Ramachandra Guha detained
BENGALURU: Noted historian Ramachandra Guha who was part of the protest at the Town Hall in Bengaluru was detained by the police on Thursday. Guha, who is the author of critically acclaimed books on Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian independence movement, including Gandhi: The Years that Changed the World (1914-1918), hit out at the current Bharatiya Janata Party-led administration for using a colonial-era law to “supress dissent and stifle differing voices.”
He also accused the Modi government of using the newlypassed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) — which offers citizenship to undocumented migrants of multiple faiths other than Islam, from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan — to “divert attention from a sinking economy.” He was detained among hundred others, and taken to a holding place near Audogodi. The police sought their details and released them a few hours later.
Guha, who was holding a placard with a photograph of Dr B R Ambedkar, which said “CAA is against the Constitution” was detained minutes before he told the media: “Why is that only BJP ruled states have this (Imposition of Section 144) and not others? This is totally wrong...Police are getting orders from Delhi...
Everybody should stand up...”.
Later, speaking to HT, Guha said: “Unlike the students, I was not asked for any details. I was detained for about four hours and later told that I was free to go.”
Recounting his detention, Guha said, “I was part of the first two dozen people who were there at the [Bengaluru protest] venue and were detained… the important thing is every protest must be non-violent and collective.”