Business Today reports that the Anti ‘urban-Naxals’ Bill was re-introduced in Maharashtra, CM stresses its ‘need’: Fadnavis said Chhatisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have enacted Public Security Acts for effective prevention of unlawful activities, and banned 48 frontal organisations

On July 11, the Maharashtra government tabled the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill, 2024 on the penultimate day of just concluded session of the state assembly (Vidhan Sabha). The said bill, introduced by the state’s industries minister Uday Samant, was deemed to be brought in to stop the “proliferation of Urban Naxalism” in the state of Maharashtra. Introduced on the penultimate day of the Vidhan Sabha (State Assembly) Session, it is clearly aimed at granting anti-Constitutional powers to an already weaponised police force. As the Maharashtra state assembly got over on July 12, the said bill has not yet been passed.

It is to be noted that while the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill was being introduced avowedly to tackle “urban naxals”, the term has been in usage from the Indian ultra-right as politically stigmatising and defiling term used by proto-fascist forces to criminalise protest and dissent, jail writers, academicians, activists and opposition Leaders especially. The said weapon has been, even prior to the year 2014, has been weaponised against Adivasis and Dalits, who protest against the unjust anti-minority policies of the state.

As the bill became public, experts and lawyers referred to the same as draconian and a dangerous piece of legislation that is being brought in to further supress dissent and cause alarm amongst the citizenry. Notably, the justification being offered for bringing in the bill is that similar versions of the Public Security Act currently are currently in force in Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. However, the state of Maharashtra already has the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA, 1999) under which several abusive prosecutions have been launched. Now, as this suppressive bill looms like a sword over the people of Maharashtra, the insistence of introducing more such that curb the rights of freedom of expression, movement, association (Article 19) and right to life (Article 21) and equality before the law (Article 14) in other states is no justification for Maharashtra, a rather progressive state, for enacting such a law.

Another reasoning that is being offered to bring in the MSPS Bill is that it will provide more effective prevention of certain unlawful activities of individuals and organisations. However, with the newly enforced Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 bringing in offenses such as “terrorist activities” (Section 113), “organised crimes” (Section 111) and “petty organised crimes” (Section 112) into the criminal laws governing the country, a separate MSPS bill was not required at all. Through the BNS, provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and MCOCA have already been centralised, ensuring multiple tools in the land of a State and Police to use against its own citizens, raising questions over the necessity of bringing in the said bill.

Citizens for Justice and Peace, Mumbai, in consultation with experts and advocates, has dissected the said bill and its impact on the citizens.

Problematic Provisions of MSPS 2024

The draft MSPS Bill of 2024 has extremely vague, broad and therefore problematic definitions of “an unlawful activity” ((Section (2) (f) (i) to (vii)).  This loose definition is liable to malicious misuse. For instance, the interpretation of the ((Section (2) (f) (i)) phrase …” which constitutes a danger or menace to public order, peace and tranquillity” has been left open for interpretation, with potential for misuse. The usage of the word “menace” in the definition in itself problematic as the term “menace” is not defined anywhere in the law. It is crucial to highlight that the dictionary meaning of the word means, dangerous act of person, and leaves it open to the authorities to bring anything under the Act according to their discretion and penalise the ones being targeted. (They can say cooking on streets is a menace to public and arrest people).

This vagueness of definitions to make and include undefined “acts” as criminal acts is extremely problematic. In any law, any criminal act should be well defined and should not be left to be interpreted loosely by the police. Unfortunately, or rather consciously, this practice has been done away with in order to get away with accountability.

In addition to this, the definition of criminal act under Section 2(f) describes unlawful activity as:

As can be seen in the above provided definition, no concrete ambit is provided, and only vague words are used to define the nature of the acts that can be deemed as unlawful activities by the authorities. The law tends to give arbitrary powers to the police and it is an open secret that the political party in power is many times misusing police authority.

In lines with certain special legislations as well as state legislations, Section 5(1) (2) of the MSPS Bill provides for the setting up of the “Advisory Board” set up under the Act to adjudicate on the Actions of the State Government, police and Administration. Curiously, as per the said provision, the Advisory Board is required to be consisting of “three persons are, have been, or are qualified to be appointed as Judge of the High Court”, which means that existing retired or “non appointed officials or lawyers” also qualify to be a part of the Advisory Board. Since the Advisory Board is to be formed by the state government itself, one need not use their imagination to think of the ways in which the said provision can be used (or misused).

Section 9, through sub-section 1, provides draconian and arbitrary powers to the administration and the Police (DM or Police Commissioner) to take possession of or seize any notified area an evict persons from that premise (if women and children live there “reasonable time” is the only protection given to them!). Moreover, Section 10 (1) extends this arbitrary power to seize moveable properties, monies etc within this seized property making this one more power given to arbitrary use.

