The pressure to justify the detention of Bhim Army founder Chandrashekhar alias Ravan under National Security Act (NSA) in the apex court coupled with political compulsion led the state government to suddenly withdraw the charges and release the Dalit leader from Saharanpur jail on the intervening night of Thursday-Friday.
Chandrashekhar was released from Saharanpur jail along with Sonu and Shiv Kumar, who were also incarcerated for 17 months and the NSA was slapped on them too.
Soon after his release, the Bhim Army founder said, “The BJP government was scared that they would be rebuked by Supreme Court and hence they ordered our early release. I am confident that they will frame some charge or the other against me within the next 10 days.”
Far from being mollified by the BJP’s move to release him in an attempt to woo the Dalit community, Ravan told media persons outside Saharanpur jail, “We will pay back with interest for what we have suffered during the one and half year rule of the BJP and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls will showcase our commitment.”
Reacting to Ravan’s release, retired IPS officer SR Darapuri said the apex court pressure prompted the state government to ensure the release and save itself from the blushes.
“The government would have been embarrassed in justifying the invoking of NSA against the Bhim Army activists in Supreme Court,” the former IPS officer said.
Early this week, the Supreme Court had sought a response from UP government on a plea filed by Ravan challenging his detention under the NSA. Provisions of the NSA were invoked against Ravan almost six months after his arrest in May last year.
A Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud considered the submissions of senior advocate Colin Gonsalves that the Bhim Army chief had been in jail without any relief and issued notice to the UP government. The petition claimed that the fundamental rights of Ravan had been violated.
Earlier, Amnesty International India had demanded Ravan’s immediate release. The Bhim Army chief languished in prison for the last one year.
Programme director at Amnesty International India, Asmita Basu, had said, “Keeping him behind bars under repressive administrative detention laws shows that the UP government would rather stifle dissent than address serious human rights concerns.”
Besides the apex court pressure, political compulsion like the Dalit community having a major chunk of votes in west UP, also played in the mind of the BJP brass and prompted Ravan’s release. The BJP’s intended message to the community is that it cares about Dalit welfare.
The BJP has earlier tried to woo the Dalits by bringing in a revised SC & ST Act overruling an apex court order on arrest of the accused under the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Ravan was arrested from Dalhousie on June 8, 2017 in connection with Saharanpur caste violence and booked under NSA. Dalits had clashed with Rajputs in Shabbeerpur (Saharanpur) on May 2 last year after a dispute over loud music being played during Maharana Pratap Jayanti procession.
The fracas had resulted in the death of one person and injuries to 16 while 25 houses were burnt in the inter-caste clashes.