Dear friends and comrades, this global
pandemic should not be exploited by
authoritarian governments as an
opportunity to round up political
dissidents. I thus join all those
throughout the world who are now
speaking out against the recent wave of
arrests and detentions in India and the
use of the Unlawful Activities
Prevention Act to justify charges
against opponents of Narendra Modi's
regime. I understand that three student
leaders--Umar Khalid, Safoora Zargar and
Meeran Haider--were arrested on charges of
'Conspiracy to Incite Riots' during Donald
Trump's visit to India in February of
this year. While it is clear that Muslims
were the victims of the mob violence,
police chose to arrest Muslim youth,
especially student activists. Over 50
Muslim youths from the violence affected
areas have already been picked up. It is
widely known that the anti-muslim
violence took place in the immediate
aftermath of incendiary speeches against
Muslims by legislators from Modi's BJP.
They, not the students, are the ones who
instigated the violence. At least 53
people died and several lost their homes.
That these perpetrators of organized
attacks on Muslims have not been brought
to justice while the same incident is
being used as a pretext for targeting
progressive political activists
demonstrates that the judicial and
incarceration system serves political
ends and not a just legal order.
well-known scholars, journalists and
organizers have been arrested, including
Dr. Anand Teltumbde
and Gautam Navlakha who were picked
up on Dr. BR Ambedkar's birthday.
Moreover, UAPA has been used
against Masrat Zahra, Peerzada Ashiq
and Gowhar Geelani, who are acclaimed
journalists in Kashmir. Their work has
appeared in both Indian and
international media. Peasant and worker
organizers, for example, Akhil Gogoi,
Abhilakh Singh and others have been recently
targeted by these repressive laws. 
These arrests in India have taken place
during the global emergency occasioned by
COVID 19. At time when officials
throughout the world have attempted to... [break]
Activists in the United States and other
countries have been calling for the
abolition of prisons and have been
engaged in campaigns against the
structural racism that feeds the prison
system. This current COVID 19 crisis is
teaching already that if jails and prisons
and detention centres... [BREAK] ...not release from prison,
there will be catastrophic consequences.
The coronavirus crisis is a crisis
occasioned by powerful nation states
to intensify their racism, xenophobia and
other anti-working class strategies, both
within and beyond their borders. 
We should recognize that now is the time to
unite across national borders.
Authoritarian regimes which unite to
protect the interest of a tiny global
elite are learning from each other. 
This can only be pushed back by international
solidarity--we need on-the-ground
international solidarity and a global
support system for activists because their
actions remind us that together we could
all forge a more just future.