As per Section 12 of the draft MSPS Bill also denied those arrested any recourse of law at district level, and declares the High Court and Supreme Court as proper forums to file any petition to challenge action against this law. This militates against the four-tier system of Justice Redressal as laid down in the Indian Constitution. The reasoning behind the same remains to be clarified.

Under Sections 14 and 15 of the MSPS Bill, protection has been granted to every Police Officer and District Magistrate (bureaucrat) to be penalised or held accountable for any strictures are passed by the High Court or Supreme Court on misuse of prosecution, as the said two sections state that no actions can be initiated against them.

Dangers of New Bill (MSPS Act) in the face of existing BNS, 2023, UAPA, 1967 & PMLA, 2002

Various sections in the BNS, 2023 including Section 152, which reintroduces ‘Sedition’ under IPC 124-A and has been described by experts as ‘Sedition Plus’, Section 113, which criminalises terrorist acts, and Section 111, which brings in organised crimes, give arbitrary powers to the authorities to take action against those individuals who commit actions deemed to be against national integrity and national security.

CJP would specifically like to highlight Section 152 of the BNS, which states that  “acts that are endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India, purposefully or knowingly, by words, either spoken or written, or by science, or by visible representation, or by electronic communication or by use of financial means or otherwise, excites or attempts to excite cessation or armed rebellion or subversive activities, or encourages feeling of separatist activities, or endangers sovereignty or unity and integrity of India’ or indulges in or commits any such acts shall be punished with imprisonment for life or with imprisonment which may extend to 7 years, and shall also be liable to fine.” While being vague and broad by itself, the MSPS Bill also bears an uncanny resemblance to the said provision.

Additionally, Section 113 (1) of the BNS, 2023, which covers under its ambit anyone who does any act with the intent to threaten or likely to threaten the unity, integrity, sovereignty, security, or economic security of India or with the intent to strike terror or likely to strike terror in the people or any section of the people in India or in any foreign country, mirrors Section 15 of the UAPA. The only difference is that it deals with acts committed in a foreign country as well.

Similarly, Section 113 (2) that deals with committing of such a terrorist act that results in death or otherwise, mirrors Section 16 of the UAPA verbatim. Section 113 (3), which covers those who conspires or attempts to commit, or advocates, abets, advises or incites, directly or knowingly facilitates the commission of a terrorist act or any act preparatory to the commission of a terrorist act, mirrors Section 18 of the UAPA verbatim. Section 113 (4), which deals with those who organise or cause to be organised any camp or camps for imparting training in terrorist act mirrors Section 18A of the UAPA verbatim. Section 113 (5) states that any person who is a member of an organisation which is involved in terrorist act mirrors Section 20 of the UAPA verbatim.

Section 113 (6), which covers the offense of voluntarily harbours or concealing those such person that commits a terrorist, has been taken from Section 19 of the UAPA verbatim.

Section 113 (7), which criminalises the offense of knowingly possessing any property derived or obtained from commission of any terrorist act, has been taken from Section 21 of the UAPA, present in BNS with a wider ambit.

The whole section has been picked from UAPA almost verbatim, without the relevant safeguards being present in BNSS (sanction). The question that arises is on what was the need to inculcate these draconian and stringent laws into the criminal laws of India and now, in Maharashtra to table one more such.

In the overall background that the nation is in today with a government that has jailed critics through a rampant misuse of the PMLA Act 2002 and the UAPA, 1967 –and the political revengeful manner in which investigation arm like ED is acting, the newly table MSPS Bill, is addition of another draconian face to the laws in the state and in the country.

Persecution by Multiplicity of Statute Charges

Another dangerous implication that will accompany this attempt to enact one more draconian state law is its impact on the provision for undertrials seeking statutory bail under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. Section 479 of the BNSS contains very stringent bail provisions for statutory bail. The said section limits the conditions for granting statutory bail to under trials—is a section in the new law which corresponds to section 436 A of the Carps, provides for the procedure to be adopted in case the under trial is to be given statutory bail after spending a particular period under detention. In the older CrPC, if an under trial has spent half of the maximum period of imprisonment for an offence in detention, they must be released on a personal bond (not to be applied to offences which are punishable by death) BNSS, 2023 retains the said provision, and makes it further stringent.

However now, under Section 479, the provision of granting bail to under trial prisoners will now be limited to those under trials who are first-time offenders if they have completed one-third of the maximum sentence. Since charge sheets often mention multiple offences, this may make many under trials ineligible for mandatory bail. Furthermore, through the said provision, the prohibition of getting bail under the said section had also been expanded to those offences that are punishable with life imprisonment. Therefore, the following under trials are barred from applying for statutory bail under the said section if: offences punishable by life imprisonment, and persons who have pending proceedings in more than one offence.

Nothing but a move to muzzle protests?

Former Chief Minister and Congress MLA Prithviraj Chavan spoke to the media, calling the bill to be “nothing but a move to muzzle protests”. Media reports have quoted Chavan as saying. “The government wanted to present and pass this bill today itself. We opposed it and requested the Speaker not to push it through. We will oppose the bill vehemently.”

