Farmers' body demands release of five activists

New Delhi : The Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) on Wednesday demanded the immediate release of five right activists arrested by Pune police a day earlier on charge of being Maoist supporters.

In a statement here, MKSS founding members Shankar Singh, Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey said: "we strongly condemn the attempt to mislead people through deliberate use of term 'urban Naxals' both by BJP politicians and those in the media."

The activists claimed that the arrests are a "blatant attempt" to prevent the intelligentsia from raising voice against injustice, oppression and exploitation.

"It is a prelude to making sure that the space for dissent and democratic expression is closed, and even the threats to the Constitution go unchallenged" they added.