Delhi police arrested yet another journalist, AltNews Co-Founder Mohammed Zubair, on June 27, 2022 based on a tweet posted in 2018. A cyber unit arrested Zubair for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. This is just two days after activist and journalist Teesta Setalvad was picked up by the Gujarat ATS on June 25.

The complaint filed by social media user ‘Hanuman Bhakt’ included charges such as promoting enmity between different groups and malicious acts to outrage religious feelings. This is already the sixth FIR against the journalist over the last two years.Alt News co-founder Pratik Sinha tweeted that although the police sought seven days of police custody, the duty magistrate allowed custody for only one day with half an hour visitation for the lawyer.

Police has been directed to produce before the concerned magistrate tomorrow.

— Pratik Sinha (@free_thinker) June 27, 2022

Sinha also pointed out how the police rushed Zubair to the magistrate’s house in Burari on late Monday night rather than bring him to a regular court on June 28, asking, “I wonder, why is the Delhi police in such [a] tearing hurry to bring Zubair all the way from Dwarka to the residence of a duty magistrate in Burari at this hour? Why not just produce him before the regular court tomorrow before the 24 hours end that is not till tomorrow afternoon?”

On Monday, the cyber police called Zubair from Bengaluru for investigation in a 2020 case. In September 2020, Zubair was booked under the POCSO Act after he responded to an abusive message from a Twitter user. Later, the High Court gave him protection against an arrest. However, this time the police said that the journalist was arrested under a different FIR without prior notice.

Narrating the whole ordeal on social media, Sinha said that the police failed to produce a copy of the FIR or remand application. After a medical examination, Zubair was taken to an undisclosed location in a police van although “no police person [was] wearing any name tag,” tweeted Sinha.

The DIGIPUB News India Foundation condemned the arrest, recollecting how he was previously booked for calling three Hindutva supremacists “hatemongers”.

“In a democracy, where every individual possesses the right to exercise the freedom of speech and expression, it is unjustifiable that such stringent laws are being used as tools against journalists, who have been accorded the role of playing watchdog against the misuse of the institutions of the state,” said the DIGIPUB in their statement.

Digipub condemns in the strongest possible terms the arrest of Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of Alt News. pic.twitter.com/POYEaGIdAI

— DIGIPUB News India Foundation (@DigipubIndia) June 27, 2022

Meanwhile, DCP (Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations – IFSO) K. P. S. Malhotra said, in a press release, that Zubair had tweeted a questionable image of God Hanuman with a purpose to “deliberately insult the god of a particular religion.” The statement said that such tweets cater to a brigade of social media entities, who indulge in insult mongering, possibly injuring communal harmony.

Further, he said that when the cyber united was notified about the “objectionable tweet” and his followers’ attempts to create “a series of debates/ hate mongering”, officers questioned him and found his role objectionable.

“He was evasive on the questions and neither provided the necessary technical equipment for the purpose of the investigation nor cooperated in the investigation… During investigation, the conduct of Mohammed Zubair was found questionable, which warranted his custodial interrogation to unravel the conspiracy in this matter,” said Malhotra.

Zubair was among the first people to point out suspended BJP Spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s comments against Prophet Mohammed and Islam during a Times Now debate. The hate speech spewed by Sharma sparked widespread protests not only within India but caused outrage among the Gulf countries as well.

Now, Zubair’s arrest coupled with earlier arrests of Setalvad and former Gujarat State DGP R. B. Sreekumar has sparked considerable anger among the activist, journalist groups and even politicians.

After Teesta and Sreekumar now its @zoo_bear . If this not undeclared emergency, what is? Shame on you Modi Sarkar! #MohammedZubair #Emergency

— nikhil wagle (@waglenikhil) June 27, 2022

The news concerning the arrest of @zoo_bear of @AltNews is deeply concerning. The government of India must stop suppressing journalists and human rights defenders, and respect personal liberties of all its citizens. #StandWithZubair pic.twitter.com/IU94XzRD8n

— Pierre Larrouturou (@larrouturou) June 27, 2022

India’s few fact-checking services, especially @AltNews, perform a vital service in our post-truth political environment, rife with disinformation. They debunk falsehoods whoever perpetrates them. To arrest @zoo_bear is an assault on truth. He should be released immediately.

