleash violence on Dalits, plot terrorist attacks, assassinate dissenters and yet are referred to by BJP leaders including the current Prime Minister of India as 'nationalist'."