Historian Romila Thapar, lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan, and others moved the Supreme Court on Wednesday against the arrests of five civil rights activists who were picked up on Tuesday by the Maharashtra Police from different locations in connection with their alleged Maoist links, according to an article in the Indian Express.
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Contribute“It was not immediately clear on what charges had the activists been arrested or how they were connected to the Elgaar Parishad event.”
The Bench that will hear the matter, scheduled for 3:45 PM today, will be headed by Chief justice of India Dipak Misra.
On Tuesday, Varavara Rao, lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Fereira, Gautam Navlakha and Vernon Gonsalves were arrested by the police for their alleged involvement in organising Elgaar Parishad— an event to mark the 200th year of the Battle of Koregaon, which Dalit groups observe as a victory over the forces of the upper caste Peshwas—earlier this year in Pune.
According to the Pune police, the speeches made at the Elgaar Parishad meeting is what caused incitement and consequently triggered the January 1 violence in which Dalits were targeted.
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