Gautam Navlakha, Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Varavara Rao and Arun Ferreira: Meet The Five Activists Put Under House Arrest In Connection With Bhima Koregaon Violence

New Delhi, August 29: Police raided houses of seven left-wing activists yesterday in connection with ‘Elgaar Parishad’- a conclave that was held on December 31, 2017, in Shaniwada near Pune to mark the 200th anniversary of Bhima-Koregaon war. Five activists Sudha Bhardwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferriera. The Supreme Court today directed that all the five accused would be kept under house arrest till September 5.

Here are the profiles of the activists arrested yesterday:

Sudha Bharadwaj: She is an Indian trade unionist, a civil rights activist against land acquisition, a lawyer, who has been working and living in the state of Chhattisgarh. She is also General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh People’s Union for Civil Liberties and also the founder of Janhit. She gave up her US citizenship at an age of 18 years. She studied mathematics from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur. Bharadwaj also took up the issue of Dalit rights. She also criticised judicial decision of imprisoning Binayak Sen. Bharadwaj also criticised the arrest of Surendra Gadling in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence.

Gautam Navlakha: He is a human right activist, journalist and has worked as a secretary of the People's Union for Democratic Rights. Navlakha has also been a convener of the International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir. He is also an editorial consultant of the Economic and Political Weekly. Navlakha was refused to enter Kashmir in 2010 and even in 2011. He also supported Prashant Bhushan in demilitarisation of Kashmir and favoured holding a referendum in the valley. He has also written about the alleged human right violation in Kashmir. The veteran activist also demanded repeal of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

Varavara Rao: He is a renowned poet, journalist, literary critic, and public speaker from Telangana. He is a firm believer in Left ideology. He has been arrested many times before his arrest on August 28 for his involvement in various activities for destabilising the government. He was first arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) in October 1973. Rao was arrested again on 26 June 1975, on the eve of the proclamation of Indian Emergency. He also founded ‘Virasam’, Revolutionary Writers’ Association which was later banned by the Andhra Pradesh Government on August 19, 2005, within 24 hours of its formation. He supported the Telangana movement. He was named as an emissary of the then Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Peoples War for negotiating peace talks with the government in 2001 and 2004.

Vernon Gonsalves: He is a human rights activist and a lawyer from Mumbai. The 60-year-old was first time arrested in 2007 for being part of the banned CPI (Maoist) and was convicted under various sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Gonsalves has worked in HR College of Commerce and Economics and Akbar Peerbhoy College of Commerce and Economics. In April 2014 also, a Nagpur sessions court convicted Gonsalves under the Arms Act, Explosives Act and UAPA.

Arun Ferreira: He was imprisoned in 2007 for charged with being responsible for the propaganda and communications wing of the banned CPI (Maoist). A total of 10 cases were filed against him under the UAPA and Arms Act. He came out of Nagpur Jail in 2011 on bail. Ferreira was finally acquitted of all the cases in 2014. In 2015, he got his licence from the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa and since he is practising law in Mumbai. Ferriera is an alumnus of St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 29, 2018 07:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).