Amnesty International India said on Tuesday that the surrender of human rights activists Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Bhima-Koregaon case was an extension of the government’s crackdown on dissent.
Avinash Kumar, executive director of Amnesty International India, said in a statement: “The clampdown on dissent in India continues. Even during a pandemic, the government of India is targeting those critical of the government. When hard-won rights to expression and peaceful protest are weakened, everyone stands to lose.”
He said there had been a sustained smear campaign against the two activists over the past two years.
“These arrests are an extension of a crackdown on anyone who is critical of the state. This includes human rights defenders, journalists and Right to Information activists who have been threatened, harassed and attacked while seeking state accountability. The state has also used preventive detention as a tool to repress dissent.”
The activists have been accused of making speeches at an Elgar Parishad meeting in Pune on December 31, 2017, leading to riots at Bhima-Koregaon the next day. They surrendered to the NIA on Tuesday following a Supreme Court direction.