Photos: Protests across India as rights activists put under house arrest

Maharashtra police on Tuesday raided the homes of prominent rights activists and lawyers in several states and made five arrests, sparking a chorus of outraged protests from human rights defenders. The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year. Describing dissent as the "safety valve of democracy", the Supreme Court directed the Maharashtra police that the five activists be kept under house arrest at their respective homes until the next day of hearing on September 6. ...read more

Share Via

Copy Link

1 / 11

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Aug 31, 2018 11:25 AM IST

Protesters hold placards and raise slogans during a protest at Parliament Street in New Delhi, on August 30, 2018 against arrests of lawyer and trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj, poet P Varavara Rao, activist Gautam Navlakha, and lawyers Arun Pereira and Vernon Gonsalves across five states by Pune Police on Tuesday. (Burhaan Kinu / HT Photo)

2 / 11

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Aug 31, 2018 11:25 AM IST

Police said the operation was part of a probe into an event called Elgar Parishad in Pune on December 31, 2017, when various activists and Dalit organisations came together. The next day, violence broke out at Bhima Koregaon, as tens of thousands of Dalits celebrated the 200th anniversary of an 1818 war between the British army, and the state’s Peshwa rulers. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

3 / 11

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Aug 31, 2018 11:25 AM IST

Citizens under Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) banner walk chained during a protest rally against the arrests, in Kolkata on August 29, 2018. Charged with criminal conspiracy, creating fear and enmity between various groups, and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, those arrested on Tuesday were being brought to Pune on transit remand to be produced in the court on Wednesday. (Samir Jana / HT Photo)

4 / 11

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Aug 31, 2018 11:25 AM IST

A protester adjusts a portrait of poet Varavara Rao on the face of another protester during a demonstration in New Delhi on August 30, 2018. The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday however, stopped Pune police from taking custody of five activists, and placed them under house arrest in their respective homes until the case is heard again on September 6. (Burhaan Kinu / HT Photo)

5 / 11

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Aug 31, 2018 11:25 AM IST

Left Front Chairman Biman Bose and other activists participate in a rally to protest against the raids, in Kolkata on August 30, 2018. A three-judge SC bench headed by chief justice of India Dipak Misra also asked the Maharashtra government to file a response by September 5 to a petition by historian Romila Thapar and others that alleged the arrests were aimed at muzzling dissent. (Swapan Mahapatra / PTI)

6 / 11

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Aug 31, 2018 11:25 AM IST

Social groups and organisations "Protest against Fascism" and the arrests at Pune Collectorate on August 30, 2018. The investigation into the Elgar Parishad event on December 31, 2017 is being conducted by the Pune (urban) police. Meanwhile, Pune (rural) police has charged two Hindu right-wing leaders, Milind Ekbote and Shambhaji Bhide, for the Bhima Koregaon violence. Ekbote is currently out on bail while Bhide has not yet been arrested. (Rahul Raut / HT Photo)

7 / 11

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Aug 31, 2018 11:25 AM IST

Activists of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) New Democracy shout slogans during a protest against the arrest of poet and activist Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, on August 29, 2018. Rao on Thursday said the Supreme Court order asking the Pune police to return him home in Hyderabad was a “slap on the face of the government”. (Noah Seelam / AFP)

8 / 11

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Aug 31, 2018 11:25 AM IST

Activists from various organisations make a human chain in protest against the arrests, in Patna on August 29, 2018. The SC bench questioned the rationale behind the arrests. “Dissent is the safety valve of democracy, the pressure cooker will burst if you don’t allow the safety valves,” justice DY Chandrachud, a part of the bench with justice AM Khanwilkar, said. (PTI)

9 / 11

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Aug 31, 2018 11:25 AM IST

Police detain activists during a protest against the arrests, in Hyderabad on August 29, 2018. The Maharashtra government’s case against the activists for their alleged Maoist links rests largely on digital data allegedly recovered by the Pune police from the seized laptops, hard discs and pen drives of five other activists arrested earlier in June. (PTI)

10 / 11

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Aug 31, 2018 11:25 AM IST

Social activists and filmmakers hold placards during a protest against the raid at activist Stan Swamy's residence, in Ranchi on August 30, 2018. A police team from Maharashtra had also raided social activist Stan Swami’s residence and seized his computer, mobile phone and several documents in connection with the probe into the Bhima-Koregaon violence. (PTI)

11 / 11

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Aug 31, 2018 11:25 AM IST

Intellectuals and activists gathered in solidarity with the activists in New Delhi, on August 30, 2018. The arrests highlight the violation of all due procedures and are a mockery of the legal system, said a joint statement signed by author Arundhati Roy, lawyer Prashant Bhushan as well as activists Aruna Roy and Jignesh Mevani among others. (Sonu Mehta / HT Photo)