Withdraw UAPA cases against activists, say Haragopal & Co
HYDERABAD: Strongly condemning the notices issued by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to human rights activists and writers, the Forum Against Repression (FAR), Telangana, accused the State government and the Centre of adopting “repressive means” to silence the voices that question their policies and decisions.
In a statement issued by FAR convener Professor G Haragopal here on Thursday, the collective of civil society organisations and activists stated that on September 15, writers, poets and activists were falsely booked under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Telangana Public Security Act and the Arms Act under Kukatpally Housing Board police station limits.
The collective stated that Varalakshmi, Pinakapani, G Padma Kumari, N Ravi Sharma, N Venugopal, N Narayana Rao and others have been working under the purview of law and Constitution, constantly raising their voices on the issues concerning the people. They are being targeted.
The statement alleged that the NIA has been harassing the members of Chaitanya Mahila Sangham (CMS) in a case by serving them notices to appear before the agency’s offices, asking them irrelevant questions and recording their statements number of times.
The FAR has alleged that the NIA has been issuing notices and threatening CMS members that if they fail to appear, their houses will be raided. Demanding the State government to withdraw cases under UAPA against the activists, the FAR demanded that the NIA stop harassing them in the name of questioning.