About 400 people gathered near Dadar station on Wednesday, the first death anniversary of Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh, and protested against the recent spate of arrests of activists in the country.
Members of 36 student organisations from isntitutes like IIT Bombay and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and groups such as Bombay Catholic Sabha and People’s Union of Civil Liberties, demanded the release of the activists who have been kept under house arrest.
The protesters shouted slogans such as ‘Down with Maharashtra Police’, ‘Murder of Democratic India – MODI’ and ‘I am Gauri Lankesh’ and demanded that the government intervene and stop raiding homes of activists and writers just for raising their voices. They also called for the immediate repealing of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Baban Thoke, a protester, said, “We want Arun Ferriera, Mahesh Raut, Sudha Bharadwaj and the others to be released. We want the people responsible for the Bhima-Koregaon riots, Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide, and members of the Sanatan Sanstha to be arrested immediately.”
Fahaad Ahmed, former general secretary of TISS students’ union, said, “The only reason we are here is because we want to make our country a better place. We live in a democratic nation and free speech is our birthright. No one should be arrested for voicing their opinions. We are not against any party, we are only fighting to save the democracy.”
“There is a fear psychosis now. Students are not expressing themselves for the fear of getting arrested. We know the terror tactics the State plays to make life hell for the students. This is happening all around”, said Dolphy Dsouza of Bombay Catholic Sabha.