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 27, 2022

While Zubair was arrested for the 2018 tweet, Setalvad and Sreekumar were arrested for criminal conspiracy and forgery following the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the Zakia Jafri case. Both these instances have been viewed by citizens as an example of muzzling dissent. Accordingly, youth groups also voice their solidarity with Zubair. Solidarity art is being shared with hashtags like “Free Zubair” or “Stand With Zubair”.

 

 

 

 

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Related:

Nation unites to demand Teesta Setalvad’s release
Allahabad HC refuses to quash FIR against Alt News Founder Mohammed Zubair
How are religious sentiments hurt when blatant hate speech is exposed by a journalist?
BJP dumps spokesperson Nupur Sharma, Naveen K. Jindal in damage control move
Millat Times Editor booked for sharing Kanpur violence videos!

The post First Teesta Setalvad, now Mohammed Zubair! appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Arrests of protesters having agitated in the June 10, 2022 protests continue to grow. By June 13, the news reports talked of more arrests in Uttarakhand and Karnataka. Meanwhile, more people are being booked for the Friday protests.

According to the Hindustan Times on Monday, the Uttarakhand police arrested 12 people in connection with the Friday protests that flared across India. On that day, Muslims condemned suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her derogatory remarks about Prophet Mohammad and Islam. They demanded her immediate arrest for insulting the community during a Times Now debate on May 26.

According to recent reports Maharashtra police also booked the debate anchor Navika Kumar on June 13 for allegedly “maliciously intending to outrage religious feelings”. However, Muslims still demand Sharma’s immediate arrest along with that of recently-expelled BJP leader Naveen Kumar Jindal.

Protesters in Rudrapur and Jaspur of Udham Singh Nagar and Bhagwanpur of Haridwar districts were arrested for participating in these “illegal and unauthorised” protests. Further on June 11, three persons were arrested in Karnataka’s Belagavi for hanging Sharma’s effigy from cable wires. According to Siasat Daily, these individuals are Mahmad Soheb, Aman Mokashi, Arbaj Mokash. Further, two arrests were made in Delhi on June 12, reported the Indian Express.

These 17 arrests now add to the already over-400 arrests made across India over the weekend. Particularly in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj, 92 people were arrested for charges ranging from rioting and hurting religious sentiments to sections under the Explosive Substances Act. Overall, at least 325 arrests were made in Uttar Pradesh, 100 arrests in West Bengal, and 25 FIRs were filed against thousands in Jharkhand.

Aside from arrests, more people are being booked for the Friday protests. On Tuesday, the Indian Express reported that 10 people were booked in Jamalpur region of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The police charged them for allegedly violating Section 144 and 188 dealing with unlawful assembly and disobeying orders from a public servant.

The city police on Sunday detained 48 persons in Juhapura locality in Vejalpur to keep them from taking out a protest rally against Sharma. Meanwhile, the cyber-crime cell of Ahmedabad Police on Sunday arrested Rakhial resident Irshad Ansari, 36 under sections of the Information Technology Amendment Act for allegedly uploading multiple instigating posts against Sharma on social media.

By Monday, the number of arrests only grew with five men in Surat released on bail after a one-day police remand. The accused allegedly stuck posters of Sharma on the road and circulated videos of the same. Other than these two cities, protests also broke out in Kalupur, Khadia, Shahpur, Mirzapur. Like in other cities on Friday, shops and markets were shut at Teen Darwaza, Kalupur and Relief Road. Police identified demonstrators using video footage and said the people did not have permission for such a protest.

In Maharashtra, over 100 demonstrators were booked in Aurangabad, said Newsclick. Muslims gathered near the Divisional Commissioner’s office in the Delhi gate area of Aurangabad on Friday. People were charged for unlawful assembly and other relevant provisions of the IPC and Motor Vehicles Act against the protestors.

Near simultaneous with these arrests come the demolitions of various Muslim activists in UP. Already Prayagraj activist Javed Mohammad’s house was destroyed after authorities claimed the property was on encroached land.

This tactic of targeting communities in mass protests was first employed in 2019 when students across India rose in protest of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). In 2022, these demolition attacks spread to Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka and Assam.

