On 17 September, minutes before PM Modi arrived in Gujarat, Jignesh Mevani was picked by the Gujarat Police. Though he was released later as a result of the spontaneous protests that erupted soon after, he was placed under house arrest and his movement curtailed. A day earlier, the Jammu and Kashmir police arrested Khurram Parvez, a leading human rights activist from his home in Srinagar. This happened a day after he was prevented from boarding a plane to the Geneva to attend the ongoing session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC). In Chhattisgarh, journalist Prabhat Singh who has been actively reporting stories of state violence from Bastar and dared to question IG Kalluri on a fake encounter was found missing. On 16 September he had shared on whatsapp that he feared being kidnapped and silenced by the police on ‘government’s cue’.
Condemning the arrests of the Jignesh Mevani, leader of the Una movement, Khurram Parvez, a human rights activist from Kashmir and the continued persecution of Prabhat Singh, a journalist from Chhattisgarh who has been reporting on the atrocities being unleashed on the tribals in Bastar, a national protest day was called by AISA and RYA on 19 September. While on one hand the atrocities on Dalits, tribals and the minorities are increasing at an unprecedented rate, the BJP government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the voices of those speaking for the oppressed are silenced. In Delhi, a protest was called at Jantar Mantar where students, youth and concerned citizens from progressive sections gathered and demanded an end to ‘regime of caste oppression and state atrocities’ in all parts of the country including Una, Kashmir and Bastar. AISA-RYA also mobilized students and youth in Kolkata, Rajdhanwar, Bagodar, Sariya and several other places. The protestors demanded immediate release of Jignesh and Khurram and an end to the persecution and witch-hunt Prabhat Singh is being subjected to. They demanded that his whereabouts be declared and his security be guaranteed. AISA and RYA leaders addressing the protests pointed out that while on hand Modi in his usual rhetoric was heard urging cow vigilante groups to shoot him instead of shooting Dalits, on the other hand, his government was actively working to silence all voices speaking for Dalits’ rights to land and dignity. Similarly, while the BJP-PDP government in J&K on one hand tried to sermonise on ‘Kashmiriyat’, on the other hand they had gone all out in brutalising people and in crushing down all voices that spoke against the oppression of Kashmiri people. They said that all the oppressed sections must come together to fight against this casteist, communal, pro-corporate fascist government.
