Bengaluru activists slam DU professor’s arrest

The action against Hany Babu is another instance of the government is using anti-terror laws to stifle dissent, they say

Many in Bengaluru have joined the protest against the arrest of Hany Babu, activist and Delhi University professor.

It is an assault on democracy, says Maitreyi Krishnan, advocate, calling for a review of anti-terror laws being misused for political ends.

“The arrests related to the Koregaon-Bhima case, be it Arun Perreira, Vernon Gonsalves or Sudha Bharadwaj, shows how people standing up for the oppressed are targeted and silenced,” she says. People can be punished for their actions, but not for reading books or subscribing to certain ideals, she adds.

Shivasundar, columnist and activist, says the current regime protects perpetrators of violence but jails people who express dissent. He cites the case of Telugu poet Varavara Rao, in jail even after testing positive for the virus.

“Compare this to Babu Bajrangi who spent maybe one month in jail. He was sentenced to life for a massacre during the 2002 Gujarat riots. He has been out on bail since March 2019 on medical grounds,” he says.

Ravi Krishna Reddy, president, Karnataka Rashtra Samithi Party, says Babu’s arrest is deplorable but activists can’t take to
the streets, given the pandemic. “Counter fake news. Adopt Gandhian ways of protest,” he advises.

‘Demand to be heard’

Siva Manithan, advocate and external consultant with Alternative Law Forum, says the government is going on a witch-hunt in the name of fighting Maoism.

“What they aim to do is instil fear in those raising a voice,” he says. The Constitution guarantees the citizens the right to organise peaceful protests. “With the pandemic, this might not be feasible. Write letters to the PM and demand to be heard,” he says.

A professor says public intellectuals are instrumental in bringing the voices of marginalised people to the mainstream. “Sadly, we live in a mould which keeps us from practising civic roles. People like Babu do it on our behalf,” he says.

What happened

On Tuesday, Hany Babu, assistant professor in the Department of English at Delhi University was arrested by the National Investigation Agency.

This is the 12th arrest in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima case. He has been accused of propagating Naxal and Maoist ideology. Babu is a member of the Committee for the Defence and Release of G N Saibaba, former Delhi University professor serving a life sentence on charges of having Maoist links.