Bhima-Koregaon clash: Who are the activists who have been raided?
New Delhi, August 28: In joint raids across the country, the Pune police raided the homes of at least eight activists including Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Susan Abraham, Anand Teltumbde and Fr Stan Swamy across the country on Tuesday, August 28, 2018, under the pretext that these persons were behind the violence that erupted at the annual celebrations at Bhima-Koregaon memorial on December 31, 2017, and the police claim these activists were also involved in the plot to assassinate the Prime Minister.
According to reports, they have arrested Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves. The Pune police had hoped to arrest Gautam Navlakha, but the Delhi High Court has issued a stay on the transit remand of Gautam Navlakha. The police will not be able to take Navlakha to Pune. He will have to be presented at the Delhi High Court on Wednesday. He is being detained at home.
So, who are the activists who have been raided?
Sudha Bharadwaj
Sudha Bharadwaj is an Indian trade unionist and a civil rights activist against land acquisition. She is currently the general secretary of the Chhattisgarh People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), and also the founder of Janhit (a lawyers collective) and is also associated with the late Shankar Guha Niyogi’s Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha. Bharadwaj fought against corrupt bureaucrats to ensure proper wages were paid to the workers in the mines and plants located in Bhilai.
On June 7, activist lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, the Vice-President of the IAPL, along other lawyers and activists, accused the government and police of arresting Surender Gadling, Rona Wilson, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen and Sudhir Dhawale to shield Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote, the leaders of a Hindutva outfit.
In March, Sudha Bharadwaj, rejected an invitation to 2018 annual memorial lecture organised by the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning (CESP) at JNU after the dean surpassed the suggestion of CESP to invite Pratap Bhanu Mehta and invited Shiv Choudhary to deliver the memorial lecture.
Gautam Navlakha
He has been associated with People's Union for Democratic Rights and is a Delhi-based journalist. He is also an editorial consultant of the Economic and Political Weekly.
On August 2, Gautam Navlakha was issued a notice by Reliance group owned by Anil Ambani for a story on Rafale fighter aircraft. During a press conference in July, he along with Sudha Bharadwaj demanded repeal of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. They said, the Act, passed to regulate the activities of unlawful organisations, has been used by the government to curb extremist activities as opposed to unlawful activities.
Varavara Rao
Varavara Rao is a poet, journalist from Hyderabad. He is one one of the most revered critics of Marxist literature and has taught Telugu literature to graduate and undergraduate students for about 40 years. He founded Srujana (creation), a forum for modern literature in Telugu, in 1966 as a quarterly and later turned it into a monthly and successfully brought it out till 1992. He was one of the founders of Viplava Rachayitala Sangahm (Revolutionary Writers' Association), popularly known by its acronym Virasam.
Rao on June 9 refuted allegations that he had arranged funding for Maoist attacks in the country. His name had cropped up in one of three letters that surfaced after an alleged plot by Maoists to eliminate Prime Minister Narendra Modi was revealed. One of the letters said Varavara Rao was given the responsibility of carrying out attacks and it noted that he had arranged for funds to be handed over to Surendra Gadling.
Arun Ferreira
Arun Ferreira, is a law graduate from Siddharth Law College, and is associated with an NGO Navjawan Bharat Sabha. He has also been part of the Indian Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL) and Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR).
He spent six years in Nagpur jail as a political prisoner. He was arrested in 2007 for alleged naxalite and anti-national activities under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Eleven cases were registered against him. He fought a relentless legal battle to prove that the charges were false and completely fabricated. In January 2014, he was acquitted in all the cases for lack of substantial evidence.
Susan Abraham & Vernon Gonzalves
Susan Abraham is one of the best civil rights lawyers in Mumbai.
Vernon Gonzalves is a gold medallist from Mumbai University and a former lecturer at Ruparel College and HR College. Security agencies alleged that Gonzalves was an ex-central committee member and former secretary of Maharashtra State Rajya Committee of Naxalites. He was charged in around 20 cases and has been acquitted in all of them as the prosecution could not furnish any evidence.
Anand Teltumbde
Anand Teltumbde is a management professor, civil rights activist and political analyst. He has authored many books on various issues relating to Peoples' movement with particular emphasis on Left and Dalits.
Father Stan Swamy
Fr. Stan Swamy is a people’s rights defender. He is the founder of Vistapan Virodhi Janvikash Andolan (VVJA), an all India platform for different movements that are resisting displacement of adivasi people, dalits, and farmers from their lands. In the recent past, he has expressed dissent with several policies and laws enacted by the government relating to adivasi people and their lands. He has also questioned their validity and legality in the light of the Indian Constitution.
Courtesy: nationalheraldindia.com
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Drug crackdown in Mangaluru: 25 arrested in 14 days, QR code tips aid police
Mangaluru: Intensifying action against drug peddling, Mangaluru City police arrested 25 people and registered 12 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act between November 30 and December 13. During the operation, police seized 685.6 grams of MDMA and 1.5 kg of Ganja, The Times of India reported.
City police commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy reportedly said, the QR code based anonymous reporting system, introduced to enable citizens and students to discreetly share information on drug-related activities, has received an encouraging response. Several recent arrests were made based on inputs received through this system, helping police tighten the noose around drug peddlers.
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According to the report, so far this year, up to December 14, police have registered 107 drug peddling cases and arrested 219 accused. In addition, 562 cases were booked for drug consumption, leading to the arrest of 671 people.
During raids conducted this year, police allegedly seized large quantities of narcotics, including ganja worth Rs 88.7 lakh, MDMA valued at Rs 1.2 crore, and MDMA pills worth Rs 87,000. Other raids include charas worth Rs 1.7 lakh, hydro-weed ganja worth Rs 94.7 lakh, methamphetamine worth Rs 50,000, bhang chocolates worth Rs 6,800, cocaine worth Rs 1.9 lakh, and opium worth Rs 9,000.
In 2024, police arrested 160 peddlers in 88 cases, in addition to booking 1,026 cases for consumption and arresting 1,244 persons. In 2023, the police arrested 199 peddlers in 94 cases and booked 619 cases for consumption and arrested 749 persons.
"We ensure that peddlers are caught red-handed so that they cannot later dispute the case or claim innocence," TOI quoted commissioner Reddy as saying.
To curb drug use among students, police also introduced random drug testing in colleges. Around 100 educational institutions were covered in the first phase, where nearly 6,000 students were screened. As per the report, about 20 students tested positive and were counselled. They will undergo follow-up tests in the next phase.
Reiterating a zero-tolerance policy, the commissioner reportedly said random testing would continue and colleges have also been directed to conduct drug tests at the time of admission to deter substance abuse at an early stage.
