NIA raid on student Devendra Azad's house is condemnable - PUCL UP
By PUCL UTTAR PRADESH
We strongly condemn the raid conducted by the NIA on the room of Devendra Azad, a brilliant student of Allahabad University and joint secretary of ‘Inquilabi Chhatra Morcha’, which raises the demands of students. The way NIA has been conducting raids on the residences of people working for the betterment of society for the last two years shows that the government is neither able to listen to its criticism nor is it able to tolerate voices of dissent. By conducting raids on the residences of social workers across the country, it has repeatedly underlined the same message and spread terror. The Social Media Policy 2024 passed recently by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath also highlights this issue.
Devendra Azad is a resident of Agra and lives in Allahabad for his studies. This year he has completed his MA in Political Science and last year he also passed the Junior Research Fellowship exam. Apart from this, he is active in the city regarding democratic demands. He is a member of the executive a committee of ‘Allahabad Nagarik Samaj’. It is obvious that the raid on his room, where he lives with three other room partners, has been done in view of his activism.
The three things that the NIA seized from his house after the raid conducted from 5:30 am to 10 am today also make the purpose of the raid clear. First is a pamphlet written by the Nagarik Samaaj to promote the lecture of renowned economist Professor Arun Kumar, in which things were written against Adani citing the Hindenburg report. The second is the May-June issue of “Dastak”, in which Devendra Azad had written an article on the movement of Sonam Wangchuk of Ladakh, and the third is the newspaper “Mashaal” published by his organization.
It is not difficult to understand from this what the government wants to do through the NIA. It wants to shut down the voices of those who oppose it. While criticizing government policies is good for the health of any democracy, the government wants to take away this democratic space from social activists and citizens. After the raid, NIA has issued a notice to Devendra Azad under section 160 of the CrPC and called him to Lucknow for questioning on 15 September.
This is the next step in the mental torture of a student. PUCL Uttar Pradesh strongly condemns this raid on Devendra Azad’s room and demands an immediate stop to his mental harassment.
Seema Azad, President, PUCL- UP
Kamal Prasad, General Secretary, PUCL-UP