CaRWAN protests ‘unlawful’ arrests of Noida workers, activists near Jantar Mantar, 70 detained

Amid the ongoing protests over the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the Campaign for Release of Workers and Activists of Noida (CaRWAN) on Saturday staged a separate protest near Jantar Mantar seeking the release of workers and activists jailed in connection with the April 13 Noida workers’ protest.

More than 100 protesters marched from Patel Chowk towards Jantar Mantar, and Delhi Police detained at least 70 of them before releasing them later in the day. The protesters alleged that the police forcefully detained and manhandled them, with female protesters allegedly being held by male officers.

‘Unlawful detention’

CaRWAN demanded that workers and activists who had been “unlawfully held by Uttar Pradesh Police and incarcerated for over five months” be released immediately.

“While there are protests going on against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, his daughter Medha Roopam, who is the District Magistrate of Gautam Buddha Nagar, issued NSA detention orders against Satyam Verma and Akriti Chaudhary,” CaRWAN member Anjali said during the protest.

Ms. Anjali said that while Mr. Verma, a translator and former journalist, continues to be detained under the National Security Act (NSA), 1980, Ms. Chaudhary remains in jail despite the Allahabad High Court quashing her detention under the NSA on September 2.

Six others, including activist Aditya Anand, workers Manisha and Rupesh, student leaders Yogesh Meena and Himanshu Thakur and artist Srishti Gupta are also in jail. The police have registered 11 FIRs against them.

“The Allahabad High Court called the police investigation on the basis of which the order was issued a ‘concocted story’ while quashing Ms. Chaudhary’s detention. The Uttar Pradesh government and police have been acting unlawfully since day one and people who have been working for social causes on the ground have been facing the brunt of it,” Ms. Anjali said.

For a cause

The protesters sat down near Jantar Mantar after the police asked them to clear the site. The police then allegedly forcefully took them into three buses, where female protesters were held by male officers and others were pushed and pulled by police personnel. Two buses were taken to Sector 23 Dwarka police station and one to Kapashera, where the detainees were later released, Ms. Anjali said.

“Female protesters were detained after 6 p.m.,” said Chitranshu, a protester.

Naureen, another member of CaRWAN, said the Uttar Pradesh police had tried to fabricate evidence and plant a mobile phone at Ms. Gupta’s house. “The police, working in alignment with the government, do not have any real evidence against them. We demand that they be released immediately,” she said.

Delhi University Professors Nandita Narain and N. Sachin were also part of the protest.

“Journalists like Satyam Verma and activists who are role models for all citizens have been held illegally and put behind bars. Regressive laws like the NSA have been imposed on them. These show the brutalities of both the police and those in power,” Ms. Narain said.