New Delhi: Opposition leaders and activists on Saturday expressed solidarity with NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and accused the ruling BJP of suppressing dissent.
Those expressing solidarity with the arrested Purkayastha included CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, party leader Brinda Karat, CPI general secretary D Raja, AAP leader Gopal Rai, former IAS officer and activist Harsh Mander and senior journalist P Sainath. Of. After the raid on Newsclick in October 2023.
Yechury said his friendship with Purkayastha dates back to his Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) days and recalled that he too was arrested during the Emergency. Yechury said, "We are not here to express solidarity with just one person... He has played an important role in all mass movements.,
He said, "In my last speech in Parliament, I had said that it is our responsibility not to turn India into a Hindu Pakistan. We have to save ourselves. Voices like Prabir are needed to ensure this."
Yechury said the arrests were being made without evidence, adding that the account of the CPI(M)'s Thrissur unit was frozen on the eve of the elections. “Today, an order was issued to freeze our bank account,” Yechury said. Thrissur District Committee has not given the reason for this, they say that under the new law they are not required to answer.
“They want to change the character of independent India,” he said.Their aim is to transform it into a Hindu nation."
AAP leader Gopal Rai also criticized the central government and the opposition for trying to suppress dissent and raise the voice of the people. Rai said, “The opposition is aggressive across the country. The Modi government was here even five years ago, but ED was not a household name. what changed? ED and Modi are same, it is difficult to differentiate between them.
He said, “Five years ago their aim was to suppress the voice of dissent, they used to create fear… but they saw who was becoming the voice of farmers, tribals, students.,
Stepping up his attack on the ruling BJP, Rai said, "The elected Chief Minister of Delhi is in jail, there is no evidence, there is no fact, Modi was saying that I want to end corruption...if any Wants corruption in this country...If anyone is saving it then it is BJP.'' Meanwhile, CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat said 75-year-old Purkayastha has asthma and had recently been hospitalized four times. There has been an infection in the lungs.
Karat said, "I met him twice in jail, his health condition was serious. He is an asthma patient, recently he had chest infection four times."
He said, "These people killed Stan Swamy in jail, now they are claiming that his condition is stable..." The CPI(M) leader accused the government of all including ED, CBI and Delhi Special Branch. Accused of cheating the agencies. Police.
He said, “When everything failed they arrested him under the black law UAPA.,
Veteran journalist and activist P Sainath said Purkayastha was targeted because he was a rationalist. He said, "In the age of fundamentalism in which we live, few people are more hated than rationalists. Secularists remain marginalized, rationalists puncture their balloon."
Sainath took the names of journalists like Narendra Dabholkar, MM Kalburgi and Gauri Lankes who were murdered and said, 'Being a rationalist was Prabir's crime.'
Those who attended the opposition meeting included Harsh Mander, D Raghunandan, Prabhat Patnaik, CPIML leader Sucheta Dey and All India Forward Bloc general secretary D Devarajan. Delhi Police on March 30 filed its first chargesheet in the UAPA case against NewsClick and its founder Prabir Purkayastha.He was named as an accused in a report allegedly running Chinese propaganda, amounting to around 8,00 pages, including allegations that he and Porta owned the company.
The Delhi Police Special Cell had registered the case last year under sections 13, 16, 17, 18 and 22 of the UAPA as well as sections 153 A and 120 B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
It also arrested Newsclick founder Prabir Purkayastha and HR head Ami Chakraborty on October 3, 2023. In January this year, the court accepted Chakraborty's application seeking permission to turn approver.
Those expressing solidarity with the arrested Purkayastha included CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, party leader Brinda Karat, CPI general secretary D Raja, AAP leader Gopal Rai, former IAS officer and activist Harsh Mander and senior journalist P Sainath. Of. After the raid on Newsclick in October 2023.
Yechury said his friendship with Purkayastha dates back to his Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) days and recalled that he too was arrested during the Emergency. Yechury said, "We are not here to express solidarity with just one person... He has played an important role in all mass movements.,
He said, "In my last speech in Parliament, I had said that it is our responsibility not to turn India into a Hindu Pakistan. We have to save ourselves. Voices like Prabir are needed to ensure this."
Yechury said the arrests were being made without evidence, adding that the account of the CPI(M)'s Thrissur unit was frozen on the eve of the elections. “Today, an order was issued to freeze our bank account,” Yechury said. Thrissur District Committee has not given the reason for this, they say that under the new law they are not required to answer.
“They want to change the character of independent India,” he said.Their aim is to transform it into a Hindu nation."
AAP leader Gopal Rai also criticized the central government and the opposition for trying to suppress dissent and raise the voice of the people. Rai said, “The opposition is aggressive across the country. The Modi government was here even five years ago, but ED was not a household name. what changed? ED and Modi are same, it is difficult to differentiate between them.
He said, “Five years ago their aim was to suppress the voice of dissent, they used to create fear… but they saw who was becoming the voice of farmers, tribals, students.,
Stepping up his attack on the ruling BJP, Rai said, "The elected Chief Minister of Delhi is in jail, there is no evidence, there is no fact, Modi was saying that I want to end corruption...if any Wants corruption in this country...If anyone is saving it then it is BJP.'' Meanwhile, CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat said 75-year-old Purkayastha has asthma and had recently been hospitalized four times. There has been an infection in the lungs.
Karat said, "I met him twice in jail, his health condition was serious. He is an asthma patient, recently he had chest infection four times."
He said, "These people killed Stan Swamy in jail, now they are claiming that his condition is stable..." The CPI(M) leader accused the government of all including ED, CBI and Delhi Special Branch. Accused of cheating the agencies. Police.
He said, “When everything failed they arrested him under the black law UAPA.,
Veteran journalist and activist P Sainath said Purkayastha was targeted because he was a rationalist. He said, "In the age of fundamentalism in which we live, few people are more hated than rationalists. Secularists remain marginalized, rationalists puncture their balloon."
Sainath took the names of journalists like Narendra Dabholkar, MM Kalburgi and Gauri Lankes who were murdered and said, 'Being a rationalist was Prabir's crime.'
Those who attended the opposition meeting included Harsh Mander, D Raghunandan, Prabhat Patnaik, CPIML leader Sucheta Dey and All India Forward Bloc general secretary D Devarajan. Delhi Police on March 30 filed its first chargesheet in the UAPA case against NewsClick and its founder Prabir Purkayastha.He was named as an accused in a report allegedly running Chinese propaganda, amounting to around 8,00 pages, including allegations that he and Porta owned the company.
The Delhi Police Special Cell had registered the case last year under sections 13, 16, 17, 18 and 22 of the UAPA as well as sections 153 A and 120 B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
It also arrested Newsclick founder Prabir Purkayastha and HR head Ami Chakraborty on October 3, 2023. In January this year, the court accepted Chakraborty's application seeking permission to turn approver.