Furthermore, the Maharashtra State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has even called for the withdrawal of the bill, stating that it will have a deep impact on the democratic processes of governance. Therefore, the state of Maharashtra, like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, should set about the task of amending the more draconian provisions of the BNS, 2023 and repeal earlier passed laws that have been abused and misused, rather than introducing more authoritarian legislations.

The complete bill can be accessed here:

Related:

Supreme Court: “Authorities cannot randomly accuse people of being foreigners, initiate investigation without material basis”

New Criminal Laws: Future risks for democracy and rights in India

Amend Sec 187(3) BNSS in line with Sec 167(2) CrPC: PUCL to HM and Law Minister

Modi’s government bypasses SC & Law Commission, no nuanced, strong penal sections on Hate Speech: BNS, 2023

The post Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill tabled in assembly, using the myth of “urban naxals” to supress dissent? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

According to these activists, many social workers and intellectuals have already been labelled as ‘urban Naxalites’ and tortured. In most cases, the charges against them have been proved in court to be false and fabricated. Civil society dissidents have thereby released a statement in support of Gohain. The statement highlights that this move can be seen as the government’s ‘counter-movement’ against the struggle of the common people, nature lovers, patriots, and democratic people against the tribal evictions is called the ‘Urban Naxal’ crackdown. The term ‘urban Naxal’ has been used to suppress and imprison critics of the government.

The statement further reads that the Chief Minister of Assam has repeatedly targeted Dr. Gohain without responding to his criticism. “There is anger among the people against this and it is impossible to deal with it with the temptation of schemes. Therefore, there are fears that the Chief Minister is using the word ‘Urban Naxal’ to suppress people’s movement. Therefore, prominent intellectuals and citizens have called on all those who love Assam to stand for democracy and rights to protest against the conspiracy statement made by the Chief Minister against Dr. Hiren Gohain.”

The signatories to the statement are Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, Harekrishna Deka, Dr. Paramanand Mohanta, Dr. Chandramohan Sharma, Loknath Goswami, Dr. Jyoti Prasad Chaliha, Dr. Apurba Kumar Barua, Professor Purneswar Nath, Dr. Manorama Sharma, Professor Abdul Mannan, Baikunth Das.

A Sahitya Akademi awardee, Gohain is a retired English professor from the Gauhati University. He has been known for his civil society presence, his strong critique of the BJP, and communal forces in the state. Gohain had written in February for Sabrang India, offering nuanced and on-ground perspectives about the citizenship crisis of Assam, and had also criticised the BJP for creating a perceived threat of Muslims and trying to consolidate votes, across Assamese and Bengali speakers in the state. This, according to Gohain, was resultant of the shaky ground BJP is in Assam due to resentment from the people against the party for its handling of the CAA crisis.

Gohain, along with Akhil Gogoi, had faced charges of sedition for protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act in 2019. Thus, this is not the first time Gohain has seen a hostile response from the BJP. In January 2024, Akhil Ranjan Dutta, a political science professor at Gauhati University, had condemned CM Sarma’s earlier statements against Gohain. However, the chief minister responded to Dr Dutta’s actions by writing to the vice-chancellor of the university he taught at to take disciplinary action against him. The CM stated that frequently criticising the chief minister was ‘unacceptable’, “As a faculty member, he frequently criticises the chief minister, which is unacceptable.”

Is this a result of the BJP losing Assam?

Interestingly, the chief minister has claimed from the beginning that BJP will win 13 out of 14 seats. However, after the first and second phases of the Lok Sabha elections, which took place on 19th and 26th April, many people think that it seems that the people have registered a change. On May 7 the third phase of the elections will happen in the state, with four constituencies in such as Guwahati, Barpeta, Kokrajhar and Dhubri set to see polling.

In Guwahati, both the BJP and Congress have women candidates. There will be direct competition between Congress candidate Mira Barthakur and BJP candidate Bijuli Kalita.

It is notable that Mira Barthakur earlier was BJP’s strong women leader. However, she was expelled in 2018 and joined the Congress party in 2021. Hiren Gohain was also recently campaigning for Congress candidate Mira Borthakur Goswami in Guwahati.

Meanwhile, In the remaining three constituencies such as Dhubri, Kokrajhar, and Barpeta, according to on-ground sources, the Muslim voters are very much a factor in winning. In Dhubri, though the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) has fielded a Muslim candidate, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP)’s Zabed Islam, and is trying to win against incumbent Badurddin Ajmal. However, observers state that despite such moves the main contest in Dhubri is between the Congress and the AIUDF. Similarly, observers suggest that in Barpeta and Kokrajhar the mood of the people also seems to be against BJP and their alliance partners.

Related:

Assam: Are claims of chief minister, Himana Biswa Sarma that BJP set for a 13/14 score a farfetched?

