I am critical of Maoist ideology, have no links with them: Anand Teltumbde

Civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde, one of the accused in the Elgar Parishad–Bhima Koregaon violence case, has said that it will be incorrect to link him to the Communist Party of India (Maoist) or any of its frontal organisations since he is critical of the Maoist ideology

Civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde, one of the accused in the Elgar Parishad–Bhima Koregaon violence case, has said that it will be incorrect to link him to the Communist Party of India (Maoist) or any of its frontal organisations since he is critical of the Maoist ideology. He filed his discharge plea through advocates R Sathyanarayanan and Neeraj Yadav before the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Thursday.

Civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde HT File Photo

Teltumbde pointed out that the NIA incorporated statement of a witness in the second supplementary charge sheet filed in the case and the witness had said that he had read one of the 30 books written by the 71-year-old activist – Anti Imperialism and Annihilation of Caste.

“This in the face of it is a critique of the Maoist ideology and this evidence indicates that the present accused [Teltumbde] is critical of the Maoist ideology and in view of this, the allegation of the prosecution that the accused is a member of CPI [Maoist] and has been acting to further the agenda of CPI [Maoist] is wholly untrue,” the plea said.

Besides, it said, there was no material to show that he was either a member of CPI (Maoist) or had links with the organisation banned under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967.

The NIA has claimed that Teltumbde was a senior member of CPI (Maoist) and acted as the general secretary of the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR) and as a member of the Anuradha Ghandy Memorial Committee (AGMC), both frontal organisations of CPI (Maoist).

The activist has denied the allegations, claiming that there was no evidence on record to suggest that CPDR or AGMC were frontal organisations of CPI (Maoist). On the contrary, he has claimed that evidence on record suggested that there was no link between CPDR and CPI (Maoist).

Refuting the allegation that he used to attend international conferences under the guise of academic visits and used to exchange literature on ideology, training, and working strategy of CPI (Maoist), Teltumbde said there was no justification for levelling this charge.

He said the NIA had based this allegation merely on the basis of a letter addressed to him, but recovered from some other accused in the case, without bothering to check if the letter had reached him or not, without bothering to collect the details of the academic convention in Paris that he attended, and without bothering to probe whether the funds, as alleged in the letter, were received by him or not.

He said there was absolutely no material to support the serious charges like waging war against the nation, sedition, and sections of the UAPA, which seek to penalise terrorist activities, either against him or any other accused in the case.

The Elgar Parishad case is about the conclave of a group of activist organisations, held on December 31, 2017, in Pune, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle, where a Dalit regiment of the British army defeated the Peshwas – the battle which has been celebrated as a symbol of Dalit empowerment.

The conclave followed widespread violence on January 1, 2018, in Pune district and the charge against the activists is that they incited the violence by creating communal disharmony during the conclave.

On January 24, 2020, the case was taken over by the NIA, which has so far arrested 16 people. Apart from Teltumbde, two other accused applied for discharge on Thursday.