Taking a dig at the arrests of left-wing activists and lawyers in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, 28 August, said India had place for only one NGO – the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
In an apparent reference to the killings of Gauri Lankesh, Narendra Dabholkar and other activists, Gandhi said all activists were either jailed or shot down.
He then sarcastically added – “Welcome to the new India.”
Gandhi’s tweet – slamming the RSS – particularly assumes significance in light of reports which claim he might be extended an invite by the organisation to address an event in mid-September.
Meanwhile, at least five activists were arrested earlier in the day after the Pune police conducted raids across India, on people suspected to have Maoist links in the Bhima-Koregaon violence.
Police teams arrested activist-poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bharadwaj in Faridabad, and civil liberties activist Gautam Navlakha in Delhi, after conducting raids at their residences.
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