Assam: Arson in Dibrugarh on the eve of polls, first round of polls today

Assam: ‘No Aadhaar, No Citizenship, So No Vote to BJP’, said a Citizens Convention

Ground report: Protests erupt in Assam after portrayal of Muslims as criminals in rally by Bodoland University

The post Assam’s intellectuals rally for democracy: Condemn chief minister’s conspiracy allegations against Dr. Hiren Gohain appeared first on SabrangIndia.

It is my father’s birthday today. He turns 63. Due to the brutality of our government and the failure of our judiciary he will be spending his birthday in a prison cell. At the time of a serious global pandemic when he falls in the category of people most vulnerable he will be spending his birthday in an overcrowded prison with no adequate health facilities.

Today I thought of sharing a little about how he has has been spending his time in the past year and a half in Yerwada prison, Pune.

The image below is part of a letter written by a political prisoner Arun, who is still in Yerwada jail, to my mother. The letter was written after my father was shifted from Pune to Mumbai. In this Arun speaks of his own meeting with another prisoner Sonawne who was with my father in the same yard in Yerwada jail.

Sonawane told Arun

“Vernon Uncle is a very nice person. He taught me how to study the Constitution and created in me an interest about it. He is very talented. Varavara Raoji gave me a gift of poems as a gift. Both Vernon and VV gave me a lot of respect. They gave me the inspiration to become a better person. Nowadays I spend my time studying the Constitution. Do tell them that I remember them and send my salaams.”

Yes this is what my father, the ‘Urban Naxal’, has been doing in prison. Teaching people about the Constitution.

He would hold one hour long classes in his prison yard with around 10-12 of the other inmates. He would mainly teach them English with a focus on spoken English. He would encourage them to read out loud and speak a few sentences confidently. He would ask us to send him simple books which he could give for his students to read and borrow from the prison library also for the same. The diary of Anne Frank was one of the books he borrowed. He took these classes almost daily.

The last time I met my father in court he told me about how his students had an extra long session with in the last few days before he was shifted from Pune. Everyone candidly shared their life stories and spoke about their experiences. My father gave me a very enthusiastic description of this farewell session with his students. It conjured vivid images of all of them sharing warmth and cheer in very bleak circumstances.

I haven’t been able to hear from him at all since that day which was almost two months ago so I’m not sure about how he spends his time in Taloja Jail.

Through one of the prisoners out on bail from Taloja we got to know that my father had written that person’s bail application and many other prisoner’s interim bail applications after the COVID outbreak.

My father’s experiences and writings have given me a ringside view of the many inequalities and injustices that exist in our criminal justice system and our prisons. Innocent people are thrown into prison because of their identity on false charges. It takes years for their trials to even begin and they end up spending more time in prison as under trials. They come from poor families and hence don’t have access to good legal support as well which increases their prison time.

It is his stories that make me completely agree with Joan Baez when she sang about razing the prisons to the ground.

Our prisons and the entire judicial system desperately need systemic changes which would make it a justice system in the true sense.

My father is a very kind and compassionate person who always tries to make the people around him laugh. The work he continues to do in jail is a true testament to this nature of his. In such a difficult situation, he still is actively helping others in need and giving them a reason to smile.

Happy Birthday Dada  Thank you for everything.
I am extremely proud of the person that you are and the work that you do.
And shame on this system that is punishing you and so many others for speaking up against the injustice that is so prevalent within it.

Note:
Jail Manuals require prison administration to conduct literacy and other educational classes, facilitate induction in higher education courses through universities with provisions for distance learning and organise vocational training programs for prisoners specially those convicted for an offence. This is one of the primary objectives of Jails in India – to facilitate a meaningful engagement for prisoners – ‘reform’ of prisoners in other words.

In India, Jail administration is more often than not supported by NGOs and individual social workers in this effort. In addition, learned prisoners themselves organise classes for each other. This note gives an insight into one such episode in Yerwada Central Jail, Pune, written by a family member of ex Mumbai University Lecturer and Activist Vernon Gonsalves who is an undertrial in the infamous Bhima Koregaon case.

The post From Sagar, Son to Father Vernon: Happy Birthday Dada! appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Published by Jaipur based Vishwa Samvad Kendra and sold for Rs 20/- a piece, the booklet comprises 15 essays authored by the usual suspects; Makarand Paranjpe, Vivek Agnihotri, Dr Neelam Mahendra, and others. It appears these essays have been published previously on different platforms and just been compiled into this booklet. Interestingly, this booklet was first launched amidst much fanfare by RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat in October 2018 at a glittering ceremony held in Nagaur, Rajasthan.

A collection of banal conspiracy theories
The first chapter by Ashish Kumar ‘Anshu’ talks about how he met an unnamed Maoist from Nepal while covering the Bihar floods in August 2008. This Maoist who served as his guide during his Nepal visit (the flood was purportedly due to the bursting of the Kusaha Dam in Nepal), told him that people from Delhi were finding a Maoist campaign to overthrow the Indian government and that if the names of these people were to be revealed, it would shock everyone. Anshu thensays this is what he would think of over and over in wake of the raids on and arrests of human rights activists now dubbed ‘urban naxals’.

