Arrest of critics in India shows Modi wants to ‘jail all activists’: India’s opposition

Lawyers and left-wing activists detained for alleged links to Maoist militants but opposition leader Rahul Gandhi says the government just wants to crack down on dissent

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Indian poet and activist Varara Rao is escorted after his arrest in Hyderabad on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:39am, 29 Aug 2018Updated: 8:39am, 29 Aug 2018

Police in India arrested five outspoken lawyers and left-wing activists during raids that drew condemnation from opposition parties and rights watchdogs who said it was a crackdown on critics of the government.

Police said the five had been detained for their links to Maoist militants, but Rahul Gandhi, head of the main opposition Congress party, said the government just wanted to “jail all activists”.

Rights groups and media reports named the five as communist poet Varavara Rao, human rights lawyer Vernon Gonsalves, writer and lawyer Arun Ferreira, journalist and activist Gautam Navlakha, and trades unionist Sudha Bharadwaj.

Indian activist Arun Ferreira (right) was arrested at his home on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Police did not name the five but the joint commissioner of police in the western city of Pune, Shivaji Bodakhe, said: “These persons have been arrested for their Maoist links.”

The homes of other activists and lawyers were raided on Tuesday as part of the investigation, media reported. Five other people were detained in June.

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