#NoMoreFakeCharges: Uproar About Crackdown on Activists Continues

#NoMoreFakeCharges became a top Twitter trend after the SC’s decision to stay the arrests of the five activists.

The Supreme Court stayed the arrest of the five activists, who were arrested on suspicion of Maoist links in the Bhima Koregaon violence.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Altered by The Quint)

The Supreme Court on Wednesday, 29 August, issued a notice to the Maharashtra government, directing that the five activists arrested by Pune police be placed under house arrests in their homes until the next hearing on 6 September.

The activists were arrested on suspicion of having Maoist links and being involved in the violence that broke out during the Bhima Koregaon protests.

Staying the arrests, the three-judge bench headed by CJI Dipak Misra said that “dissent is the safety valve of any democracy.”

After #MeTooUrbanNaxal, #NoMoreFakeCharges Trends on Twitter

Social media outrage on the raids and arrests continued as people used the hashtags #NoMoreFakeCharges and #MeTooUrbanNaxal to voice their opinions, post the SC’s decision.

“India Is In a State of Undeclared Emergency”

Many argued that this crackdown on activists is proof that India is in a state of “undeclared emergency”.

In an article in Scroll, writer and activist Arundhati Roy also commented on the raids and arrests, saying that this is “as close to a declaration of an Emergency as we will ever get.” Roy added that anybody who speaks up for justice or against Hindu majoritarianism is being made into a criminal.