The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is conducting raids at the premises of several Adivasi, Dalit and human rights activists in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The raids are being conducted to investigate the activists for “their alleged links with Maoists” stated news reports. The raids began on March 31 and have been reported to have continued till the early hours of April 1. The NIA has seized the phones, computers, laptops and some books and papers from most of the premises raided.
According to a report in the Hindustan Times, the central anti-terror probe agency has booked at least 64 people – mostly activists and a journalist – under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and also accused them of Sedition “for helping Maoists in their activities”. Those raided include Chilika Chandrasekhar (general secretary of Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee), VS Krishna, Human Rights Forum (HRF) coordinator for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh – who have been speaking against Andhra’s anti-Naxal force – the Greyhounds – for allegedly raping 11 tribal women in 2007 in the Vakapalli incident; and Duddu Prabhakar (a prominent Dalit activist).
According to the news report is NIA’s second case against activists after the Bhima-Koregaon probe, in which several activists like Sudha Bhardwaj, Anand Teltumbde, Professor Hany Babu MT, Father Stan Swamy have been arrested and denied bail. Chandrasekhar was quoted by HT: “The NIA team is at my residence in Guntur without presence of any intermediary. My wife is at home alone. They have not allowed anybody to see anything.”
People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) shared that the two FIRs were filed by the Andhra Pradesh police, the first in Munchingput Police Station, Visakhapatnam (47/2020) dated November 23, 2020, and the second in Guntur district FIR number 606/202, filed at Piduguralla town police station, dated November 24, 2020. “A total of 80 people were accused in the FIR number 47/2020, with 27 people being common with those named in the Guntur FIR. The sections under which the Munchingput FIR was lodged were as follows, 120 (B), 121, 121(A), 143, 144, 124 (A) r/w 149 (All IPC Sections), UAPA sections 10, 13 and 18, AP Public Security Act, 8 (1) and 8 (@) and section 25 of the Arms Act,” shared PUCL. The NIA took over investigation of the Munchingput police station FIR on March 7 2021 and the FIR number RC-1/2021/ NIA/HYD was lodged by NIA.
The NIA began its raids on March 31, at the homes of the eminent activists who work for who mostly belong to Human Rights, Civil liberties, women’s and writers organisations and are academics, writers, feminists and lawyers. They include: Revolutionary writers association, Paani, ( Kurnool district), Varalakshmi (Kadapa District), Arun (Kurnool District), Chaitanya Mahila Sangam, Devendra, Shilpa, Swapna, Rajeswari (Guntur), Padma (Vishakhapatnam), Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC), Raghunath, Hyderabad, Chilika Chandrashekhar (Guntur District), Chitti Babu, (East Godavari), Human Rights Forum (HRF), Krishna (Vishakhapatnam) Prajakala Mandali, Dappu Ramesh, (Hyderabad), Amarula Bandhu Mitrula Sangham Friends and Relatives of Marxists (ABMS), Anjamma (Prakasham District), Sirisha, (Prakasham district), Advocate, KS Chelam of Vishakhapatnam.
PUCL has condemned these raids calling them a “witch hunt” and “an effort to silence activists, who have stood up against injustice and questioned all Governments. All these people were challenging anti democratic laws, illegal arrests and other undemocratic practices of the Indian State and their respective Governments of AP and Telangana, along with challenging caste and patriarchal violence against women, the hegemonic attacks by the Hindutva forces against Muslims, destruction in the name of development, protecting the land and forest rights of the people etc.” According to the PUCL, most of these activists have “used the tools of fact finding committees, cultural expressions organised meetings, rallies and dharnas, putting out press releases pamphlets etc,” which was not acceptable to the YS Jaganmohan Reddy Government, who got these illegal cases filed. So they filed FIRs under sections of the UAPA, which was a sinister move to get activists to stop all work.
The Human Rights Forum (HRF) has issued a statement condemning the raids and said they were “clearly an exercise in intimidation to stifle lawful dissent and protest. We have no hesitation in stating that the contents of the FIRs are a litany of lies.” It also called “atrocious” allegations in the Munchingput FIR, where VS Krishna, AP&Telangana Coordination Committee member of HRF has been accused of influencing the Vakapalli rape survivors to depose falsely against the policemen. The HRF stated that it “along with many Adivasi, womens’ groups, and mass organisations were active participants since 2007 seeking justice for the 11 Vakapalli women who were raped” allegedly “by special forces personnel.” Thirteen accused police personnel are presently on trial in that case. The HRF stated that while two of the Vakapalli women had died in the intervening years, the remaining nine came to Visakhapatnam and deposed in court and “HRF, along with several other organizations have provided them with food and shelter to be able to depose in the trial. It is certainly not a crime to provide food and shelter to Adivasi women witnesses who have come from remote areas to depose in a criminal trial mandated by the law.”
According to HRF, “It is because of this solidarity and sustained rights activism that the police are now seeking to intimidate VS Krishna in what we believe to be a clear case of vindictiveness.” They have reiterated that the “HRF is not a surrogate or front of any political party. We were formed in 1998 with the firm conviction that a broad-based and truly independent human rights movement is desirable and possible.“ The HRF’s AP&TS Coordination Committee members S Jeevan Kumar and A Chandrasekhar have issued the public statement demanding that “the fabricated accusations in the FIRs be immediately dropped.”
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