Dr Partho Sarothi Ray, Associate Professor of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata, has been summoned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case. He was asked to be present before the investigators in Mumbai on September 10.<\/p>\n
Over 200 educationists, intellectuals, authors, activists, filmmakers, politicians and various organisations across the country and beyond, have come out in support of the Associate Professor.\u00a0Arundhati Roy, author and activist, Sukanta Chaudhuri, Professor Emeritus, Jadavpur University, Supriya Chaudhuri, Professor Emerita, Jadavpur University, Partha Chatterjee, Professor, Columbia University, Nivedita Menon, Professor, JNU, Prabhat Patnaik, Professor Emeritus, JNU, Sumit Sarkar, historian, Dr Binayak Sen, Ranjit Sur, Kumar Rana,\u00a0human rights activists are among the signatories.<\/p>\n
Former Kolkata Mayor and CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, CPI (M-L) Red Star’s Alik Chakraborty, actors, filmmakers and playwrights Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Kaushik Sen, Anik Dutta, Anindita Sarbadhikari are among the other signatories.<\/p>\n
The Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) has called a meeting on September 10 in Kolkata\u2019s Moulali at 2 pm to protest this. The organisation will place its protest and demands before the Union Home Minister through West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.<\/p>\n
At the Elgar Parishad conclave at Shaniwarwada, inflammatory speeches were delivered on December 31, 2017 by Maoist leaders, allege the Pune Police, leading to large scale violence at Koregaon Bhima war memorial the next day. Some of the activists who have been accused for having links with the Elgar Parishad conclave include Anand Teltumbde, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj, P Varavara Rao and Gautam Navlakha, among others.<\/p>\n
This is the full text of the solidarity message, titled \u201cStatement in solidarity with Dr Partho Sarothi Roy\u201d:<\/p>\n
W<\/em>e have come to know that our dear friend and comrade D<\/em>r Partho Sarothi Ray, Associate <\/em>Professor, Indian Institute of Science Education and Rese<\/em>arch (IISER), has been summoned <\/em>by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connectio<\/em>n with the Elgar Parishad-Bhima <\/em>Koregaon case. He has been asked to present himself before<\/em> the investigators in Mumbai on <\/em>10 September at 11am.<\/em><\/p>\n Partho has been pro-actively involved with peaceful, demo<\/em>cratic people\u2019s movements, <\/em>especially the struggles for the rights of poor and marginalise<\/em>d dalits and adivasis. He is an <\/em>active member of Persecuted Prisoners\u2019 Solidarity Co<\/em>mmittee as well as Joint Action <\/em>Committee for Social Justice. His tireless work in defence of civi<\/em>l liberties and for the release <\/em>of political prisoners is exemplary. Partho has been ever-present<\/em> in marches, rallies, and other <\/em>street programmes with his stirring but lucid speeches and an endearing smile.<\/em><\/p>\n At IISER, Partho has been carrying out extensive and useful<\/em> research on molecular biology. <\/em>His pioneering work on viruses has taken him to the lecture-halls<\/em> in universities and scientific <\/em>gatherings across the globe. He is a front-runner in the present <\/em>battle against Covid-19 and his <\/em>idea of community participation has been successfully implemen<\/em>ted in Nadia district, inviting <\/em>widespread interest. He was among the scientists consulted b<\/em>y the World Health Organization <\/em>(WHO) to understand the character of the Coronavirus and formulate a poli<\/em>cy to tackle the <\/em>pandemic.<\/em><\/p>\n The harassment of Dr Ray by the NIA is yet another sinister <\/em>attempt in the fascist regime\u2019s <\/em>witch-hunt at silencing the voices of dissent and protest<\/em>. We, the undersigned, strongly <\/em>condemn this brazen assault on democratic activities and<\/em> demand immediate withdrawal of <\/em>NIA\u2019s menacing, threatening interrogation notice. We st<\/em>and hand-in-hand with Dr Partho <\/em>Sarothi Ray.<\/em><\/p>\n Several organisations have also signed in the solidarity message including All India Central Council of Trade Union (AICCTU), All India Kshet Mazdoor Kisan Sabha (AIKMKS), Adibashi Samanyaya Mancha, All India Peoples\u2019 Science Network, All India Revolutionary Students\u2019 Organisation (AIRSO), Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle, IIT Madras, Ambedkar-Periyar-Phule Study Circle, IIT Bombay, Bandi Mukti Committee, No NRC Movement, Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP), West Bengal, Delhi Science Forum, Delhi, Feminists in Resistance, Jadavpur Commune, Jai Bhim India Network, Jomi Jibika Bastutantro o Poribesh Raksha Committee, People\u2019s Film Collective.<\/p>\n [Image: Facebook]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “Yet another sinister attempt in the fascist regime\u2019s witch-hunt at silencing the voices of dissent and protest.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":279,"featured_media":10303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,11,9],"tags":[378,246,346,431,371,432,384,403],"adace-sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-10302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-bengal","category-editors-choice","category-nation","tag-containment-zones","tag-coronavirus-in-india","tag-coronavirus-in-kolkata","tag-elgar-parishad-case","tag-lockdown-in-india","tag-pune-police","tag-varavara-rao","tag-west-bengal-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n