New Delhi: In a powerful display of dissent, protests demanding the release of six young people arrested for protesting inside the New Parliament building on December 13 swept across six states on Friday.
The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), which had called for the “Country Wide Protest,” reported demonstrations in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Kerala, and West Bengal.
Hundreds of people, including students, farmers, workers, teachers, and democratic activists, came together to condemn the use of the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against the arrested youths.
“Protest is not terrorism. Slapping UAPA on these parliament protestors and branding their act of protest as terrorism is a desperate attempt to silence dissent and crush democratic voices,” CASR said in a statement.
The December 13 protest inside the Parliament saw five activists – Neelam, Amol, Manoranjan, Sagar, and Lalit Jha – along with two of their friends, use smoke canisters, placards, and slogans to raise their concerns about growing unemployment, inflation, and a perceived rise in “Brahmanical Hindutva Fascism.”
While recognizing the unorthodox nature of the protest, CASR and other participating organizations emphasized the right to peaceful protest and dissent.
“Their act was a desperate cry for justice, a reaction to the growing sense of despair and fear that many communities are feeling. To brand them as terrorists is not only a gross distortion of the truth but also a dangerous attack on fundamental democratic rights,” said the statement.
The protests saw a range of activities, including demonstrations outside universities, rallies in towns and villages, and public meetings in district headquarters. In Neelam Azad’s home district of Jind, Haryana, over 600 people gathered to express their solidarity with the detained activists.
CASR has vowed to continue the fight for their release and has called for broader public support to challenge the use of UAPA against peaceful protestors.