Mainstream WeeklyPROTESTS IN NEW DELHI AGAINST THE ARRESTS OF ACTIVISTS BY PUNE POLICE
The arrest of five human rights activists on August 28 and the strong condemnation this has invited from a wide spectrum of people all over India may become a landmark in the history of Indian democracy, especially given the judicial proceedings which have been triggered. Some implications of this development have already become clear and more will crystallise as the case unfolds.
The most conspicuous message that has emerged is the centrality of human rights to a democracy. This is seen by the current dispen-sation as posing the greatest challenge to their political power. Wave after wave has repressed human rights workers in the country. After G.N. Saibaba’s arrest and prosecution, the Bhima Koregaon case has become the launching pad for the next wave. The Elgaar Parishad meeting on December 31, 2017, organised by the retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice P.B. Sawant, to ensure goodwill among Dalits and Marathas during the rally commemorating the Bhima Koregaon victory on January 1, has been built up as a major conspiracy case. The first FIR was revised to declare a link between the Dalit groups and Maoists and five civil liberty activists were arrested, which included the lawyer representing Saibaba: Surendra Gadling. Rona Wilson, one of the main activists in the campaign for the release of political prisoners, including Saibaba, was also arrested. Now the police claim that from their interrogation, the activists arrested on August 28 were identified. Together, they seem to pose such a threat to the regime that charges of a conspiracy against Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been framed