"* Is it a crime to carry pamphlets on the Khairlanji incident, on farmers suicides or the SEZ issue. If just by doing this you can be branded a naxalite, then what kind of democracy are we living in* " ------
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070012319 Yogesh Pawar Thursday, May 17, 2007 (Mumbai, New Delhi) A young man from Bandra in Mumbai has been arrested by the police for being a Naxalite. Arun Fariera has now also been denied bail and the police was given permission to conduct narco-analysis tests on him. His friends from Mumbai who have known him for many years insist Fariera has been falsely charged. Branded a naxalite, the Bandra boy's friends fear that the next step could be a fake encounter. Mumbai's up market Bandra has had very few brushes with events in far away naxalite-infested areas of the state. Filmmaker Neeraj Sahai, Fariera's friend, is worried. ''Is it a crime to carry pamphlets on the Khairlanji incident, on farmers suicides or the SEZ issue. If just by doing this you can be branded a naxalite, then what kind of democracy are we living in,'' Sahai questioned. This sentiment finds an echo in Surabhi Sharma who is angry at sections in the media, as they only play up what she calls the police version on Arun Fariera. ''I am not going to take a stand merely on what the police or the media is saying. If Arun has done anything then why is he not being put through the judicial process? Why torture him in captivity,'' said Sharma, Fariera's friend. The church has also taken exception to the police action against Fariera. Most people who have known Arun Fariera from college and school insist that is a sensitive person and was always interested in social issues. They fail to understand why the police are calling him a hardcore naxalite. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ greenyouth mailinglist is the activist support mailinglist for kerala run by Global Alternate Information Applications (GAIA) To post to this group, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
