There is no Naxalism in Gujarat, say rights activists

Civil society members have denounced the arrest of a man for alleged Naxal links and illegal detention of a social worker, and said Naxalism in Gujarat was "a ghost" created by the BJP Government.

"Gujarat is a state of ghosts. Every now and then these ghosts, be it of Naxalism, dacoits from Chambal or terrorism, are brought out based on the requirements of the ruling party," human rights activist and senior advocate Girish Patel said here today.

He was speaking at a gathering of members of civil society groups who have alleged that arrest of Sagar alias Shrinivas Venketachalia (35), working in an NGO here, for alleged Naxal link, was illegal.

They also alleged that the Crime Branch had illegally detained Amrit Vaghela, a social worker from Gomtipur here.

"In the 1960s some union leaders were arrested in the name of Naxalism, while in the 1980 the government had floated information that dacoits from Chambal have entered Gujarat," Patel said.

"There is no Naxalism in Gujarat, it just a ghost created by the State Government as the argument of Islamic terrorism was no longer accepted."

"This ghost has been created as all the encounters have turned out to be fake and are now haunting the police and the government," Patel said.