Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said there was absolutely nothing to stop people from articulating a different ideology but underscored that the government “cannot allow anyone to promote violence”.
Speaking at the 16th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Rajnath Singh rejected the criticism that the arrest of five activists was linked to their ideology or that the Maharashtra police hadn’t done their homework before going public with its allegation that the five arrested activists were part of a conspiracy to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the home minister.
If the decision had been taken in hurry, the Supreme Court wouldn’t have given a free hand to the police, the Union Home Minister said, a reference to the top court’s decision last week against interfering with the arrest.
This comes in the backdrop of police carriying out synchronized raids in five states at the homes of prominent civil and human rights activists and intellectuals, whom the Maharashtra Police and intelligence officials have called “urban naxals” and arrested five of them in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case.
The top court had given the activists four weeks to seek legal remedy. One of them, Gautam Navlakha, has been released on the high court’s orders but others are still under detention.
{{/usCountry}}The top court had given the activists four weeks to seek legal remedy. One of them, Gautam Navlakha, has been released on the high court’s orders but others are still under detention.
{{/usCountry}}Rajnath Singh said the government had succeeded in containing much of the Maoist activities to 52-53 districts of the country, down from the 126 districts four years earlier. But there had been efforts to push this philosophy and supporting violent means to achieve ends in the urban areas. This is something that the government cannot allow, he said.