[Marxistindia] Release Political Leaders & Activists

[news from the cpi(m)]

May 11, 2020
Press Release

Leaders of eight political parties have addressed a letter to the  
President of India demanding the immediate release of opposition  
leaders and human rights activists and calling for an end to a  
politics of vendetta against protesters and political dissenters.

The letter sent this morning is being released for publication.


CPI(M) Central Committee Office

***


The President of India
Rashtrapathi Bhawan
New Delhi

Dear Rashtrapathi ji,

We, the undersigned, are writing to you to express concern and  
condemnation at the spate of arrests of students and activists under  
the draconian UAPA during the time when the country and people are  
dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.

This is a time when people all over the country, and the world, are  
experiencing fear and uncertainty about their well-being, and the  
safety of their loved ones. The central government’s priority must be  
to single mindedly focus in effectively dealing with this pandemic  
while catering to the needs of the people and their requirements.  
“Your government’s“ priority must be to  deal with the problems that  
have emerged affecting the lives and livelihoods of crores of people,  
as reflected in the plight of the migrant workers, many of whom have  
lost their lives due to hunger, exhaustion and walking many kms to  
reach their homes. The central government has done very little to  
provide relief and rations to such people.

Many countries in the world are seeking to release prisoners so as to  
prevent the spread of Covid-19 in prisons. In India too, the Supreme  
Court advised the release of prisoners on bail or parole to reduce  
crowding in prisons. The situation at the Arthur Road prison in Mumbai  
is a testimony to such dangers. Even physically disabled people with  
known serious medical conditions like Dr. G N. Saibaba and others are  
not being allowed to seek competent medical treatment.
At such a time, it is shocking to see the Government of India jailing  
academics, activists, women, and students, putting their health and  
safety at grave risk.

•    In Delhi, the police directly under the Home Ministry is  
arresting prominent activists including women involved in the totally  
peaceful anti-CAA movement under the draconian UAPA on totally  
manufactured  charges seeking to link them with the communal violence  
in Delhi. In addition, scores of students are being called for  
interrogation by the Special Branch and intimidated. The victims in  
the violence perpetrated in JNU are being targeted while there has not  
been a single arrest of those outsiders who unleashed this violence  
against students and teachers. It is also shocking to note that  
certain communities are being targeted while the perpetrators of  
communally charged violence, established in various video recordings,  
including prominent leaders of the ruling party are moving around scot  
free.

•    In the communal violence in north east Delhi, in spite of prima  
facie evidence of police connivance and the involvement of mobs  
attacking minority areas identified in the videos, the Delhi police is  
making one sided arrests of young Muslim men and interrogating only  
members of the minority community, creating a sense of insecurity  
among them.

•    The arrests of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha in the Bhima  
Koregaon case even while continuing the detention of activists Sudha  
Bharadwaj and others without any evidence is another shocking example  
of how civil liberties are being trampled.

•    In Kashmir the continuing detention of former Chief Minister  
Mehbooba Mufti and many others is condemnable. So also is condemnable  
that prisoners from Kashmir are locked up in various jails across the  
country.

•    The vindictive approach of the Government in continuing the  
detention of Shri Laloo Prasad Yadav in spite of his ill health and  
the stringent conditions of his imprisonment is condemnable.

We request you to urge the Government to reverse this course by  
releasing opposition leaders and human rights activists and ceasing  
the pursuit of a politics of vendetta against protesters and political  
dissenters at a time when the country and people have to be united in  
dealing with this Covid pandemic.



Sd/-


Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary, CPI(M)
D Raja, General Secretary, CPI
Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary, CPI(ML)
Debabrata Biswas, General Secretary, AIFB
Manoj Bhattacharya, General Secretary, RSP
Sharad Yadav, General Secretary, LJD
Manoj Jha, MP, RJD
Thol. Thirumavalavan, MP & President, VCK