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Yesterday, the Pune police arrested Anand Teltumbde, a scholar and civil rights activist at the Mumbai airport at 3:30 am. He was accused of charges falling under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the arrest was made irrespective of an order of the Supreme Court granting him temporary protection against arrest for four weeks from January 14. It is alleged that the investigation into the Bhima-Koregaon violence on January 1, 2018, exposed that Teltubmde had close ties with the Maoist organizations. Earlier, the Pune District Court rejected his plea for anticipatory bail.
Kishor Vadane, Additional session’s judge noted that an investigative officer collected enough material against Teltumbde to show the participation of the accused in the alleged commission of the crime. On December 21, the Bombay High Court rejected the petition filed by Teltumbde for the cancellation of the FIR and granted temporary protection against the arrest for three weeks. However, the apex Court granted him provisional protection for four weeks, to allow him to seek anticipatory bail.
After the SC rejected the interference, Teltumbde wrote an open letter stating that charges had been framed against him for being a civil rights activist. The accusations of Maoist connections appeared"hilarious" and "strange" to him as he was not even present in Pune during the Elgaar Parishad event and the Bhima-Koregaon march. His link to the Maoist organizations was based on false letters published by some media and it will destroy his life and his long corporate career.
Teltubmde’s letter attracted the attention of leading intellectuals around the world. Over 90 organizations, 50 institutions and intellectuals, Noam Chomsky, Jean Dreze, Sukhdeo Thorat, Vimal Thorat, Cornel West and Chirstophe Jaffrelot wrote to the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, asking him to intervene and withdraw the "fabricated charges" against Anand Teltumbde. It is a human rights violation against freedom of speech and dissent.
Being an IIM-A alumnus, Teltubmde dedicated himself to civil rights activism after his corporate career. He wrote 26 books and a column in Economics and Politics, Frontier, Outlook India, etc. He is the General Secretary, Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR), Maharashtra and an Executive Member of Coordination of Democratic Rights Organization (CDRO).
He is also a presidium member of All India Forum for Rights to Education (AIFRTE), a movement to obtain a fair and free education for all, from KG to PG in India. Pune police filed a chargesheet against the first five detainees– lawyer Surendra Gadling, Dalit rights activist Sudhir Dhawale, prisoners' rights activist Rona Wilson, tribal rights activist and TISS alumnus Mahesh Raut and retired Nagpur professor Soma Sen.
Chargesheets have not been filed against the other arrested persons- lawyer and academic Sudha Bharadwaj, prison rights activist Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Feriera and Telegu poet and activist Vara Vara Rao. The Bombay High Court refused to grant an extension of the deadline to file a charge sheet, beyond the 90 days period under Section 43 D of UAPA. However, the SC has stayed the High Court's order dated October 28 due to the Government’s appeal.
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