HYDERABAD: Commemorating freedom fighter Bhagat Singh’s martyrdom day, the Committee for Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) will hold week-long events demanding release of political prisoners in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The week-long programmes will be held across the country including in 24 districts of Telangana. The first public meeting will be held on March 23 which will be addressed by professors Haragopal, Padmaja Shaw and others.
It will be presided over by Balla Ravindra Nath, general secretary of CRPP. The programmes will continue till March 29.
Speaking at an event held here on Tuesday to announce the programmes, revolutionary poet Varavara Rao said, “Unfortunately, democratic leaders like Professor GN Saibaba of Delhi University, who have been fighting for minorities, are also being slapped with life imprisonment.
They are all being convicted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. One of our objectives is also to seek abolition of this Act.”
He also slammed the arrest of Balla Ravindra Nath and his associates who are members of CRPP’s TS and AP chapters.
They were handed over to the Chhattisgarh police and are currently lodged in Sukma jail.“Their democratic rights are being curbed while the IPC says no one can be punished or convicted unless the crime is proved. These are the issues we are going to talk about,” he said.
“We have been conducting this from the time CRPP was formed in memory of the revolutionaries, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Raj Guru. CRPP believes that most of the people who land in prisons belong to minority groups. Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis are high in number.
There are exceptions. People do commit criminal offences but they are mainly implicated because of their beliefs. We seek the release of such people,” said Varavara Rao.