INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ramachandra Guha blamed the "corporate cronies of the ruling government".New Delhi: Author and historian Ramachandra Guha today lashed out
at the government over the countrywide raids and arrest of activists, calling it a "brutal, authoritarian, oppressive, arbitrary
illegal act" by the Maharashtra police
Speaking to TheIndianSubcontinent after the arrest of five well-known activists and intellectuals, Mr Guha blamed it on the "corporate
cronies of the ruling government," who, he said, were bent on grabbing tribal land, forest and mineral resources
The arrest of the activists was meant to take away the only representation the tribals have, he said.Through the day, the Pune police had
conducted raids on the homes of nine activists across five cities, which ended with the arrest of five - Varavara Rao, lawyer Sudha
Bhardwaj, and activists Arun Fereira, Gautam Navlakha and Vernon Gonsalves
The police said the arrests were linked to last year's Bhima Koregaon violence, in which Dalit activists had clashed with upper-caste
Marathas.In June, five people -- Sudhir Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Rona Wilson and Shoma Sen -- were arrested for allegedly
making "provocative" speeches at an event in at Bhima Koregaon village in January, which, the police said, triggered violence
Today's raids were carried out on basis of what they said during interrogation, the police said.Mr Guha told TheIndianSubcontinent that he
knew some of those arrested and while he did not always agreed with them, he knew that they "never themselves preached or practiced
"But these are people who represent the country's disenfranchised and the dispossessed," he said
"What is happening in the adivasi heartland of india it is murder, rape, physical, natural, social and these were the lawyers representing
the tribals and their arrest leaves those dispossessed unrepresented in court," he added.A later tweet from him read: Intellectuals and
professionals including author Arundhati Roy and Indira Jaising have criticized the arrests in harsh terms
Earlier today, Indira Jaising tweeted: "One day there will be no one left to defend the rule of law,one day there will be no rule of law
left to defend."Ms Roy, in a statement, compared the arrests to the 1975 Emergency
"It is as close to a declaration of an Emergency as we will ever get," read a statement from the Booker-prize winning author.Mr Guha,
however said, he needed to make his stand clear
"The witch hunt against activists was was started by Congress, this government taking it further," the historian had added.
