Washington/New Delhi: Coming out in support of Dalit scholar Anand Teltumbde more than 600 scholars from top US and European universities have issued a joint statement urging the governments of India and Maharashtra to bring the alleged “witch-hunt” to an immediate halt.
Protesting against the “false allegations” against Teltumbde, the statement issued on Wednesday “strongly” condemned the threat of Teltumbde’s imminent arrest calling him distinguished scholar, civil rights activist, and one of India’s leading intellectuals. Admired by many as an organic intellectual of the Dalit community, his writings have contributed immensely to critical debates on democracy, globalisation and social justice, the statement said.
“Teltumbde’s house was illegally searched by the Maharashtra police on August 28, 2018,” the statement said issued by Indian Civil Watch (ICW), a collective of scholars from major Universities like Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Oxford and the London School of Economics among others.
The state and central govts then acted in concert to concoct manifestly baseless charges against Dr Teltumbde, and have threatened him with arrest under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) Act, a draconian law allowing the state to suspend a citizen’s right to a fair trial and detain him or her indefinitely,” it added.
