BENGALURU: Members of various groups including renowned historian Ramachandra Guha staged a protest condemning the arrest of Disha Ravi and demanding her immediate release.
Over 100 people gathered at Mysuru Bank Circle on Monday evening, shouting slogans against the central government, its ‘fascist’ attitude, and demanding Ravi’s immediate release. The protesters were holding several placards including those which read, “Standing for farmers is not sedition”, “Hands off our forest, Hands off our activists”, “Repeal UAPA, Repeal NSA”, “Protest against undeclared emergency”, “By crushing individuals, they cannot kill ideas”, “Arresting Disha Ravi is an act of cowardice, Shame on Delhi police”.
Historian Ramachandra Guha said, “The situation which was there when I was a student has come back. Even (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee had also said documents should be countered with documents only. Violence is not the solution. There is a dictatorship in the country”.
Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) President Badagalapura Nagendra, who also supported the protest, said that the entire episode of the arrest of Disha Ravi projects patriots as traitors. “Even during the Emergency, there was no so much of repression. Day by day, democracy is being strangulated. Those who are speaking against injustice are being silenced. The Modi government's fascist attitude has reached the peak and I believe that the people will end this soon. They have called farmers terrorists and a government, which believes that the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi is right, can go to any extent,” he said, adding that the more the government tries to silence people, the more the people will speak against it.
Vinay Sreenivasa, an advocate, alleged that the Delhi police had not followed any legal procedures while picking up and arresting Disha Ravi. “We need proof of the correspondence between the Delhi police and Bengaluru city police. The state government should take action against the Delhi police for making the illegal arrest. It's our duty to stand with Disha Ravi, as democracy is in danger. A Haryana minister has said that people like Disha Ravi should be killed, but there is no single statement from state BJP leaders,” he charged.
A few agitators went and submitted a petition to the police commissioner, requesting proof of correspondence by the Delhi Police before arresting Disha Ravi. Congress MLA Sowmya Reddy had also joined the protest, while the members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also held a separate candlelight protest demanding the release of Ravi.
Meanwhile, campaign Against Hate Speech, a group to combat hate speech, submitted a petition to the Police Commissioner seeking registration of FIR against Haryana Minister Anil Vij for calling for the killing of Disha Ravi on Twitter.