New Delhi: Members of Parliament belonging to the Indian Union Muslim League on Monday wrote to the President urging his intervention in the arrest of Delhi University Associate Professor Dr Hany Babu. Dr Hany Babu, arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case has been lodged in Taloja Jail, Maharashtra.
The signatories include E.T. Mohammed Basheer, PK. Kunhalikutty, P.V Abdul Wahab and K. Navas Kani. The MP's alleged that the entire investigation into the Bhima Koregaon violence has selectively focused on one of the FlRs that was filed a week after the actual violence, which blamed Kabir Kala Manch members and unknown "Maoist" groups for the violence at Bhima Koregaon.
During the investigation, sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act were added, and so far, 15 well-known human rights activists - including lawyers, poets, intellectuals, academics, writers, trade unionists, cultural activists - have been arrested.
"The arrest of Hany Babu for more than two and half years after the incident under sections 153, 505(1)(b), 7I7 and 34 of IPC and sections 13,16,18,188, 20 and 39 of UA(P)A is a clear violation of the rights and liberties of its citizens",The letter said
"It is important to note that the maintenance of law requires that all citizens be treated equally under the law. This investigation appears to be a politically motivated witch-hunt against critics of the central government",the letter added
The dignitaries also urged the President to kindly review and intervene in Dr Hany Babu's case, ensuring justice, fair trial, and bail in the meanwhile for a peace-loving intellectual, and an end to the harassment, borne by his family and himself. They also cited the solidarity statements for Mr Babu from academics and his students around the world.