Related:

Why is Jharkhand governor in favour of doxing alleged riot participants’ names?
Friday protests: At least 325 arrests in UP alone!
Spontaneous pan-India protests against Nupur Sharma
Ranchi: 2 dead and Muslim boy terrorised for Friday protests
Right-wing calls Ranchi boy’s ordeal a “victim card” tactic
Evolution of Bulldozer Injustice

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The Rajya Sabha was informed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), that 183 people have been arrested by Delhi Police in connection with the farmers’ protest since 2020 upto July 20, 2021, and that all of them are out on bail. The MHA also said that according to the Delhi Police, provisions of sedition or any anti-terror law such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, have not been invoked in any of the cases registered against the protesting farmers.

On January 26 this year, the Delhi Police crime branch named 16 suspects in the charge sheet for allegedly turning violent during the Republic Day Parade. According to media reports, the Delhi Police had stated that the violence was “a deep-rooted, well-orchestrated conspiracy.” It contended that the accused used the “very auspicious occasion” to hoist the Nishan Sahib and Kisan Flag at Red Fort “in order to cause embarrassment and humiliation at the national and international level to the people of this country”, as reported by the Indian Express.

Speaking of anti-terror laws, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), under the Central government had booked the banned ‘Sikhs for Justice’, under the draconian UAPA, on December 15 last year for allegedly entering into a conspiracy of collecting huge funds for an on-ground propaganda against the Government of India. In the midst of the farmers protests against the three legislations, the NIA had claimed that such funds are also being used to stage demonstrations outside the Indian missions at United Kingdom, Canada, United States and the donations are being sent through certain NGOs to pro-Khalistan elements based in India to undertake acts of ‘terror’ and create fear in the minds of the people. The NIA FIR may be read here.

The NIA had also summoned at least 40 people, directly or indirectly associated with the ongoing farmers’ agitation, to appear for questioning in connection with the above mentioned case filed against the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), among others. Summons had also been sent to members of Khalsa Aid, an international social organisation that had set up food stalls, and provided foot massage machines and geysers to farmers protesting at Delhi borders since November 26. Khalsa Aid, interestingly, has also been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Canadian politicians Tim Uppal and Patrick Brown.

According to a Times of India report, around 25 FIRs have been filed in different police stations in New Delhi after the Republic Day violence. A press release from the Delhi Police Special Cell, as reported by Business Standard, read, “The Kisan Andolan turned violent on January 26, 2021, leading to damage of public property in several parts of the national capital. Public property worth several crores of rupees were damaged by violent mobs and 394 police personnel sustained injuries while performing their lawful duty….A criminal case has been registered and is being investigated under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and sections of IPC dealing with sedition. The role and conduct of organisations and individuals based in India, as well as those out of the country, is being probed. The investigation is in progress and further details will be communicated in due course.”

Farmers have been protesting against the three contentious farm laws since last year, and have not been able to seek relief from the government despite several rounds of talks and negotiations. Besides farmers, people advocating for their rights have also been booked for sedition. The young environmentalist, Disha Ravi, spent close to 10 days in jail under sedition charges, for editing a toolkit containing the list of protests planned all across the country.

The answer may be read here: 

Related:

Scanty and sketchy evidence: Delhi court grants Disha Ravi bail
Red Fort case is Conspiracy to cause embarrassment: Delhi Police
Farmers’ movement: How NIA summons triggered the ‘Khalistan’ conspiracy theory
Mere presence of accused at Red Fort cannot justify incarceration: Delhi court on R-Day violence
Delhi court denies bail to R-Day violence accused seen carrying national flag

The post 183 arrested by Delhi Police in connection to Farmers’ Protest between 2020 to 2021: Centre appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In what is being interpreted as a deliberate delaying tactic for postponing Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar’s release from the Dhar jail, the Madhya Pradesh did not produce the case diary regarding her arrest under section 365, kidnapping, on Monday. In a statement issued soon after the failure to produce the case diary, NBA said, “The office of the Advocate General deliberately misinformed the Kukshi police station to produce the case diary (case No. 9029/17) on August 22, and not on August 21, the day of the hearing.” It added, “Senior advocate Anand Mohan Mathur brought to notice this delay to the court at 10:30 am and requested to proceed with the trial. The judge then asked the government lawyer to arrange the case dairy by afternoon and adjourned the hearing till then.”

