By The Ladies Finger
On 28 August 2018, Tuesday, police from all over the country, raided the houses of prominent activists, and intellectuals including lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, saying that these people were responsible for instigating the violence in Bhima-Koregaon which happened earlier this year in January.
As Mridula Chari writes in Scroll, ‘the Pune police claim that the violence was not sparked by the widely reported inflammatory speeches made by Hindutva leaders days before the January 1 event. Instead, the authorities claim that the clashes were the culmination of a plot by so-called Maoist leaders who organised a public meeting in Pune the day before the Bhima Koregaon event and instigated the violence.’
In case you were wondering like us what law these folks have been arrested under it is the draconian and super vague Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. To understand what the UAPA law is, watch this wonderfully handy video by Media Collective.
You can also read a full critique of UAPA here by Delhi-based lawyer Gautam Bhatia.