Elgar Parishad case: Targeted for activism, says Shoma Sen seeking clean chit

Mumbai: Professor Shoma Sen, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, on Tuesday filed a plea for getting a clean chit in the case. She claimed she has been falsely implicated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for her active role in the sphere of activism for human rights, Dalits and the marginalised sections of society. 

As per her pleas, her implication in the offence is “merely because she has been a consistent defender of human rights and civil liberties which, many a time, has exposed illegal arrests, torture and deaths of those defending their fundamental rights”.

The 65-year-old stated in her plea that she is well known for her commitment towards these causes and it is this active role for the last 40 years that is being targeted by the agency. Post the Emergency period, she said she has been an active member of the democratic rights and civil liberties movement in Maharashtra.

“Over the years, the applicant has participated in a number of fact-finding missions throughout the country, investigating the caste and communal atrocities being perpetrated upon Dalits, adivasis, Muslims and women,” her plea said.

She said she has no pending cases against her, nor was she prosecuted or convicted in the past and that there is no case made out against her and the allegations are only surmises and conjectures.