BE IT SURAJKUND OR KAGAR, WE WILL NEVER PUT DOWN OUR PENS – THEY ARE OUR WEAPONS IN THIS STRUGGLE AGAINST INJUSTICE!

We hereby share a joint statement published by the Revolutionary Students’ Front (RSF) from India.

CONDEMN THE NIA-STF RAIDS IN THE HOUSES OF POLITICAL ACTIVISTS IN WEST BENGAL!

ABOLISH THE NIA – THE GESTAPO AGENTS OF HINDUTVA FASCISTS AND CORPORATE CAPITAL!

RELEASE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IMMEDIATELY AND UNCONDITIONALLY!

On 1st October, since 6 a.m. in the morning, around 11 mass movement activists, journalists, trade union activists and civil rights activists’ houses were raided in West Bengal by a joint operation conducted by the NIA, the Gestapo forces of the Brahminical Hindutva fascists RSS-BJP, and the fascist TMC government police’s Special Task Force to contain Naxalism. These raids were conducted on basis of the age-old excuse of “the suspicion of them being involved in the organizational work of CPI(Maoist)”. They have confiscated books, mobile phones, pen-drive and computer hard-drive from RSF activist Comrade Suddha Satya Ray, film director and former member of RSF Abhinjan Sarkar, trade union activists Comrade Shipra Chakraborty, Comrade Sudipta Pal and Comrade Somnath Bera, journalist Prosenjit Chakraborty and all others. Alongside this just to increase the harassment, they have been summoned as witnesses to the Ranchi office of NIA instead of the NIA office that exists in Kolkata.

It has turned out to be the norm of “Viksit Bharat” where activists struggling for justice are branded as Maoists. State repression is brought down upon those who protest against the attempt to hand over the Jal Jangal Zameen of the country to the different Indian and Foreign big corporates. All who struggle against the genocide, rape, aerial bombings of the Adivasis, struggling against this ploy, and against the sustained attack on the workers,peasants,women, Dalit and minority community people of the country, are branded as Maoists. National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval proudly claims that the civil society is the new “war front”. In the name of defeating Maoism, from the Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case to the different raids in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and states across the country, is a manifestation of the Surajkund Action Plan taken by the Central Government to curb “Naxalite pen-wielders” along with gun-wielders. Home Minister Amit Shah has been conducting meetings across the country with administrative and security chiefs and proclaiming the death toll of Maoism. Ironically, this goalpost constantly moves – what was initially said to be 2022 during the times of Bhima Koregaon, has now become 2026.

Similarly, the state government of the fascist TMC are also enraged since these activists have been

involved in protests against corruption, rape and genocide perpetrated by them from the very beginning of their regime. Most recently, the huge mass movement against the rape and murder of a PGT intern at RG Kar Medical College saw the participation of these activists.

We know that various courts in the country have stated in various judgements that, it is not a crime under the law to believe in the ideology of Maoism or even to be a member of CPI(Maoist), unless the person is directly involved in acts of violence. However, various prominent social activists, lawyers, trade union activists and human rights activists are branded as “overground workers” of one specific banned Maoist organisation and are kept in jail without trial for years. Thus, the trial itself becomes punishment. We apprehend that in order to suppress the ever-expanding mass protests because of the increasing economic crisis in the country and the centre and state’s anti-people policies, the centre’s NIA and the state’ STF are hatching a plot similar to the Bhima Koregaon case.

We, the undersigned organisations and individuals, strongly protest the raids conducted by the NIA and STF in the homes of 11 political activists in West Bengal to frame fake cases against them. We call upon all the progressive, democratic and left forces and individuals to build mass resistance against this state repression brought down upon the political activists.

