BJP & Congress govts use arrest to divert attention: Susan Abraham

NEW DELHI: The wife of one of the activists accused of fomenting violence in Bhima-Koregaon has said that the BJP and Congress have used arrests of activists to divert attention. Susan Abraham, wife of Vernon Gonsalves, said on Monday that both the Congress and the BJP were equally culpable of making ‘frivolous arrests’ and divert attention from caste clashes.

“Both the UPA and the NDA are the same. The UPA arrested Arun Ferreira and three others in 2007 to divert attention from the Khairlanji incident. (Four Dalits of a family where sexually assaulted and killed in Khairlanji on September 26, 2006). Similarly, the NDA has arrested these people (10, including her husband Vernon Gonsalves) to divert attention from the Bhima-Koregaon case,” she alleged.

She was speaking along with other activists in Mumbai on Monday on the recent SC order on the arrest of the activists including her husband. Activist Flavia Agnes claimed the arrest were timed with the general elections in mind. “We have to see how many more get arrested between now and the next general elections.”


The activists said that the dissenting judgment of justice DY Chandrachud, which faulted the Pune Police for the arrests and questioned the evidence, had more merit than that of the majority judgment.