Protests demanding Medha Patkar’s release

Yet, said NBA, “Till 4 pm, government lawyers didn’t produce the case diary in a clear attempt to delay the hearing in the matter”, adding, as per the information it has received, “The hearing of the case has now been rescheduled to August 23.” “This only shows the desperation of the government and every attempt at keeping Patkar in jail”, NBA said, insisting, “The governments delaying tactics are not going to dampen the spirit of our struggle. They can delay proceedings but can’t defeat us.”
A letter writing campaign to Prime Minister was undertaken in numerous villages of Narmada Valley demanding withdrawal of all criminal cases and unconditional release of Medha Patkar, Santu, Vijay, and Dhurji, NBA activists lodged in jail since August 9th. They gave detailed picture of the incomplete and unjust rehabilitation work and asked, “will the lakhs of people be drowned without complete and just rehabilitation? Will the lives of lakhs of people be sacrificed to pay the price of Development? Will you accept the drowning of lakhs of trees and cattle in independent India ?”

A mass signature campaign to prime minister Narendra Modi has also begun. Meanwhile, protests continued across the Narmada valley for the release of Patkar and her colleagues. On August 19, 5,000 people marched to the office of the SDM, Kukshi, and submitted a memorandum detailing about the “illegal arrest” of Patkar, Santu, Vijay, and Dhurji, and asked for their unconditional release immediately.

The march was organised as part of the jail bharo andolan by NBA, challenging what it called “numerous false cases” filed by the Badwani and Dhar police against 2,500 people from different villages. “These are nothing but the intimidation and an attempt at muzzling the dissent and provoking the non-violent struggle of the people”, it added. This was followed by a letter writing campaign to the Prime Minister in the villages of Narmada valley demanding withdrawal of all criminal cases and unconditional release of Patkar and others.

The letter wondered: “Will the lakhs of people be drowned without complete and just rehabilitation in the Narmada valley? Will the lives of lakhs of people be sacrificed to pay the price of development? Will you accept the drowning of lakhs of trees and cattle in independent India?” The NBA has also asked the prime minister to take a serious note of the demands raised by the 32-year-long struggle, Narmada Bachao Andolan, and direct the Madhya Pradesh government to accept the ground-reality and complete just rehabilitation as per the NWDT Award and Supreme Court judgements of the 192 villages and one township affected from Sardar Sarovar Dam in Madhya Pradesh. Kisan Sangharsh Samit and many other organisations held demonstrations and also wrote letters to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan with similar demands.

According to NBA, the Madhya Pradesh government has been seeking to delay Patkar’s release ever since she was arrested on August 9. “She was jailed after her release from the Indore Bombay Hospital on the same day. Since that day, the administration has wilfully delayed and also imposed a number of false charges against her including that of kidnapping government officials on the seventh day of her indefinite fast.” It was only on August 17 that Medha Patkar broke her indefinite fast.

“Last week, she was produced in the Kukshi court through video conferencing after a day’s delay on account of link failure, and she was denied bail. Even today, the government delayed the bail proceedings in the Indore High Court by not producing the case diary”, NBA said.

Even as parallel demonstrations were held for Patkar’s release by several other organizations, including the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, reports say, the arrest of villagers‐activists — Durji (village Nisarpur), Devandra (village Nisarpur) and Vijay (village Khaparkheda) — on the basis of charges like ‘attempt to murder’ continued. In the past one week a large number of FIRs have been filed against key NBA activists on these lines.

An online petition has been floated by a Patkar fan, Kamayani M, asking the Madhya Pradesh government to immediately release Patkar and others.

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Madhya Pradesh Police detained prominent leaders V M Singh, Hannan Mollah, Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav, Raju Shetty and Others along with 10 full buses of farmers and other supporters. The Kisan Mukti Yatra stopped at Pipliya Mandi today, Everybody peacefully courted arrest
 
Today the Kisan Mukti Yatra started as planned. Leaders from all over the country converged at Pipliya Mandi in Madhya Pradesh to join the Yatra along with hundreds of farmers and supporters. The peaceful Yatra was stopped by Madhya Pradesh Police and was not allowed to proceed and detained hundreds of people participating in the Yatra including women, youth, children, senior citizens and farmer's leaders from many states including V M Singh, Hannan Mollah, Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav, Raju Shetty, Umesh Tiwari, Aradhna Bhargava and many others.  

Even yesterday, The MP Govt. arrested Dr. Sunilam, National Convener of National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) and All India Kisan Coordination Committee (AIKCC) intentionally to stop the farmers from raising their voices against the Govt. inaction of resolving their issues of lower MSPs and farm loans. The arrest did not deter the Yatra and more farmers and supporters joined today in rally to Govt.’s anti farmer stand and repressive measures. Kisan Mukti Yatra started with two point agenda, farm loan waiver of all kind and to raise the Minimum Support Price by 50% as per the Swaminathan Commission recommendations.  

