 The Indian state has launched a fresh crackdown on activists and critics. Over the past few days, the investigation into the Delhi riots of February 2020 has yet again focused on leftist and progressive leaders and activists. On September 13th, former student leader Umar Khalid was arrested in connection with the violence in February in which 53 people lost their lives. Filmmakers and activists Rahul Royan Sabha Diwan was summoned for questioning. Earlier communist party of India Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yachari, renowned academic Jyoti Ghosh and political activists and academic Yogendra Yadav were named in a statement accompanying a supplementary charge sheet in the case. Ahead of the violence, many violent statements were made by Hindu right-wing leaders, including those of the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party. However, from the very beginning, the Delhi police has focused only on activists and politicians critical of the central government. The horrifying violence in February saw hundreds being injured and houses, shops and places of worship getting destroyed. The minority Muslim community suffered the bulk of the casualties and damage. In the months before the violence, India saw huge protests against the ruling right-wing Bharatiya Janta Party. Critics said the new law, the Citizenship Amendment Act, would lead to religion being a key factor in citizenship and would reduce Muslims to second-class citizens. These were some of the biggest protests seen in Indian history and were targeted by right-wing groups from the very beginning. After the violence in February, the Delhi police has continuously targeted those who organized these protests in the months before. The police have been building a narrative that there was a grand conspiracy by progressive activists, petitions and others to spark off violence. Voices across India have rubbished this claim and said that the Narendra Modi government is using the case to crack down on dissent. They have demanded a proper and independent investigation, including of the ruling party leaders who made provocative statements.