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NIA probe into Bhima-Koregaon being used to crackdown on dissidents, say over 1,000 academics

In a joint statement, academics and scientists urge the government to end crackdown on 'urban naxals' and instead find the real culprits that caused Bhima-Koregaon violence in 2018.

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New Delhi: Over 1,000 Indian academics and members of the scientific community from across the world have released a joint statement Wednesday, expressing their concerns over the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) arrests and investigation into the 2018 Bhima-Koregaon violence.

They claimed the government is using the incident to arrest dissenting individuals. 

“It appears to us that the NIA’s claims of investigating the ‘conspiracy’ in the Elgaar-Parishad case are actually a flimsy cover for cracking down on ‘urban naxals’ — who, in reality, are only dissident intellectuals — and keeping them in prison indefinitely,” the statement read.

It emphasised on the claim that the government has used the “draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)” to harass intellectuals, who were not even present during the time of the incident.

The statement also spoke in defence of IISER-Kolkata professor Partho Sarothi Ray, who was summoned to Mumbai Thursday for questioning in the case. 

“Prof Ray has publicly stated that he has no knowledge of the Bhima-Koregaon incident and has never visited the area. But, of course, it is well-known that Prof Ray has been critical of the central government’s response to the pandemic and we suspect that this may not be unrelated with the summons that have been issued to him. We are concerned that Prof Ray may also be arrested on false charges,” according to the statement.

They also urged the government to “immediately end its crackdown on dissidents” and “instead focus on identifying and prosecuting the true perpetrators of the Bhima-Koregan violence”.

Some of the signatories of the statement included professor Navdeep Mathur of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Rebekah Sud, research coordinator of NIMHANS, Snehalata Sahu, senior research fellow from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, assistant professor Sumeet Agrawal from IIT-Delhi and Ranjan Laha, a CERN researcher.

Scientists and academics from IIT-Bombay, MIT, IISER, and IISc were also among the signatories.


Also read: Historians’ silence on Bhima Koregaon allowed BJP to brand it as ‘urban Naxalism’


About the incident

The Bhima-Koregaon gathering took place in 2018 to mark the 200th year of the battle of Bhima Koregaon, a small village in Maharashtra, where a Dalit-dominated British Army had defeated a Peshwa Army in 1818. 

The gathering turned violent, which led to the death of one person and injured several.

Police alleged that an event called the Elgaar Parishad, organised by Dalit-Ambedkarite groups a day before the gathering led to the violence. So far, 12 individuals have been arrested and charged under the stringent UAPA.

Some of the arrested include Delhi university professor Hany Babu, human rights lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj, activist Anand Teltumbde and professor Shoma Sen.


Also read: A year after Bhima-Koregaon clashes, here’s why the Maharashtra village erupted


 

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