India – CASR Condemns the Arrest of APCLC Leader Kranthi Chaitanya; Demands Immediate Release

We hereby share a press statement issued by the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR).

The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) strongly condemns the illegal and arbitrary arrest of Kranthi Chaitanya, senior leader of the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC), by the Andhra Pradesh police under the draconian charge of sedition.

The offences registered against them are: Sections U/sec 196(1), 197(1), 152, 292, 294(2), 352, 351(3), 353, 61(2) r/w 3(5) of BNS, 2023; Sec 2 of the Prevention of Insults to the National Honour Act, 1971; Section 6 of the State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act, 2005 and Section 5 of the State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act, 1950. This arrest was carried out at the time when APCLC was organising its state conference, making it evident that the action was premeditated, politically motivated, and aimed at disrupting a democratic process.

The arrest of Kranthi Chaitanya is a direct assault on democratic rights, civil liberties, and constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of expression, association, and dissent. The continued use of colonial-era laws such as sedition reflects the growing authoritarian character of the state. These laws are being selectively deployed to silence those who oppose the Hindutva fascist regime and challenge its communal, corporate-driven, and militaristic agenda.

Importantly, this arrest is not an isolated incident, but part of a broader and systematic pattern of repression by the Indian state. Across the country, civil liberties activists, journalists, academics, students, trade unionists, and leaders of people’s movements are being targeted through false cases, prolonged incarceration, surveillance, and intimidation. Draconian laws such as UAPA, NSA, sedition, and preventive detention provisions are routinely used to criminalise dissent and paralyse democratic movements. The targeting of Kranti Chaitnya fits squarely within this nationwide strategy to suppress opposition and dismantle independent democratic platforms.

APCLC has consistently stood with workers, peasants, Adivasis, Dalits, minorities, and other oppressed sections against state violence and injustice. The arrest of its leader during a state conference underscores the state’s fear of organised resistance and its intolerance towards any collective assertion of democratic rights. Such actions reveal the deepening nexus between the state machinery and the ideological project of Hindutva fascism.

CASR unequivocally asserts that opposition to Hindutva fascism is not sedition. Dissent is not anti-national; repression is. The Andhra Pradesh police, by acting at the behest of the ruling political forces, have reduced themselves to instruments of political vendetta rather than upholders of the rule of law.

We demand:

1. Immediate and unconditional release of Kranthi Chaitanya.

2. Withdrawal of all false and fabricated charges, including sedition.

3. An immediate halt to the repression of APCLC and all democratic and civil liberties organisations.

4. Accountability and action against the police officials responsible for this illegal arrest.

CASR calls upon all democratic forces, civil rights organisations, trade unions, student and youth movements, intellectuals, and concerned citizens to unite against this escalating repression, to defend democratic rights, and to stand in solidarity with Kranthi Chaitanya and APCLC.

Defend Democratic Rights!

Down with State Repression!

Resist Hindutva Fascism!

Campaign Against State Repression (CASR)

Organising Team

(AIRSO,AISF, APCR, ASA, BASF, BSM, Bhim Army, bsCEM, CEM, COLLECTIVE, CRPP, CSM, CTF, DISSC, DSU, DTF, Forum Against Repression Telangana, Fraternity, IAPL, Innocence Network, Karnataka Janashakti, LAA, Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, Mazdoor Patrika, NAPM, Nazariya Magazine , Nishant Natya Manch, Nowruz, NTUI, People’s Watch, Rihai Manch, Samajwadi Janparishad, Smajwadi lok manch, Bahujan Samjavadi Mnach, United Peace Alliance, WSS, Y4S)