Bhima Koregaon: A new book recounts how 16 activists were imprisoned as terrorists, without trial

Amnesty International India and Oxfam India released a joint response the day Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves and Varavara Rao were arrested. “The nationwide crackdown on activists, advocates and human rights defenders is disturbing and threatens core human rights values.”

“Today’s arrest is the second of such crackdowns on rights activists, advocates and journalists who have been critical of the state. All these people have a history of working to protect the rights of some of India’s most poor and marginalised people. Their arrests raise disturbing questions about whether they are being targeted for their activism,” said Aakar Patel, executive director, Amnesty International India.

Nitya Ramakrishnan, the legal counsel for Gautam Navlakha, pointed out that the only document presented to Gautam in August 2018 was a First Information Report – FIR No 4 – dated January 8, 2018, in relation to the violence that broke out at the turn of the new year at Bhima Koregaon. When the FIR was finally translated from Marathi, it was revealed that none of the five arrested in August 2018 were even named in it. Moreover, it became clear that none of them were present at those Bhima Koregaon commemoration events on January 1, 2018.

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