Raid on Rajasthan human rights lawyer's home 'attack on his professional right'

Counterview Desk
The civil rights group, Campaign Against State Repression (CASR)*, taking exception to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) raid on human rights lawyer Ansar Indori, has said that raid has taken place despite the Supreme Court barring state agencies from taking any coercive action against Ansar and other lawyers providing legal defence to the recently banned People’s Front of India (PFI) activists.
Pointing out that he has been working various fact-finding missions and had led various legal battles against alleged state repression and has been vocal against the “atrocities” on oppressed masses, CASR said in a statement, the raid is in line with “vengeful methods of quelling people’s voices”, as seen state going out of the way to arrest trade unionist-lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, Nagpur-based lawyer Surendra Gadling and many others.

Text:

On the 18th of February 2023, Human Rights Lawyer Ansar Indori’s house was raided by NIA in Kota, Rajasthan. Ansar Indori has been targeted because he sought to provide legal defence and challenge an FIR (filed before the ban) against some former PFI members in Rajasthan High Court.
Ansar has been working in civil rights field for a long time and has participated in various fact-finding missions, led various legal battles against state repression and has been vocal against the atrocities on oppressed masses.
Raids on activists as such have become the norm in this authoritarian state lately. NIA's 18th February raid was targeted on 9 commercial and residential places, including advocate Ansar's residence, in connection with the same FIR he has challenged in the court of law.
The recent raid is undeniably a violation of the fundamental rights of people to be represented in the legal process as well as an attack on professional rights of pro-people lawyer.
Previous year, Brahmanical Hindutva fascist state banned PFI and its alleged affiliate organisations after two massive raid campaigns across multiple states. The raids led to witch-hunt and arrests of more than 250 Muslim activists.
Ansar Indori being a civil rights lawyer, has provided legal assistance to the falsely accused people. However, he has been a target of this fascist government and agencies from long before. He and other lawyers were charged under draconian UAPA for conducting a fact-finding into incidences of anti-Muslim attacks in Tripura.
The fact-finding was on the monstrous attack by RSS-BJP goons on working-class Muslims and businesses and houses of Muslims. The Supreme Court barred the state agencies from taking any coercive action against Ansar and other lawyers under that FIR.
We can see the rise in such reactionary and vengeful methods of quelling the people’s voices, under the BJP-RSS regime. Trade unionist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, Nagpur-based lawyer Surendra Gadling and many others have also been targeted and jailed in frivolous cases for similar work of representing the oppressed and exploited people.

We condemn the state manufacturing legalities to suppress masses from resisting these anti-people

Journalists, media houses, lawyers, and activists who oppose these reactionary forces face brutal repression. The recent raids at the BBC office in Delhi and Bombay expose the fascist nature of the state.

NIA has purportedly curbed the rights of people which came about in legal connotations that vary from FIRs to UAPAs. Every act of dissent is suppressed by these anti-people laws like UAPA, NSA, PSA etc. We condemn the state manufacturing legalities to suppress masses from resisting these anti-people laws and the nature of the state.
CASR, while condemning the constant attacks on activists, pro-people lawyers, and journalists in general and advocate Ansar Indori in particular, demands that no coercive action should be taken against advocate Ansar and he should be allowed to carry on his legal, democratic and civic activities in the interest of the masses.
We also call upon the democratic and progressive forces, conscious members of legal fraternity, students, intelligentsia, members of civil society and broad masses of people for a united struggle against growing attacks of Brahmanical Hindutva fascism.
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*AIRSO, AISA, AISF, APCR,BASF, BCM, Bhim Army, Bigul Mazdoor Dasta, BSCEM, CEM, CRPP, CTF, Disha, DISSC, DSU, DTF, Fraternity ,IAPL, Karnataka Janashakti, LAA,Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, Mazdoor Patrika, Mehnatkash Mahila Sangathan, Morcha Patrika, NAPM, NBS, Nowruz, NTUI, People’s Watch, Rihai Manch, Samajwadi Janparishad, Smajwadi lok manch, Satyashodak Sangh, SFI, United Against Hate, WSS, Y4S

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