Rights Activists Arrest: This Law Is An Ass

On August 28, the Pune police mounted raids across several cities,taking into custody five civil liberties activists, invoking that dreaded anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). They were acc­­used of inciting violence in Bhima Koregaon in January, and generally of aiding the banned Maoist party. The police바카라�s swift operation바카라�oiled by a section of the media that flashed dubious letters about a conspiracy, and a lower judiciary that speedily signed transfer remands바카라�has received a jolt for now.

The run of events evoked a sense of déjà vu. Have we not seen a vicious trial by media every time an agency presented its latest arrests as operatives of whichever group was in the home ministry바카라�s favour that season? Have we not seen courts signing blank cheques for investigators바카라�be it extended remands or ignoring signs of custodial torture? The ever-exp­anding circle of suspects since January, the stubborn refusal by the police to book Hindu right groups inv­olved in the Bhima Koregaon violence, the convenient recoveries of self-incriminating letters바카라�all of it fits the template of arrests made under UAPA.

Who would know better than Arun Ferreira, now under house arrest, saved from the Pune penitentiary by the Supreme Court바카라�s grace? In 2007, he was picked up, accused of conspiring to blow up a monument in Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur. Eventually, 10 more cases were filed against him, including arson, assault, murder and firing on police; one was said to have occurred while he was in jail. A pen drive supposedly recovered from him was the sum of the evidence. He was acquitted after five years in jail.

This is how cases under UAPA are registered and prosecuted. Charges multiply. Bail is rarely gran­ted. But it isn바카라�t merely the procedure that blights this law. Passed in 1967 and amended repeate­dly, UAPA enables the Centre to declare an association 바카라�unlawful바카라� if it is seen as a threat or pot­ential threat to the country바카라�s 바카라�sovereignty and integrity바카라�, or is seen as promoting 바카라�enmity between different groups바카라�, or for 바카라�imputations prejudicial to national integration바카라�바카라�all subjective criteria contingent on the ideology of the government of the day. The ban on the Students바카라� Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in 2001 saw arrests of hundreds of Muslim youth across the country for allegedly furthering the group바카라�s activities, and is still a potent wea­pon to render the community perennially suspect.  

The sections most often invoked바카라�3, 10 and 13바카라�refer not to violence, but to membership of unlawful and terrorist associations. But how to prove membership and participation in an organisation that no longer exists? This is resolved by investigators 바카라�seizing바카라� literature of the organisation. In the case of SIMI, in an overwhelming number of cases the evidence centred on copies of the group바카라�s organ, Islamic Movement, all antedating the ban, or pamphlets of programmes held by SIMI when lawful, or photocopies of these, or the same magazine in multiple cases in different cities with a different set of accused!

Under UAPA, the 바카라�intention바카라� of the suspect is central in condemning him or her as a terrorist (바카라�whoever does any act with intent to threaten or likely to threaten the unity, integrity, security or sovereignty of India바카라�). 바카라�Unlawful activity바카라� defined as 바카라�an act or by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representation or otherwise바카라�, practically grants the government the power to criminalise any idea, thought, art or writing that challenges the dominant narratives of development, governance and social inequality. Commission of violence has thus become peripheral to the charge of terrorism.  

It is true that some judicial pronouncements have sought to temper the law바카라�s razor edge by distinguishing between active and passive membership of banned organisations. That hasn바카라�t discouraged pro­s­ecutors from citing the accused바카라�s commitment to jus­­tice and equality as inc­riminating evidence, or discouraged the courts from accepting this.  So G.N. Saibaba바카라�wheelchair-bound and 90 per cent disabled바카라�has been sentenced to life, mainly for his ideas.  

And yet, this was a spectacular operation바카라�a psy-op if ever there was one. The 바카라�shock-and-awe바카라� nature of the multi-city raids was meant to force us all into submission, and to congeal the 바카라�Urban Naxal바카라� legend in this government바카라�s relentless pursuit of foes. And while the Opposition decries it바카라�rightly바카라�as an attack on dissent, it must itself commit to the repeal of this law, which in the past it created and nourished.

(Manisha Sethi is the author of Kafkaland: Law, Prejudice and Counterterrorism in India.)