Sedition charges on activists is to silence lawfully dissenting voices

Ongole: The Viplava Rachayitala Sangham Andhra Pradesh leader G Kalyanarao, Organization for the Protection of Democratic Rights state vice president Chavali Sudhakar Rao, Progressive Organization for Women state secretary Ch Padma, Progressive Youth League leader N Nagaraju, Patriotic Democratic Movement leader K Venkaiah, and other human rights and public fronts' leaders demanded the minsters Balineni Srinivasa Reddy and Dr. Audimulapu Suresh to intervene in the lifting off cases on their leaders and release them unconditionally.

They met the ministers in Ongole on Monday and explained in a memorandum that the state police have booked fabricated cases against 30 leaders of human rights, dalit, literary, workers rights, and other allied organizations, one at Munchingput police station as 47/2020 on November 23 and another at Pidururalla police station as 66/2020 on November 24 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Sedition and other acts.

They explained to the ministers that all of the leaders and their organizations are not surrogates to any unlawful organizations. They claimed that they are working democratically and constitutionally against the undemocratic and unconstitutional acts of the government and trying to scuffle their voices are nothing but killing the freedom of speech guaranteed to all citizens by the constitution. They informed that the police have arrested four leaders of the organizations in the last fortnight and they are worrying that they would send the remaining leaders also to jails as they did to others.

They said that the earlier TDP government has sent many rights activists to jail based on a fabricated case number 47/2018 at G Madugula police station under UAPA act, two years ago. They alleged that the present government, which came into power as the result of public outrage against the undemocratic decisions by the earlier government is also taking the same path and it is not advisable. They requested the ministers to interfere at least now and see the untrue cases slapped on the leaders of public fronts and rights organizations and release the already arrested activists unconditionally.