Arrests of right activists being linked to the attack on Swami Agnivesh and Umar Khalid

New Delhi, Aug 30: Attempts are being made to link arrest of - Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Kranthi Tekula and others - with the incidents pf attack on Arya Samaj leader Swami Agnivesh in Pankud in Jharkhand and attack on Umar Khalid in Delhi who was accused of shouting anti-India slogan in Jawaharlal Nehru University Campus.

"The arrests should be seen in continuation with the recent attacks on pro-justice voices such as Swami Agnivesh, Umar Khalid and many other student activists from Delhi to Lucknow to rest of India. A BJP lawmaker from Karnataka even advocated the murder of 'intellectuals.' Both the arrests and the physical attacks on justice loving people must be seen in a series of attempts to stifle dissent and deny social justice," said Sheo Dutt, Former DUTA executive member and Academic Council Member, DU.

The arrest of these activists are nothing but an attempt by the government to strike terror among those who are fighting for justice for the marginalized. Raids carried out on the houses of these activists are aimed at creating a spectacle, as the writings and views of these intellectuals are already publicly known and are well documented. This seems like a conspiracy to divert attention from the gravity of the Sanatan Sanstha conspiracy to carry out serial bomb attacks on Eid and Ganesh Chaturthi! "We demand immediate release of the arrested individuals, dropping of all false and malicious charges, as these arrests are politically motivated and unjustified," said Dutt.

On the other hand Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, believes that they are intolerant group and have been spreading violence. Joint general secretary ABVP Srinivas told One India, "People like Swami Agnivesh and Varavara Rao are urban Naxals. We have been talking and providing information about their unlawful activities and opposing them. We cannot forget killing of 43 ABVP workers in united Andhra Pradesh when Varavara Rao was propaganda manager."

There is no need to tell about Delhi University teachers G N Sai Baba's involvement in naxal activities. "A 90 per cent disabled Sai Baba has been shifted to Delhi in a well planned scheme to spread this ideology of urban naxalism.