Interestingly, Anshu does not provide any evidence to support his claims… just something an unnamed man told him years ago and how he is drawing conclusions from it today! He then goes on to say that the moment the government takes action against any ‘Urban Naxal’ their entire network becomes active, all the way from Constitution Club to Jantar Mantar, marking two places where citizens gather to express dissent in the capital. Anshu names Medha Patkar, Binayak Sen, Soni Sori, Arundhuti Roy, and accuses them of supporting armed Naxalites, once again without providing a shred of evidence. It appears that the purpose of this chapter and the book is to paint such people as enemies of India’s peace and culture, so that their work can be discredited.

The next chapter by Ajay Setia attempts to shed light on Naxal sleeper cells, but oddly enough dubs them ‘sleeping cells’. He alleges that Varavara Rao, Sudhir Dhawale, Sudha Bharadwaj, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut and Rona Wilson are members of such sleeper cells and expresses regret that Swami Agnivesh hasn’t been caught yet. He alleges that Congress government have gone soft on Naxals because they need the support of left parties. Then he goes on to allege that all left leaning professors and journalists are Naxal supporters and even support violence by Naxal groups in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh. These serious allegations wrapped in sweeping generalisations appears to be a standard operating procedure for everyone spinning a sinister web of stories in this booklet.

Some really trippy writing
But sometimes the plot goes incorrigibly off course and actually sounds a bit like a lazy script writer’s attempt to tie all loose ends in a bad Bollywood movie. For instance when a writer says JNU is the hot bed of Naxal activity where they even have support from conservative Muslims and terrorists, and goes on to say people like them are responsible for what happened in Bhima Koregaon and plan to kill Prime Minister Modi in the same manner as Rajiv Gandhi! Oddly enough the writer says the plotters wanted to buy 4 rifles and 4 lakh rounds of ammo. However, it is well known that Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber who was a member of the LTTE from Sri Lanka!

The Great Urban Naxal Conspiracy
Vivek Agnihotri, the father of the term ‘Urban Naxal’, in his piece paints a vivid picture of how Naxal sympathisers are infiltrating into police, armed forces, bureaucracy, civil services, etc. He points out how anyone from farmers, to journalists, to lawyers, professors and artists, could be an urban naxal. In this manner he is fomenting mistrust and even hate for anyone who does not subscribe to the ideology he supports. He outright accuses them of waging war against the nation!

A chapter titled “Saazish ke Sutradhar” names Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Fereira, Gautam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves, Anand Teltumbde, Fr. Stan Swamy and Susan Abraham as the key conspirators against the nation. Interestingly, this piece by a writer named Jyotiraditya was first published in Dainik Jagaran and actually showcases all the human rights work done by these people.

Interestingly, a chapter titled “Badi haisiyat wale Naxali samarthak” attempts to deny the involvement of Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote saying the charges levelled against them are false and that no right wing Hindutva organisation was involved in the attack on Dalits at Bhima Koregaon. Instead it uses the raids on the homes of Kabir Kala Manch by the police to suggest that they were the actual masterminds! Later in the booklet, other authors make similar claims and use the fact that the KKM was under the scanner during the UPA regime as a means to bolster their claims.

The other chapters in the booklet continue in the same banal vein with multiple references to JNU’s student movement, the Bhima Koregaon conspiracy and a smear campaign against the intelligentsia. However, the allegations get wilder with each essay. One writer says recruiting urban naxals is a part of China’s wider conspiracy to colonise India and that Maoists would send Mamata Bannerjee to a labour camp and shoot dead members of the Congress and other opposition parties. Another writer calls Naxalism an ego trip and the solution lies in going back to the “good old days” of our ancestors.

Yet another chapter blames Naxalites and even the Christian Church for instigating riots in Thootutkudi during the protests against the Sterlite copper plant. Interestingly, an entire chapter dedicated to discrediting Swami Agnivesh makes that rather bizarre claim that the saffron clad ascetic is secretly Christian! And one particularly derogatory chapter titled “JNU mein panapti pankhudiyaan” targeting a young woman student of JNU is just asking for a defamation suit with its particularly vulgar choice of words to not only slut shame the young woman, but also defame her entire family.

Such blatant propaganda, print and electronic, generated by such supremacist organisations works as a useful tool to “target” individuals, build up a public climate of hysteria against them, often engendering even violent attacks. That the RSS is in control of key handles of governance and has been known not to hold back from arm-twisting their influence suggests, just like post 2014 (Modi 1.0), post 2019 (Modi 2.0) is likely to mean a fragile existence for all those committed to Constitutional Values and human rights.

