Several women activists on Wednesday condemned a police chargesheet on Delhi riots, where a “Mahila Ekta Yatra” which took place between February 14 and 16 finds a mention.
A statement issued by activists, including Annie Raja, Shabnam Hashmi, Anjali Bhardwaj and Kamla Bhasin, said that the yatra had been held to express solidarity with the women-led protests against the CAA, NRC and NPR.
“The chargesheet filed by Delhi Police assigns blame for the communal violence in north-east Delhi to protesters, activists and students, who were peacefully opposing the CAA, NRC and NPR. The chargesheet filed on September 2020 also mentions the Mahila Ekta Yatra. As organisers and participants [of yatra] we know that the allegations and insinuations against us are completely false and fabricated,” it read.
‘Suppressing opinion’
Further the statement added: “They are part of a persistent effort to suppress legitimate, peaceful expression of political opinion and opposition by criminalising it through preverse re-scripting of the truth and facts. The chargesheet invokes the draconian UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) to intimidate and silence dissenting voices and curtail personal liberty through long periods of incarceration.”
Activists Poonam Kaushik, Maimoona Mollah, Vani Subramanium, Amrita Johri and Suroor Mander are also among the signatories.
“At the protest sites we reaffirmed our commitment to a secular and inclusive India. To safeguard these values, we opposed the discriminatory CAA, the proposal to create an NRC through an NPR. We shall not be intimidated. We shall not be silenced. We demand that all steps be taken to ensure that the real perpetrators of the Delhi violence are brought to book and the persecution of peaceful dissenters is immediately stopped,” the statement said.
