Retired officer and activist S.R. Darapuri was only granted bail on October 28 following a three-week long incarceration in Gorakhpur jail. Darapuri, who is an octogenarian and suffers from Parkinson’s disease, was detained on October 11 after participating in a protest called by the Ambedkar Jan Morcha at the Gorakhpur Divisional Commissioner’s office. The protest had sought to secure land for landless Dalit families and resulted in the arrest of Darapuri and eight other activists.
A native of Jalandhar district in Punjab, S.R. Darapuri has had a long career as a retired Inspector General in the Uttar Pradesh Police. Darapuri was the third highest ranking officer in the state of Uttar Pradesh. After his time in public service, Darapuri has been a vocal advocate for the rights of the marginalised. According to National Herald, in 2019, he was arrested just before he was about to attend an anti-CAA protest in Lucknow. He has also been associated with a range of human rights organisations, including the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Jan Sangharsh Morcha, Right to Food Committee in UP, and the Society for Promoting Buddhist Knowledge, to name a few. He has also worked for the forest and labour rights. Currently, he is the National President of the All India People’s Front.
Among its four pillars of action, the land and livelihood rights of Adivasis and traditional forest dwellers, is one. CJP, with its expertise in navigating cases of human rights violations in the courts and beyond has been active on the issue; partnering with the All India Union of Forest Working Peoples (AIUFWP) since 2017 to battle any setback to these rights in the courts. This includes legally fighting back against malicious prosecution of leaders of the community and defending the Forest Rights Act, 2006 in the Supreme Court. We stand with the millions of Forest Dwellers and Adivasis whose lives and livelihoods are threatened. Please support our efforts by donating here.
However, in October 2023 he, along with other protestors, was arrested when he was protesting the land grabbing of Dalit peoples. The charges against him and the others were serious and included allegations of vandalism and even an attempt to commit murder under IPC Section 307. A French research scholar, Valentine Jean was also taken into custody in a case under the Foreigners Act for his involvement in the protest. A report by the Wire suggests that most of those arrested were from the Dalit community.
Darapuri has asserted that the arrests were orchestrated by the local police and administration to discourage future protests. He has also stated that the attempt to charge them with murder was an afterthought aimed at increasing their incarceration and punishment. He added, “All the IPC sections mentioned in the FIR were bailable. So, they added the IPC Section 307, which is non-bailable. The entire FIR was fictitious. There was no truth in any of the allegations. Our protest was peaceful, and I was there for just one hour.”
Darapuri firmly maintains that these allegations lack any factual basis and were motivated by a clear agenda: to instil fear and suppress the legitimate demand for land allocation to Dalits. He suggests that the government’s primary objective was to send a message that those who advocate for land rights could face similar repercussions. In a statement released by the All India People’s Front, Darapuri has asserted that, “Yogi Raj mein, Dalit ke zameen ke badle jail! (Under Yogi’s rule, a Dalit gets jail in exchange for giving away his land!)
The former officer also reiterated that the protest took place peacefully and even government authorities had been present in conversation with the protestors, in a statement he has released, “The police and magistrates were present at the site, and the entire program was conducted peacefully and in an organised manner. The authorities did not raise any objections. Later in the evening, the District Magistrate arrived at the scene and assured the protesters that their demand for land allocation was legitimate and promised to form a committee. This led to the conclusion of the sit-in protest.”
Although Darapuri was eventually granted bail by the Gorakhpur Additional Sessions Court on October 28 and released from Gorakhpur jail on Tuesday, October 30 evening, three of the nine arrested persons are still awaiting the completion of their paperwork.
This story was originally published in cjp.org.in. Read the full story here .