National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) strongly condemn the anti farmer, anti people measures being taken by Madhya Pradesh government and chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan. The CM has lost all moral grounds to govern and must resign immediately and face the people’s resolve in the state. The government has been suppressing all people’s issues and protests, be it Mandsaur farmer’s agitation or the Narmada Valley protests, it is alleged.

NAPM has requested the citizens of the country to call the chief minister’s office, write to them, tag them on the social media questioning against the suppression of rising farmer's and people's voices in the state. Also please demand the following:

1)    Immediately release renowned farmer’s leader Dr. Sunilam arrested on July 05, 2017.
2)    Immediately release all the detained leaders and supporters of Kisan Mukti Yatra.
3)    Allow Kisan Mukti Yatra to travel to villages and meet farmers as planned.

 
The contact details of Chief Minister and his office are as follows:
1)    Governor of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Om Prakash Kohli, Phone +91-755-4080170, Fax: +91-755-4080172
2)    Special Secretary to Governor of MP, Shri J N Maalpani, Phone +91-755-4080110, +91-755-4223436
3)    Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Office, Contact: Phone +91-755-2441581, Fax: +91-755-2441781
4)    Special Secretary to CM, Shri Deepak Khandekar – +91-755-2441314
5)    Tweet to CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan @ChouhanShivraj

The post ALERT: Medha Patkar, Hannan Mollah, Raju Shetty, Yogendra Yadav & 100s Detained: MP #Kisan Mukti Yatra appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Reservations for the press conference and the march had been made ten to twelve days earlier but when eight senior activists, including former IPS officer and IGP SR Darapuri, Ram Kumar, Ramesh Dixit, Ashish Awasthi, P.K. Yadav, P.C. Kureel, K.K. Wats, reached the venue at Kaisarbagh, Lucknow 500 policemen including the PAC had surrounded the building and they were peremptorily told ‘their reservation was cancelled.’. SP City Tripathi, present in full force with many seniors, demanded to know where the activists would go from there and when all activists said there was freedom of movement in India, they were arrested from inside the premises of the press club causing a furore and outrage across the country. Joshi, a representative of the press club was reluctant to speak to Sabrangindia on the issue today. Johru Twari is currently President, Press Club, Lucknow.

“The actions of the Yogi government are violative of fundamental human rights and freedom of expression. This act was a means to terrorise all dissenting voices into silence,” said Darapuri speaking to Sabrangindia. “It is shocking that we were arrested from inside the premises and worse still that the press club succumbed to the pressure.” Darapuri further explained that the ludicrousness of the episode extended to the police wanting to impose Section 144 of the criminal law, a section often used by the authorities to stem public gatherings ‘in the open.’ The fact that the press club is a hall and that reservations meant that the law could not be invoked was of no importance to the policemen!

Read Also
A State of Emergrency in UP, Why did the UP Police Need to Arrest Dalit, Other Activists

“The actions of the Press Club are as dangerous as that of the police,” said senior political activist Ramesh Dixit who has recently re-joined the NCP.

“Our CM is scared of a Bar of Soap,” said former Vice Chancellor, Lucknow, Rooprekha Verma sarcastically summing up the sinister moves of the state government. “It is all a game of soap. First, he got the Dalit protesters arriving from Gujarat with a 125 kg soap arrested at Jhansi and now this!” In a more serious vein, she said, “it is Dictatorship of the worst kind. If the venue of the press conference had been a state government cultural centre, the knee jerk reaction of the authorities would have been predictable if not understandable. But the fact that it is a Venue of the Fourth Estate, meant to be a Watch Dog of Democracy that is now conniving with a Dictatorial Regime makes it sinister.  This did not even happen during Hitler’s regime. Is the CM so scared of us, activists? I feel very empowered at the moment.”

“The fact that we could not even gather to protest and discuss the present situation of Dalits in India is shocking and disgrace” said senior activist Ram Kumar. In Jhansi after the activists from Gujarat were detained, the 125 kilogram soap was seized by the administration. “We hope that the soap reaches our chief minister, very concerned about culture and cleanliness,” Ram Kumar added.