Related Articles:
1. Election Watch Chhattisgarh: Only Urban Naxals find mention in Modi’s public speech
2. # Me Too Urban Naxal

The post RSS circulates booklet targeting ‘Urban Naxals’ appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Jagdalpur: PM Modi and Amit Shah are touring Chattisgarh and why is it so that the country’s PM always talks like a party leader? To provide publicity for his party in the first phase of the state assembly elections, PM Modi participated in a public general meeting. In his whole speech, he never once said anything of importance with regards to the issues of the state. He kept shooting barbs at Congress and every other institution that questions his governance. While talking about Urban Naxals, he said that the elite intellectuals that reside in big cities and clean, airconditioned homes held the remote control of Maoists. He said that Congress supports Maoists and thus they should be removed from the state. He didn’t say a single sentence on why his govt that ruled the state for 15 years has failed to provide basic facilities to the resident Adivasis. Let’s agree that they don’t have the heart to discuss their failures, at least he could have discussed the work plans to bring ‘Vikas’ in the villages where development has not reached. But it would be unfair to say that his speech was only about self-aggrandization.
 
Does the PM not know such a simple thing? 
For some time now, we are seeing the unlimited arrogance of BJP and RSS leaders. They don’t seem to respect or accept any rules, regulations, the constitution or the law. In the last few days, an RSS leader had the gall to give advice to the SC court during a press conference. It is not possible to recount the number of such instance by these people and PM Modi’s speech at Jagdalpur was in a similar vein.
 
This TV channel which reports from the lap of the government had made ‘Urban Naxal’ a trend and ran a show against senior lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj. After which, more than 10 activists including her were arrested from across the country. These activists work in the social sphere for the poor, neglected, exploited, Dalits, Adivasis and more. Ever since the show, the govt has gone berserk using the term ‘Urban Naxal’ and Maoists for those arrested. The TV channels and media which supports this government started singing paeans of Urban Naxalism and Maoism. The cases against these activists are subjudice and none of the allegations levelled against the activists by the police have been proven. Till the time a crime has not been proven, the accused cannot be considered guilty. Does the PM of this country not know such a simple thing? Or is he deliberately using the name calling trend?
 
What does the govt want to hide by screaming about Urban Naxals? 
Raman Singhs government in Chattisgarh has failed in doing any good for the masses or bringing development to the state in the last 15 years. In the last 15 years that the BJP has ruled this state, the incidents of corporate loot, killing Adivasis in fake encounters, security forces and soldiers raping Adivasi women, the arrest of reporters who question the govt’s policy, threats and intimidation of social activists through security forces on the behest of the govt, have only increased.

A day before the PM’s visit, Sabrang India had reported how development has not reached some villages in the state and had discussed this village where nobody knows who Modi is and who CM Raman Singh is. They did not know who their own MLA or MP was. These are the areas where there are no roads, no drinking water or water pipelines and no electricity. Is the govt trying to hide these failures by calling all and the sundry Urban Naxals?
 
The PM should have discussed this before asking for votes 
Being a responsible minister and the PM, Narendra Modi should have spoken about these issues in his election speech. Before asking for votes, he should have asked when will the Adivasi residents of this heavenly state live free from the fear of death.
 
Why is there no information on the 30,000 girls that have gone missing from Bastar? Who is responsible for this? How is the govt going to catch the criminals? Will the girls come back by the govt slamming the opposition? In a region like Bastar, where 1.5 lakh security force personnel are deployed and one needs to cross 10 checkpoints before going to any village, more than 30,000 girls become the victims of human trafficking in the last 15 years and the police have no clue? Shouldn’t the PM be concerned by this information? Can this failure be hidden under the Urbal Naxal jingoism?
 
The PM said that the people of Chattisgarh are aware and can identify conspiracies when they see one. Perhaps he doesn’t know that when the people become wise, they not only understand conspiracies but also empty rhetorics.
 
Although it is wrong for the media to slam baseless allegations on people and call them Naxal and Maoists, the PM of India should use dignified language. The responsibilities of a PM increase when he assumes the role. If he continues to give speeches like the chief a party, it is a loss for democracy.
 
Issues disappear in popular speeches 
During the Friday’s public meeting, PM Modi used the ‘Urban Naxal’ issue for electoral gains. He used his usual famed oratory but kept silent on development issues. Maybe he didn’t find anything to say about ‘Vikas.’ Someone who called Demonetisation a historic step was silent about it a day after its second anniversary. Then Modi made some great promises that feel good when you hear them (Some time ago, Former BJP president Nitin Gadkari had said that BJP did not expect to win in 2014 and leaders were ordered to make tall promises.) Was PM Modi using the same tricks for Chattisgarh elections? That we will see when we win, right now let’s just exaggerate?
 
The PM said that conditions in Bastar were worse during Madhya Pradesh’s time. It is a well-known fact that Maoism has increased greatly in Bastar in the last 15 years.
 
He also said that Congress didn’t help development issues in the state during their rule at the centre for 10 years. It is impossible to believe that a central government would not give any funds to a state for 10 years.
 
