Symbol copyright Getty Pictures Symbol caption Gautam Navlakha is one among the activists who has been arrested
Three outstanding Indian activists have been arrested in connection with caste-primarily based violence in the western state of Maharashtra earlier this year.
Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha and Varavara Rao had been picked up from their properties in different Indian cities.
Police additionally raided the homes of different leftist lawyers and students as a part of an investigation into the violence.
Five others with Maoist links have been arrested in June in reference to the same investigation.
Police say that the activists incited Dalits (formerly untouchables) at a large public rally on 31 December 2017, resulting in violent clashes that left one individual useless.
Symbol copyright Getty Photographs Image caption Activist and poet Varavara Rao used to be picked up from his house in the southern town of Hyderabad
Critics have said the raids are a “witch-hunt” against individuals who have challenged the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP).
Booker Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy said that “officials are punishing individuals who battle for justice and are towards Hindu dominance”.
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“In Preference To arresting folks who publicly lynch people, the police are arresting lawyers, poets and writers who struggle for Dalit rights. This presentations which path India is headed,” she instructed BBC Telugu.
Others, together with remarkable historian Ramachandra Guha, took to social media to condemn the arrests.
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