 Hello and welcome to NewsClick. Today we're at the big data discussion on Aadhar which is being organized by the Orient Swan. We have with us Anand Sir, Anand Teltumdesar. Thank you so much for taking out the time to speak to us and we understand that this is a very difficult time with the kind of frightening allegations that have been coming up against you as many as as well as other activists who are working for the civil rights and liberties and you're a scholar and you've been teaching and you're involved in an academic commitment as well. So Sir, you wrote an open letter which came out two days ago discussing the kind of you know campaign that you've said that there is a campaign that should happen to sort of mobilize support for people who are being falsely accused in these cases. So if you could just give our viewers a little bit of context to that letter and more importantly the kind of attacks that we are seeing on civil liberties as well in the present times. You see they the context of my making my explanation public is this that my petition for quashing the FIR was rejected by High Court and then it was rejected by Supreme Court also saying that the police investigations are on and this is not a stage wherein they would like to intervene. Instead they suggested that I should seek a pre-arrest bail from the competent court law court and have given has been kind enough to give me four weeks for that okay. So it's a they have pushed me to the juncture wherein my arrest is a very imminent in right so in the meaning I do not get a bail because it's very difficult to get bail in UAPA the lower court at least are going to take that kind of stand and it's going to land up in Supreme Court and Supreme Court themselves suggested probably there is a little hope that Supreme Court might concede and grant a bail but otherwise it is a very dangerous situation that I am in and I thought that let this be public because whatever that happens you know I have cleared that what kind of charges are against me what kind of ridiculous thing that they have and the not only against me but entire the genesis of the Elgar Parishya and whatever they have been contending how it is fabricated how it is false that I have explained to the people so it is an education to people because it is not me or someone or the people who are in you know they have not got even that opportunity to speak to the people it could be anyone anyone that they choose that police can catch you hold up anyone and then this story could be developed even I had written one of the articles the kind of later the police actually produced and I had explained that in that later XXX could be Chief Justice XXX could be minister anybody for that matter and high official etc. just because his name occurs there are they going to arrest them arrest them under UFA so this is this was the context of my note and sir you also said that initially you felt that you know the charges or the kind of when you found out that your name has come out you initially thought that this was a joke because it was not of course there was no chance that your involvement could be proven yeah yeah it was a prima facie joke I think it if you're not read that you should see that in the last paragraph that I have explained what kind of charges they levied and all one of the charges and that kind of later was shown on the TV by additional direct general of police Maharashtra and first time I came to know what kind of charge they are living against me you know that I attended okay there's it's a dicey thing that the comrade Anand is me etc but the content etc actually match with me that I did attend a conference that organized by the American University of Paris in April so all those kinds of content then I thought these contents actually were available in a website of American University of Paris and they picked it up from there and won the story right and the name dropping like ITN Balibar probably the police never knew the ITN Balibar who is that man you know he's something like a next generation of Marxist is one of the greatest living Marxist in the world okay and they would attach comrade and all such kind of hilarious fabrication for which I had I was fortunate to have absolutely documentary proof to disprove it and the entire kind of construction of Elgar Parish and all this episode could fall flat I was in my innocence I was under that impression and that's why I took it as joke you know so but this joke is being persisted and it goes to Supreme Court and Supreme Court also sort of maintains it and then it becomes a question on you know the kind of faith that there is in the judicial system as well when these kind of allegations can be fabricated so easily and information can be pulled out from yeah my my it's definitely I expect that the judiciary has to intervene because UAP is not a simple thing there is a data that once the charges slap people have been incarcerated for four five years and the trial goes on so it is not a simple law that is a draconian law actually the law is unlawful and they just at least should take cognizance of the conditions in which time of AC if the charges are not leviable or there is no content it is expected I am I do not know law we are not in that business but it is expected of the judiciary to side by the individual who is likely to be victim not by the side of the state you know which is which is which is represented by a policeman so this is very obvious and that's why I called it the wireless plot post-independent plot by the state against its own citizen and considering attacks on civil liberties so what is the way forward towards these things like how are you thinking to deal with you know the case or just a way forward for multiple other activists as well as for last four years we I have been general secretary of community protection and democratic rights and Maharashtra based organization and if you look at that we have not been functioning at all what what is happening is that we ourselves are put in such a situation that three of my members now including me of course Shoma Sen was an executive member of CPDR now Arun Farera was a member of CPDR and now me the general secretary are being charged for this where is the organization so it's it's a it's a similar state of other people also Gautam Lalakha was associated in main activation of PUDR for instance so he's also kind of and Sudha and all they were taking kajals for people although Sudha also was in PUCL so right so these are the prominent people prominent people of the formal sort of CPDR but other people also were fighters in the human rights human rights of the tribals workers and something like that so it's not just the deliberate targeting of individuals but as far organizations who which are working for people's rights across the country it's very obvious very obvious yes so thank you so much sir for taking out the time to speak to us thank you really appreciate it thank you