He said that every corner of Chattisgarh is synonymous with development. If he would have read the newspapers, he would know that there are many such corners that have not even seen the face of development.
 
He said that who would have thought that Jagdalpur would have an airport. Well, people were expecting a school, a hospital, a playground, a university but they got an airport. How does an airport and aeroplanes help the Adivasis of Jagdalpur? They are struggling to survive in this region, how can they raise money for air travel? Even if by some stroke of luck, they are forced to sit in a plane, where will they go?
 
He said that he would bring the oppressed and exploited Adivasis to the mainstream and give them an equal platform, but didn’t say how he would execute this promise. Right before the World Adivasi Day, the force killed 15 Adivasis and said that they were Naxals. The govt rewarded them. It was then revealed that the encounter was fake and the people they had branded Naxals were innocent oppressed and exploited Adivasis. Is this how plans to bring equality?
 
He said that democracy is the solution to this problem. Conversations and discussions can bring change. Bombs and guns are not the solutions. We should walk on the path of peace. When the PM understands these things, why doesn’t he take any punitive actions against police officers like Kalluri and Garg who are known to order massacres openly? Kalluri keeps saying that the gun is the only solution, on many TV news channels. He even says that he follows the orders given to him by the government.
 
It is clear that the democratic approach the PM talks about to resolve the Maoist issues, has already been rejected by the ruling state BJP govt.
 
There is a hope that one day we will hear the country’s PM from Narendra Modi’s mouth, who will talk about the issues of the country. Someone who will not wax eloquent about his party and show others down.
 

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When the Pune police conducted simultaneous raids at the homes of well-known activists, poets, lawyers and priests across the country, and arrested five people—high-profile civil rights defenders and two lawyers—on ludicrous charges, with little or no paperwork, the Government would have known that it was stirring up outrage. It would have already taken all our reactions into account, including this press conference and all the protests that have taken place across the country, before it made this move. So why has this happened?
 
Recent analyses of real voter data as well the Lokniti-CSDS-ABP Mood of the Nation survey have shown that the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are losing popularity at an alarming pace (for them). This means that we are entering dangerous times. There will be ruthless and continuous attempts to divert attention from the reasons for this loss of popularity, and to fracture the growing solidarity of the opposition. It will be a continuous circus from now to the elections—arrests, assassinations, lynchings, bomb attacks, false flag attacks, riots, pogroms. We have learned to connect the season of elections with the onset of all kinds of violence. Divide and Rule, yes. But add to that—Divert and Rule. From now until the elections, we will not know from when, and where and how the fireball will fall on us, and what the nature of that fireball will be. So, before I speak about the arrests of lawyers and activists, let me just reiterate a few points that we must not allow our attention to stray from, even while it rains fire, and strange events befall us.
 
1. It has been a year and nine months since November 8 2016 when Prime Minister Modi appeared on TV and announced his policy of demonetization of 80% of the currency in circulation. His own Cabinet seemed to have been taken by surprise. Now the Reserve Bank of India has announced that 99% of the currency was returned to the banking system.  The Guardian in the UK reports today, that the policy has likely wiped 1% from the country’s GDP and cost approximately 1.5 million jobs. Meanwhile, just the printing of new currency has cost the country several thousand crores.  After Demonetization, came the Goods and Services Tax— a tax that is structured in ways that have dealt a further body blow to small and medium businesses that were already reeling under Demonetization.
 
While small businesses, traders and most of all the poor have suffered enormously, several corporations close to the BJP have multiplied their wealth several times over. Businessmen like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi have been permitted to decamp with thousands of crores of public money while the government looked away.
What kind of accountability can we expect for all of this? None? Zero?
 
Through all this, as it prepares for the 2019 election, the BJP has emerged as by far the wealthiest political party in India. Outrageously, the recently introduced electoral bonds ensure that the sources of the wealth of political parties can remain anonymous.
 
2. We all remember the farce in Mumbai at the ‘Make in India’ event inaugurated by Mr Modi in 2016 at which a massive fire burned down the main tent of the cultural festival. Well, the real bonfire of the idea of ‘Make in India’ is the Rafale fighter plane deal, that was announced by the Prime Minister in Paris seemingly without the knowledge of his own Defense Minister. This is against all known protocol. We know the bare bones— a deal had already been put in place in 2012 under the Congress led UPA government to buy planes that would be assembled by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. That deal was scrapped and reconfigured. Hindustan Aeronautics was surgically excised. The Congress Party as well as several others who have studied the deal have alleged corruption on an unimaginable scale and have  questioned the involvement in the “offsets” deal to Reliance Defence Limited, which has never built a plane in its life.
 
The Opposition has demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe. Can we expect one? Or must we swallow this whole fleet of planes along with everything else and not even gulp?
 
