Several activists, mostly teachers, including educationist Prof G Haragopal, were detained by the Hyderabad police on Saturday as they attempted to hold an indoor meeting to demand the release of revolutionary writer Varavara Rao and other intellectuals, who are in jail since November last year.
The activists were released later in the evening after being detained for a few hours. Those detained include N Venugopal and Katyayani and several others.
Police objected to the meeting organised by Democratic Teachers Federation at Telangana Non-Gazetted Officers’ Bhavan (NGO Bhavan), protesting against the arrest of activist and public intellectuals including Varavara Rao and Sudha Bharadwaj, among others. They asked the federation general secretary Linga Reddy and other members to leave the place. Police said that they took preventive custody of at least 20 persons as they tried to hold a meeting without obtaining permission.
Revolutionary Writers’ Association (Virasam) has condemned the incident as undemocratic and an inhuman act of the Telangana government.
“The Telangana NGO Bhavan was locked to stop teachers from attending the meeting.’ It’s shameful to disrupt an indoor meeting of teachers who wants to speak about the incarceration of fellow teachers like Varavara Rao, Saibaba, Shoma Sen and other intellectuals,’’ they said.
The Virasam member also alleged that it was shameful to boast about the percentage of polling as a mark of democracy while suppressing the democratic voices simultaneously.