The so-called myth of the urban Maoist and a method to suppress activism
For the second time in five months, Pune police arrested prominent Left-wing activists from four states, accusing them of being part of a conspiracy to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While critics of the BJP regime see the arrests as a political witch hunt by the government to muzzle voices of dissent in the country, there are others who believe the threat from ‘urban’ Maoists is not as fictional as it sounds.
The arrests evoked widespread condemnation and shock over the raids on the homes of intellectuals and activists critical of the BJP, calling it an attempt to strike terror among those fighting for justice for the marginalised.
The recent raids were a follow up to similar action taken on April 17 when the Pune Police cracked down on half a dozen Dalit activists and those involved with the Kabir Kala Manch, which organised an Elgar Conference in Pune on December 31, 2017.
The Pune Police has been probing the Maoist link to the caste riots that erupted in Koregaon-Bhima. On January 1 this year, violent clashes broke out between the Dalits and right-wing Hindutva groups in Bhima Koregaon on the outskirts of Pune where the former had gathered in large numbers to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle in which the Peshwas were defeated by a British Army that had Mahar soldiers.
The activists raided are Varavara Rao and Kranti (Telangana), Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Pereira (Mumbai), Sudha Bharadwaj and Stan Swami (Chhattisgarh), Gautam Navlakha (Delhi) and Anand Teltumbde (Goa). The police claim they functioned like an ‘urban think tank’ for Maoists but supporters of the activists believe they are in fact human rights activists.
In June, the police in Pune had registered a case after a letter mentioning an assassination plot was recovered from one of the five persons arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence.
The letter written by a person identified only as ‘R’ reportedly mentions a plot to kill Modi on the lines of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
It also referred to requirement of Rs 8 crore to purchase a M-4 rifle and four lakh rounds to execute the plot. The letter reportedly mentions Varavara Rao’s name as the one who will arrange the funds.
The letter addressed to a Maoist leader Prakash was recovered from rights activist Rona Jacob Wilson, when he was arrested in Delhi.
Varavara Rao, who heads “Veerasam” – an association of revolutionary writers – had strongly denied the allegations. He had termed it as an attempt by the central government to check the falling popularity graph of Narendra Modi.
His wife said he was arrested in 20 to 30 cases since 1974 but was not convicted even in one. She said it was the first time that police entered their house and searched every room.
While Rao has been arrested several times in the past, Mumbai-based Gonsalves (a professor) and Ferreira (lawyer) have also spent several years in jail after being arrested by the Maharashtra Police in 2007 for alleged Maoist links.
The Pune police have branded all five as “urban Maoists’’, sparking a nationwide debate on what the term stands for. Describing dissent as a safety valve, the Supreme Court had on August 29 ordered that the five human rights activists be kept under house arrest.
In April, the Pune Police tracked down Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale (all arrested) besides raiding Harshali Potdar, Jyoti Jagtap, Ramesh Gaychor and Sagar Gorke.
Delhi University Professor S.A.R. Geelani said there was a “pattern” behind the arrests and it was done with an eye on the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
“There is a pattern to what is happening, it’s not haphazard. First, they arrested Saibaba on fake charges, then came the arrests of five activists including lawyer Surendra Gadling and activist Rona Wilson who were endeavouring to get Saibaba released,” said Geelani, associated with the Committee for Release of Political Prisoners.
“After the second round of arrests of five activists in June, they have gone for more arrests. Arun Ferreira and Vernon Fernandes and others were ensuring legal help to Gadling and others,” he said.
Geelani, convicted in the Parliament attack case by the lower courts but acquitted by the Supreme Court, said the crackdown on rights activists was aimed at polarising society and stifle dissent before the 2019 polls.
Kavita Srivastava of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties alleged that an emergency under a fascist regime was in force wherein every dissenting voice is being thrown into jail.
She claimed that the arrests were meant to discredit the growing Dalit uprising in the country as well as divert the country’s attention from the failures of the Modi government.
“As much as to put down dissent, this is also being done to cover the Modi government’s gross incompetence, its failure to fulfil poll promises and divert public attention from burning issues like economic mismanagement, growing unemployment and increasing agrarian crisis,” said Srivastava.
Expressing alarm over the abuse of law to stifle dissent, the activists demanded immediate repealing of what they said were draconian laws.
They also dismissed the “urban naxals” term used for political dissenters, saying that the government was desperately trying to use such labels for those opposed to it.
While political parties were debating the term and calling it a myth, a member of the CPI (M) politburo said that the outfit was indeed looking for urban and intellectual youths to overcome its leadership crisis and educate their ground-level cadres, including tribals and Dalits.
The CPI (M) has failed to build its second-rung of leaders due to the lack of educated youths in its ranks, politburo member Prashanta Bose alias Kishanda said recently in the party’s mouthpiece Lal Chingari Prakhashan.
If that was not enough, banners were up by the banned CPI (M) in support of the recently arrested activists. This is the first time Maoists have supported the alleged overground ideologues.
They have also demanded immediate, unconditional release of the arrested persons, besides criticising the BJP-RSS for labelling the activists as ‘Maoists’ to deprive them of their rights.
Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said, “This is a pattern which has been playing out repeatedly and systematically since 2014.”
He said that there was a narrative which the BJP and the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh) is trying to peddle. “If you question the BJP, you are termed anti-national. If you question the government, then you are called a traitor. Is this the India that we want?” he asked.
“It is becoming clear that battle for 2019 is going to be fought between fascism represented by BJP and democracy represented by progressive, pluralistic forces. It is going to be a battle not just to replace the government but for the very soul of India,” Tewari added.
But Tewari did not say that in December 2012, the Manmohan Singh government too had identified 128 organisations that had links to the CPI (Maoists). Many of the activists arrested recently — Bharadwaj, Rao, Ferreira and Gonsalves – were on the list along with Mahesh Raut, Surendra Gadling and Rona Wilson that the Congress had prepared.
At that time Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had called Maoists the biggest internal threat to the country’s security and launched a massive operation against them. Former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had also spoken about the alleged sympathies of the groups towards the cause of Maoism.
The UPA’s treatment of several activists criticising police atrocities in Chhattisgarh was not very different from that of the BJP. Many of the activists arrested recently have been behind bars under previous regimes as well.
With its muscular national and frequent terming of critics as “anti-nationals”, the BJP is widely seen as a party out to punish dissent. It has often clashed with noted intellectuals in the country since it came to power while maintaining a studied silence over instances of cow vigilantism and mob lynchings.
While dissent is a defining characteristic of a democracy, so is peaceful protest. Activists, if found supporting violent methods while hobnobbing with a banned outfit, cannot be allowed to stay active. The government must ensure Maoists do not take hold in urban or rural areas, but the voices of the voiceless and marginalised should not be stifled in the process. n
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