3. The investigation by the Karnataka police into the assassination of the journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh, has led several arrests which have in turn led to the unveiling of the activities of several right-wing Hindutva organizations like the Sanathan Sansthan. What has emerged is the existence of a shadowy, full-blown terror network, with hit-lists, hide-outs and safe-houses, flush with arms, ammunition and plans to bomb, kill, and poison people. How many of these groups do we know about? How many are continuing to work in secret? With the assurance that they have the blessings of the powerful, and possibly even the police, what plans do they have in store for us? What false-flag attacks? And what real ones? Where will they occur? Will it be in Kashmir? In Ayodhya? At the Kumbh Mela? How easily they could derail everything— everything— with some major, or even minor attacks that are amplified by pet media houses. To divert attention from this, the real threat, we have the hue and cry over the recent arrests.
 
4. The speed at which educational institutions are being dismantled. The destruction of Universities, with fine track records, the elevation of phantom universities that exist only on paper. This is arguably the saddest thing of all. It is happening in several ways. We are watching JNU—Jawaharlal Nehru University—being taken down before our very eyes. The students as well as the staff are under continuous attack. Several television channels have actively participated in spreading lies and fake videos that have endangered the lives of students, and to an assassination attempt on the young scholar Umar Khalid who has been mercilessly defamed and lied about. Then you have the falsification of history and the idiotification of the syllabus—which will, just in a few years’ time, lead to a kind of cretinism from which we will be unable to recover. Finally, the privatization of education is undoing even the very small good that the policy of Reservation did. We are witnessing the re-Brahminization of education, this time fitted out in corporate clothes. Dalit, Adivasi and OBC students are once again being pushed out from institutions of learning because they cannot afford the fees. This has begun to happen already. It is completely unacceptable.
 
5.Massive distress in the agricultural sector, increasing numbers of farmers’ suicides, the lynching of Muslims and the relentless attack on Dalits, the public floggings, the arrest of Chandrashekhar Azad, leader of the Bhim Army who dared to stand up to attacks by Upper castes. The attempt to dilute the Scheduled caste and Scheduled Tribes Atrocity Act.
 
Having said this much, I come to the recent arrests.
 
None of the five people who were arrested yesterday, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bhardwaj, Varavara Rao and Gautam Navlakha—were present at the Elgar Parishad rally that took place on December 31^st 2017, or at the rally the following day when approximately 300,000 people, mostly Dalit, gathered to commemorate the 200^th anniversary of the Bhima–Koregaon victory. ( Dalits joined the British to defeat an oppressive Peshwa regime. One of the few victories that Dalits can celebrate with pride.) The Elgar Parishad was organized by two eminent retired judges, Justice Sawant and Justice Kolse Patel. The rally the following day was attacked by Hindutva fanatics, which led to days of unrest. The two main accused are Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide. Both are still at large. Following an FIR registered by one of their supporters, in June 2018 the Pune police arrested five activists, Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawle, Shoma Sen, Mihir Raut and the lawyer Surendra Gadling. They are accused of plotting violence at the rally and also of plotting to kill the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  They remain in custody, charged under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Fortunately they are still alive, unlike Ishrat Jahan, Sohrabuddin and Kauser Bi, who, years ago, were accused of the same crime, but did not live to see a trial.
 
It has been important for Governments, both the Congress-led UPA and the BJP to disguise their attacks on Adivasis, and now, in the case of the BJP, their attack on Dalits— as an attack on “Maoists” or “Naxals.” This is because, unlike in the case of Muslims who have been almost been erased from electoral arithmetic, all political parties do have an eye on those Adivasi and Dalit constituencies as potential vote banks. By arresting activists and calling them “Maoists’, the Government manages to undermine and insult Dalit aspiration by giving it another name—while at the same time appearing to be sensitive to “Dalit issues.” Today,a s we speak, there are thousands of people in jail across the country, poor and disadvantaged people, fighting for their homes, for their lands, for their dignity—people accused of sedition and worse, languishing without trial in crowded prisons.
 
The arrest of these ten people, three lawyers and seven well known activists also serves to cut whole populations of vulnerable people off from any hope of justice or representation. Because these were their representatives. Years ago, when the vigilante army called the Salwa Judum was raised in Bastar and went on a rampage, killing people and burning whole villages, Dr Binayak Sen, then the General Secretary of the PUCL (Peoples Union for Civil Liberties) Chattisgarh  spoke up for its victims. When Binayak Sen was jailed, Sudha Bhardwaj a lawyer and Trade Union leader who had worked in the area for years, took his place.  Professor Saibaba, who campaigned relentlessly against the paramilitary operations in Bastar stood up for Binayak Sen. When they arrested Saibaba, Rona Wilson, stood up for him. Surendra Gadling was Saibaba’s lawyer. When they arrested Rona Wislon and Surendra Gadling, Sudah Bhardwaj, Gautam Navlakaha and the others stood up for them… and so it goes.
The vulnerable are being cordoned off and silenced. The vociferous are being incarcerated.

God help us to get our country back.
 

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