LUCKNOW: The Yogi Adityanath government announced the release of Bhim Army leader
Chandra Shekhar Azad alias Ravan on Thursday, more than a year after the Dalit outfit founder was slapped with the National Security Act (NSA) for allegedly inciting violence in Saharanpur in the wake of atrocities against the Scheduled Castes (SC).
Azad was arrested in June 2017 and subsequently NSA was slapped on him. The current period of NSA arrest was to expire on October 31. The government denied that the decision on Azad’s premature release was taken to pre-empt any adverse order by Supreme Court, which the Bhim Army had approached two months ago.
The government also denied that the move was aimed to placate Dalits in UP ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls following criticism of the BJP government in Maharashtra over the arrests of five civil rights activists last month for their alleged links with Maoists.
“Chandra Shekhar alias Ravan’s mother had submitted a plea. Keeping the current situation in mind, the government is taking a sympathetic view and is directing the Saharanpur administration to release him with immediate effect,” the UP government’s order said.
The UP home department confirmed that his release was unconditional. This came even as the Saharanpur district magistrate had submitted an adverse report two weeks ago against Azad. The same order also said that Azad’s two aides, Sonu and Shiv Kumar, from Badgaon in Saharanpur, would be released prematurely ahead of their term completion on October 14.
“The government must now ensure that Chandrashekar Azad is not targeted for his work to empower Dalits and is not incarcerated without a fair trial,” Asmita Basu, Programmes Director,
Amnesty International, said.Bhim Army had publicly pledged support to SP-RLD candidate in Kairana and Nurpur bypolls this year, which saw BJP’s defeat.
Ravan's family, including his mother and brothers, asserted that the outfit's movement to safeguard Dalit rights would continue in UP.
The
Allahabad high court on April 28 thi s year had refused to entertain a plea by the Bhim Army seeking the quashing of NSA. Following the HC order, the UP government extended Azad's detention under the NSA for three months, first till August 2018 and subsequently till October 2018.