The arrest of eight activists including senior Dalit rights activists and former IGP SR Darapuri in Lucknow yesterday was worse because of the manner in which the Press Club of Lucknow behaved and the role played by this venue, ostensibly of access to the ‘fourth estate’ in a democracy.

It all boils down then to a bar of soap that the UP chief minister is afraid of..
 
 
 

The post A CM Who’s Afraid of Soap and a Press Club that Dances to His Tune appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Does holding a press conference against atrocities on Dalits warrant arrest? It would appear so in Modi-Yogi's Uttar Pradesh. Well-known Dalit activists Ram Kumar and SR Darapuri were among 31 people arrested today in Lucknow by the Uttar Pradesh police, and later given bail, for allegedly planning a protest rally against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. About to address a press conference on the increasing atrocities in the state, eight of the arrested were picked up from the UP Press Club, where they had planned a press conference to condemn the UP government for forcibly sending back Dalit activists from Gujarat who were coming to UP.

This just after the day that 45 activists from Gujarat were earlier detained and sent back from the railway station in Jhansi on Sunday evening. They were travelling on the Sabarmati Express and had brought with them a 125 kg soap with an image of Gautam Buddha carved on it. They wanted to gift the giant soap to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to "cleanse his mentality towards Dalits". The protests were in response to a rather obnoxious incident this May,  where (police and other government) officials had gifted soap bars and shampoos to 100 odd Musahar Dalit families in Kushi Nagar a day before Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was to visit them.

The Gujarati Dalit activists who had brought the 125 kg soap bar were sent back forcibly from Jhansi because the police claimed it feared their presence in Lucknow could disturb peace. Protests disturb peace in a state where the attacks on Dalits by the state have seen a sharp increase since the BJP swept to power in March this year. A day later, Dalit activists Ram Kumar and SR Darapuri called a press conference at the UP Press Club to condemn the police's refusal to allow the Gujarati activists into the state. They also planned to condemn incidents of violence against Dalits across the state, which they claim have been on the rise. Two Dalit women were gang-raped in separate incidents in east UP just last week. In May, one Dalit had died in Thakur-Dalit clashes in Saharnpur, western UP.

They have all been charged with Section 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which gives police the power to arrest anyone to prevent commission of cognisable offences.

This is part of an unhealthy trend leading a question, is Uttar Pradesh in a state of emergency? Not so long ago, in May 2017, Dalits protesting atrocities against the community under watch of UP chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, over 500 of them blocked the roads, raised slogans against the CM and greeted him black flags in Moradabad on Sunday, ABP news channel had reported. The police have registered a case against 500 persons who are incensed over the growing “discrimination” and “unjust practices” against UP Dalits in general and in particular at the atrocities against the community in Saharanpur district by Thakurs on May 5. Then there was the crackdown on Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad.

The police had clearly planned in advance to not allow Dalit activists to hold their press conference against Dalit atrocities. A large posse of policemen was waiting at the UP Press Club since morning. Eyewitnesses say the activists were arrested even before the press conference could begin.

State president of the Nationalist Congress Party, Ramesh Dixit, also reached the spot, offering to change the venue of the press conference to the NCP office. When he questioned the policemen on why the Dalit activists were being arrested, they replied it was because they were planning to take out a rally without permission, marching towards the chief minister's office, in support of the Gujarati activists who were returned from Jhansi.

Eyewitnesses say Ramesh Dixit and the Dalit activists said they were there only to hold a press conference and there was no plan for any rally or march, and even if there was, how was it illegal? At this, Dixit was also arrested. Apart form the 8 arrested at the Press Club, 23 others were arrested from the Chowk locality. They were all taken not to the nearest police station but to Police Lines. The arrests happened around 1:30 pm and were granted bail around 5:30 pm. They have all been charged with Section 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which gives police the power to arrest anyone to prevent commission of cognisable offences.

Ram Kumar runs the Dynamic Action Group, a non-profit working on violence against Dalits for about two decades. SR Darapuri is a retired IPS officer, an eminent human rights activist and Dalit intellectual. The two have been at loggerheads with previous governments too, including that of Dalit leader Mayawati, but have never been arrested by them.

Clearly appointing a 'Dalit' as Presidential Nominee is a sop even while Modi-Yogi duo continue to run administrations that are displaying increasingly anti-Dalit biases.

The post A State of Emergrency in UP, Why did the UP Police Need to Arrest Dalit, Other Activists appeared first on SabrangIndia.