Police version of my Maoist "links" a mix of baseless fabrications, publicly available facts: Bharadwaj

By Our Representative
In a statement, human rights defender, trade union activist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, denying Pune Police's letter issued to the media alleging her links with Maoists, has said that it is a "mixture of innocuous and publicly available facts and baseless fabrication". In a point-by-point rebuttal, she says, the police has sought to "delegitimise" Indian Association of People's Lawyers, "whose president is Retd. J. Hosbet Suresh and which has been active in speaking up against attacks of lawyers."
"Categorically" stating that she has "never given Rs. 50,000 to hold any programme in Moga, Bharadwaj adds, "Nor do I know any 'Ankit from Maharashtra' or 'Com Ankit who is in touch with Kashmiri separatists'." The statement, issued through prominent Supreme Court advocate Vrinda Grover, she asserts, "I know Gautam Nadvlakha, a senior and respected human rights activist whose name has been mentioned in a manner to criminalize and incite hatred against him."

Also pointing out that she knows "the Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group well", but has "never solicited any fund for them, least of all from any banned organization.", Bharadwaj underlines, "I categorically state that their work has been absolutely legitimate and legal." Also, she says, "I know Advocate Degree Prasad Chouhan, a dalit human right activist who is active in People's Union for Civil Liberties and works with the Human Rights Law Network", adding, "Totally baseless allegation has been made against him."

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