The joint statement signed by over 600 people said that the current raids by the ED and IT departments are to be viewed as part of a continuing chain of abuse of state institutions to threaten, intimidate and try to silence every critic of the present government.
TCN NEWS
NEW DELHI – Over 600 academics, activists, writers, film-makers, civil servants, lawyers, journalists, musicians, artists, and intellectuals have condemned the raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at the office and home of retired IAS officer and social activist Harsh Mander in connection with a money-laundering probe.
The raids were carried out at the offices of the Centre of Equity Studies (CES), New Delhi headed by Harsh Mander on September 16. ED also raided his private home in Vasant Kunj. The Income Tax (IT) department has simultaneously raided one of the children’s homes run by an allied institution – Umeed Aman Ghar in Mehrauli.
Mander is currently in Berlin, Germany at the invitation of the Robert Bosch Academy to join them for the prestigious Richard Von Weizsacker Fellowship. The Robert Bosch Academy, founded in 2014 as an institution of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, offers international decision-makers, opinion leaders, and experts the opportunity for solution-oriented cooperation on issues of global relevance.
In a joint statement, the activists and intellectuals said that, “We condemn these raids to harass and intimidate leading human rights and peace activist who has done nothing but work for peace and harmony, consistently upholding the highest moral standards of honesty and probity.”
The statement said that over the past year, Harsh Mander and the CES have been subjected to continued harassment by multiple state agencies. “The false and malicious allegations by the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) were definitively countered by the Delhi Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR), a statutory body, which has filed a strong affidavit in the Delhi High Court, putting an end to the false allegations against CES,” it said.
CES has also been subjected to harassment by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), and the IT department, they said.
Terming the harassment as “vindictive,” the statement said that “these efforts combined, have shown neither diversion of money nor any violation of the law.”
“The current raids by the ED and IT department are to be viewed in this context, as part of a continuing chain of abuse of state institutions to threaten, intimidate and try to silence every critic of the present government,” they said.
“We stand with Harsh Mander and with each person associated with the Centre for Equity Studies. The Constitution of India and the law of the land shall prevail, exposing these intimidatory tactics exactly for what they are – an abuse of state institutions to try and curtail all our rights,” the statement added.
Among the 600 people who signed the statement include advocate Indira Jaisingh, historian Romila Thapar, economist Jean Dreze, retired IPS officer Julio Ribeiro activist Aruna Roy and former Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Ram Das.