Bhima-Koregaon Raids: Left parties to protest against 'unethical crackdown' on activists at Jantar Mantar

Left and all progressive groups will protest against the unethical crackdown on activists at the Jantar Mantar.

NEW DELHI: Left parties will on Thursday lead a protest at the Jantar Mantar against what they call the 'unethical crackdown' by the government on the civil rights activists in connection with Bhima-Koregaon violence last year.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) General secretary Sitaram Yechury had announced that the Left parties will stage a protest at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, against the "unethical crackdown" on the five activists. 

"There will be a protest at Jantar Mantar on Thursday by the Left and all progressive groups against the unethical crackdown," Yechury told ANI. 

The CPI(M) politburo on Tuesday protested against the country-wide raids and subsequent arrests of left-wing activists, suspected to have Maoist links, calling it a brazen attack on democratic rights and civil liberties. 

The CPI(M) demanded the withdrawal of the cases against the activists and their immediate release.

"The polit bureau of CPI(M) strongly protests the raids conducted by police authorities on the homes of various civil rights and human rights activists and Left intellectuals," a statement from the party said.

 Maharashtra Police had on Tuesday raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them for suspected Maoist links, sparking a chorus of outraged protests from human rights defenders. 

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year, which had later triggered violence at Koregaon-Bhima village. 

Prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao was arrested from Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Farreira from Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj from Faridabad and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha was arrested from New Delhi.

(With Agency Inputs)