Hyderabad: It seems the cops are now after the kin of left-wing activists, who were arrested over charges of an insidious plot. A day after left-wing revolutionary poet and critic Varavara Rao was arrested and later kept under house arrest by Maharashtra police for his alleged Maoist links, cops raided the houses of all his three daughters and harassed Rao's family, even hurling casteist slurs.
Pavana, the youngest of Rao's daughters and a lecturer of English literature at a private institute in Hyderabad, was asked why she was not wearing vermilion and toe rings being a married Brahmin woman. Pavana told Onmanorama that she was repeatedly harassed and questioned on the grounds of her caste and gender.
Marathon raid
A 20-member team, including 16 men from Maharashtra police, a woman police constable from the Telangana police, 2 Maharashtra state government employees brought as 'prime witnesses' of the proceedings and a videographer, dashed into the staff quarters of the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) occupied by Pavana and her husband K Satyanarayana, by 8:30 am on August 29. They presented the couple a copy of summons against Satyanarayana printed in Marathi and carried out an eight-hour-long marathon raid at their residence.
“They seized our cell phones first. Then they sealed our laptops, gadgets, television and all the other electronic devices. They scanned through our books and photographed all those containing the photos and references of Karl Marx, BR Ambedkar and the word 'Hindutva'. They didn't even leave behind a note-book with a red cover. Some of them repeatedly asked us about the content in the Telugu books and verified our version with the woman constable who was a local,” Pavana narrated.
She revealed that the team split into two with one group engaged in questioning the couple while others continued the raid. The interrogators asked Pavana why she didn't wear vermilion, toe rings and bangles being a married Brahmin woman. “They weren't ready to accept my point that I am an atheist and I don't believe in all those ascribed identities and symbols. They pressured me several times to 'admit' that my father forces atheism upon me and my family. My husband specialises in minority studies and is interested in Dalit politics. They even referred to his caste and and made derogatory remarks upon him,” a raged Pavana said.
“Your husband is a Dalit. He might not be interested in observing rituals and celebrating festivals. You shouldn't have followed him. You should have been a model to your daughter who is watching you,” cops reportedly told Pavana.
When Pavana explained that she follows atheism voluntarily, cops denied her statement saying “You are a woman. We know you don't have a choice but to follow your husband and father.”
Hubby next
Maharashtra police advised Satyanarayana to refrain from 'too much' reading as it maybe harmful to the society. K Satyanarayana, the head of cultural studies department at the EFLU, said that he was taken into custody and subjected to detailed interrogation based on his political inclinations, reading and writings.
“There have never been any police case or charge-sheets against me so far. We academicians draw conclusions from extensive reading. Cops asked me why did I read so much. They advised that too much reading can be dangerous at times,” Satyanarayana later told media. He later led a march to the university along with his wife and his students.
Rao agitated
Poet-critic Rao's health condition was not taken into consideration as he was arrested and kept in lock-up for over 24 hours, alleged his daughters Sahaja, Anala and Pavana.
Rao, 79, has a fluctuating blood pressure, diabetes and a strict diet to follow. “He was provided with a gunny bag to sleep on. My father is aged and has a weak health. Only three of us are allowed to visit him at his house at present. Mother is upset over the sudden developments though police arrests, raids and legal actions aren't new to her,” Pavana put up a brave front.
Pavana added that Rao, however, is agitated over the series of legal actions imposed on him. Rao's wife Hemalata told media that she has seen a lot of raids and house-scans so far, but the latest one was 'too exhausting and first of its kind.'
Daughters mull legal actions
Pavana said that the family is planning to challenge the surprise raid by Maharashtra police in court, as allegations in the search warrant do not match with the reality. “We couldn't decipher what was written in the search-warrant as it was written in Marathi. We got it translated yesterday and found out that most things mentioned in it are baseless. It is stated that they barged into our house in search of my father who was in fact arrested a day before. It speaks about a charge-sheet against Rao which is nonexistent. We are planning to move the court citing all these mismatches and challenge the proceedings of Maharashtra police,” she remarked.
Another son-in-law of Rao, KV Kurmanath, a journalist, was stopped by the Maharashtra police as he went for his morning walk. The cops confiscated his cell phone, laptop and the hard-disc of his son's PlayStation after a detailed raid at his Hyderabad house.
Students of EFLU, meanwhile, organised a protest against the nationwide arrests of left-wing activists, calling it 'an alarming infiltration of political freedom.' Students who gathered in front of the main gate of EFLU, raised placards and slogans against the 'unjust and arbitrary action' from the central government and Maharashtra police.