Protest staged at Jantar Mantar against prosecution sanction of Arundhati Roy under UAPA

New Delhi: Left groups on Thursday staged a protest against the order to prosecute author Arundhati Roy and former Central University of Kashmir professor Sheikh Showkat Hussain under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena, earlier last week, gave his sanction to prosecute Roy and Hussain for allegedly making provocative speeches at an event in 2010.

Holding banners and posters demanding removal of the UAPA charge against the duo, scores of students and members of CPI-ML gathered here at Jantar Mantar to register their protest. All India Students Association (AISA) also participated in the protest, which observed a Prativad Divas or protest day.

On October 21, 2010 Roy and Hussain participated in a conference organised under the banner of ‘Azadi – The Only Way’.

According to Raj Niwas officials, the issues discussed and spoken about at the conference "propagated the separation of Kashmir from India".