Ambedkar slams Maharashtra Special Security Bill; seeks govt clarification on 'urban Naxal'

Mumbai, Jul 14 (PTI) The Devendra Fadnavis government must clarify about the term "urban Naxal" in the Maharashtra Special Security Bill that was passed in both Houses of the state legislature recently, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar said on Monday.

Ambedkar questioned if labour unions seeking workers rights, farmers demanding remunerative prices for crops, political parties holding agitations and those protesting against loan sharks would be dubbed as "urban Naxals" and be arrested under this legislation.

The bill, which was passed by the assembly on Thursday and by the council on Friday and will come into force on receiving the governor's assent, will be challenged in court by the VBA, he said at a press conference here.

"The state government must clarify what it means by urban Naxal in this bill. Only those who seek to overthrow the State through illegal means and possess weapons and ammunition can be termed as Naxals," he claimed.

"The BJP has brought back the mistakes of Indira Gandhi's Emergency in the form of this law. It is nothing but undeclared Emergency, and the time has come for a decisive struggle against it. The VBA had already opposed this bill and will now move court against it. I urge other political parties to join this battle," he asserted.

The law poses a grave threat to democratic rights, he said while criticising the lack of strong opposition in the assembly during its passage.

"Only after public outcry on social media, opposition leaders came forward to speak out against it. That is nothing but drama," he claimed.

On Sunday, CM Fadnavis had said "this new law will help us in taking big action against urban Naxalism".

Those speaking against the bill are "in a way trying to take forward the Left Wing Extremism ideology", Fadnavis had told reporters in Nagpur. PTI ND BNM