RAIDS IN FIVE STATES AS COPS SEE ACTIVIST ‘PLOT’
Pune police raided the residences of prominent lawyers and activists across five states on Tuesday and arrested five people for alleged Maoist links — a move that was condemned by Opposition leaders as an attack on civil rights.
Lawyer and trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj, poet P Varavara Rao, activist Gautam Navlakha, and lawyers Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves were arrested and charged with criminal conspiracy, creating fear and enmity between groups, and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The arrests were part of a probe into violence in Bhima Koregaon in Maharashtra on January 1.
SUDHA BHARADWAJ
A trade union activist and lawyer, Bharadwaj has been working on land acquisition, farmers, tribal and Dalit rights for almost three decades. Born in the United States, she gave up American citizenship, studied Mathematics at Iit-kanpur and then law. She is the general secretary of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Bharadwaj practises at the Chhattisgarh high court. She is also a Visiting Professor at National Law University, Delhi. Her work focusses on the rights of contract workers and labourers, and she is known for taking a stand against forcible land acquisition. Bharadwaj is fighting several lawsuits on behalf of tribal and Dalit farmers and labourers against companies and the state. She is associated with the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (CMM) and recently formed a legal group called Janhit.
GAUTAM NAVLAKHA
He is a civil rights activist and journalist, who has been involved with the People’s Union for Democratic Rights and the Economic and Political Weekly magazine. A resident of Delhi, Navlakha has also been a convener of the International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir. He has had several stints in Kashmir and favours a referendum in the state. In recent times, he has focused on Chhattisgarh where Maoists have gained a stronghold. In May 2011, he was refused entry to Srinagar Airport and was made to return to Delhi as the state government believed his presence could disturb peace and order.
VARAVARA RAO
He is a communist leader, poet and journalist from Telangana. He is considered one of the tallest Leftist thinkers in Telugu literature. He has addressed thousands of public gatherings. He has founded a forum for modern Telugu literature and one of the founders of Viplava Rachayitala Sangham (Revolutionary Writers’ Association), popularly known by its acronym Virasam, that supports Leftist ideology. He has been in jail several times, published 15 collections of poetry and has acted as an emissary of the CPI (Maoist) during talks with the government.
ARUN FERREIRA
Arun Ferreira, 46, a Mumbai-based activist and lawyer, who has written extensively on politics and communalisation. In May 2007, he was arrested in Nagpur under Unlawful Activities and Prevention Act (UAPA) for alleged Maoist links and plotting an explosion in Mumbai. He was acquitted later. Ferreira was arrested by a team of around 12 policement from his Thane apartment.
VERNON GONSALVES
He is a Mumbai-based lawyer who was arrested under the UAPA and arms act in 2007 and was released in 2013. Vernon became a full-time activist after Emergency was clamped, and with CPI (Maoist) leader Kobad Ghandy and he too started working for the tribals in Vidarbha. Vernon was charged in around 20 cases and acquitted due to lack of evidence.