Signed by –

Individuals:

1. Prof. Saroj Giri, Delhi University

2. Prof. Nandita Narain, Delhi University

3. Prof. PK Vijayan, Delhi University

4. Prof. Karen Gabriel, Delhi University

5. K.Murali, Author

6. N Venugopal, Editor, Veekshanam, Hyderabad

7. Seema Azad, President, PUCL UP

8. Deepak Dholakiya (Delhi), Indian Community Activists Network (ICAN)@

9. V. K. Singh, Trade Union activist & Author, Varanasi

10. Sonmati Kumari, Advocate High Court Allahabad

11. Dr Ashok Kumar Somal, Rtd IFS from Himachal Pradesh, Working with BJA and LRNA

12. Himanshu Kumar, Civil Rights Activist

13. Chaturanan Ojha, AIFRTE Uttar Pradesh

14. Sharanya Nayak, IPLLK, Koraput

15. Pradyuman Behera, Researcher, Mumbai

16. Rajaraman, Student of Indigenous Movements

Organisations:

1. AISA

2. AIRSO

3. COLLECTIVE

4. CASR

5. RSF, West Bengal

6. CRPP, West Bengal

7. DYSA,West Bengal

8. PDSF, West Bengal

9. Anushilan, West Bengal

10. APDR, West Bengal

11. ACRA, West Bengal

12. SKM, West Bengal

13. SSM, West Bengal

14. RSA, Andhra Pradesh

15. SFS, Punjab

16. DSA, Kerala

17. JMP, Kerala

18. Porattom, Kerala

19. SFPD, Karnataka

20. BsCEM, Delhi

21. Nazariya, Delhi

22. PACHHAS, Delhi

23. Mulnibasi Students & Youth front, Odisha

24. Mulnibasi Literature Club, Odisha

25. BSM, UP

26. ICM, UP

27. ILPS

28. Ground Zero Network

29. People’s Coalition for Food Sovereignty

30. RSYM, Bangladesh

31. Chhatro Gonomoncho, Bangladesh

32. PDSU, Bangladesh

33. BSU, Bangladesh

34. ABFSU, Myanmar

35. ANSU, Nepal

36. ANNISUR, Nepal

37. FMN, Indonesia

38. Tenda Merah Kolektif (Red Tent Collective), Indonesia

39. Serve the People, Vietnam

40. PSC, Pakistan

41. YDG, Turkey

42. YDK, Turkey

43. Partizan, Turkey

44. Federation of Socialist Assemblies (SMF), Turkey

45. Socialist Youth Movement (SGH), Turkey

46. Socialist Youth Associations Federation (SGDF), Turkey

47. Partizan Martyrs and Prisoners Families (PŞTA), Turkey

48. Marxist Students’ Collective, England

49. Anti-Imperialist Front, Britain

50. Portland Revolutionary Study Group, USA

51. Oakland-Berkely Revolutionary Study Group, USA

52. Material, USA

53. Common Teachers Forum, Delhi

54. Anti-Imperialist Action, Denmark

55. Anti-imperialists– Helsinki, Finland

56. People’s Dawn, Brazil

57. People’s Student League, Brazil

58. People’s Women’s Movement, Columbia

59. Red League, Germany

60. Red Mangue, Brazil

61. Red Unity– Revolutionary Youth League, Brazil

62. Revolutionary People’s Student Movement, Brazil

63. Revolutionary Committee of Albacete, Spanish State

64. Revolutionary Committee of Madrid, Spanish State

65. Revolutionary Committee of Valencia, Spanish State

66. Struggle Committee, Norway

67. Student Movement Serving the People, Columbia

68. Young Revolutionaries/League of Young Revolutionaries, France

69. Anti-Imperialist Action, Ireland

70. Communist Committee of the Netherlands

71. Action for Democratic Rights of the People (ADRV), Austria

72. Coordinating Committee of the Anti-Imperialist League

73. Union of Migrant Workers in Europe (AGEB)

74. Purple-Red Collective

75. The Swiss Turkish Workers Federation (İTİF)

76. Austrian Turkish Workers’ Youth Federation (ATIGF)

77. Präriebrand, Sweden