Gujarat Police Stops BKU Leaders From Conducting Press Conference

It is in the 75th year of Indian independence struggle, when we are celebrating ‘Aazadi ka Amrut Mahotsav’. The Indian independence struggle and the citizens choose a Constitutional Democratic system. The constitution has guaranteed freedom of speech to every citizen of India. Yesterday when Yudhvir Singh and associates of BKU were conducting a press conference at Gandhinagar in Gujarat, the Gujarat Police claiming they are under oral instructions of higher ups to not allow the press conference, due to want of permission for the same, detained the various leaders. 

This is ingenious of Gujarat police to say that now citizens require permission to even conduct a press conference. The Gujarat Government is infamous for deploying police personnel to illegally confine activists into their houses or office, whenever there is an announcement for protest. Recently Mujahid Nafees, of Minority Coordination Committee was illegally detained as he had seeked permission to be allowed to protest outside the Gujarat Assembly to seek the ruling dispensations attention for proportionately increasing budgetary allocation for minority communities. Khedut Samaj Gujarat leaders, Environmental Activist Rohit Prajapati, Adivasi leaders, Dalit leaders, including Trade Union leaders and women leaders are all supressed using the police department. 

NAPM condemn such actions of the Gujarat Government. It is pertinent to note that the press conference was being conducted to apprise the press about the ongoing farmers struggle and announce further strategy. The farmers union from various parts of India are sitting on a protest for over 120 days against the arbitrarily passed 3 farm laws affecting the agriculture, dairy and fishery sector in India. The law/amendments were initially brought in the form of Ordinance and later passed by both houses of parliament crushing opposition voices under the brute strength of the managed majority. 

The police barged into the ongoing press conference in presence of the media as if it were conducting an anti-terrorist strike and man-handled the farmers and other social leaders addressing the press. NAPM condemns the anti-constitutional conduct of the Gujarat Police under instructions of the claimed higher ups. We also call up on all citizens and organisations believing in constitutional and democratic values to condemn the conduct of Gujarat Government.