NGOs, social activists and civil right organisations have decided to launch statewide protests against the state government for its action against whistleblower IPS officers. Veteran Gandhian Chunni Vaidya has called it an "emergency situation" in the state and asked people to come out on the streets to protest against the government.
On Wednesday, members of NGOs and social activists gathered at the office of Prashant, a city-based NGO. They discussed the strategy to raise a strong protest against the state government and mobilise masses to join it from Saturday.
Urging people to raise their Voice, Vaidya said that he had reached the age of 95 but the current situation did not allow him to sit idle. "Just a few days back, I was considering retiring from social life. But the prevailing condition in the state has forced me to raise my voice and battle for democracy," he said.
Vaidya condemned Sanjiv Bhatt's arrest and termed government's action as dictatorial. "The present days remind me of the days of emergency. This is undeclared emergency in Gujarat where anybody can be put in the jail for speaking against the government. There is an emergency-like situation in Gujarat. And if we do not raise our voice, the situation will be worse."
Dwarkanath Rath, convener of Movement for Secular Democracy (MSD), said Narendra Modi government was frightened because it thought the truth would come out so it was trying to intimidate witnesses such as Bhatt. "It is sending out a message that those who cross government's path will face dire consequences,'' he said.
Activist Teesta Setalvad termed Bhatt's arrest as a "panicky and vindictive" step to warn witnesses and victims. "We would not back out. We would render our full support to the victims and witnesses," she added.
Gautam Thakkar of PUCL said that they are scheduling programmes to spread awareness about the situation in the state. The programmes aim at gathering mass support for the protest against the government.
