KOCHI : As public outcry over the citizenship law boils over, CPI(M) Secretariat Member and former MP P Rajeev said, “Protest that blazes through country is not weak to be downed by arrests, curfew or prohibitory orders”. He was referring to the ongoing demonstrations against CAA, where crowd in large numbers continue to hit the streets in several states, including those ruled by BJP, defying prohibitory orders, curfew, arbitrary arrests and now police shootings too.
A given government resorts to desperate tactics when overcome by fear. The arrest of Left veterans including Sitaram Yechury or that of students andrmedia persons only served to intensify protests, he pointed out.
High-handedness is getting rather crude, Rajeev said. Look at the way police arrested the renowned historian Ramchand Guha in Bengaluru. The cops swooped down on the world famous personality, who is also a Padmabhushan awardee, as he addressed a crowd, speaking on Mahatma Gandhi and the constitution of this country.
In Delhi, internet services have been suspended. Airtel took to twitter saying it is a government directive to private providers in the state. Open jails were marked features of Kashmir alone, while currently, they have propped up in several states across the country, Rajeev said.
The Guardian newspaper in its editorial warned of India’s transition from democracy to autocracy. Renowned media houses including New York Times and Washington Post have described ongoing protests as India’s desperate attempts to preserve its democracy. The rising protests are a struggle aimed to keep India as we have known it to be..wanted it to be and cannot be downed by Centre’s heavy-handedness, P Rajeev.said.
