Sixteen organisations were banned by the Telangana government on Friday alleging that they were a new front of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist.
The state government issued orders declaring these organisations as unlawful for a period of one year with effect from March 30, but reports about the ban were made public only on April 23.
The front organisations declared unlawful are the Telangana Praja Front (TPD), the Telangana Asanghatitha Karmika Samakhya (TAKS), the Telangana Vidyarthi Vedika (TVV), the Democratic Students Organisation (DSU), the Telangana Vidyarthi Sangham (TVS), the Adivasi Students Union (ASU), the Committee for Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP), the Telangana Raithanga Samithi (TRS), the Tudum Debba (TD), the Praja Kala Mandali (PKM), the Telangana Democratic Front (TDF), the Forum Against Hindu Fascism Offensive (FAHFO), the Civil Liberties Committee (CLC), the Amarula Bandhu Mithrula Sangham (ABMS), the Chaitanya Mahila Sangham (CMS) and the Revolutionary Writers' Association (RWA).
The Government Order said that these organisations have been encouraging or aiding persons to commit acts of violence and intimidation and are habitually committing acts of violence.
The state alleged that activists of these organisations are moving into urban areas by adopting urban guerrilla tactics. The state further alleged that they take different covers as per their strategy and tactics document to wage war against the state.
The state claims that these organisations stepped up their activities, adopted new tactics and joined hands with several other organisations. They are being accused of alluring the members into their fold with inflammatory statements, meetings and rallies highlighting various issues against the Centre and state governments.
"The activists of these front organisations have been regularly in touch and meeting the Maoist leadership in the forest area of Chhattisgarh. On the directions of CPI-Maoist, they are organising various protest programmes on barren lands and against so-called state repression on front activists besides demanding the release of P Vara Vara Rao, Founder, VIRASAM, Prof G.N Sai Baba (extremist convict), Rona Wilson and other leaders of various front organisations who were arrested in Bhima Koregaon case, and repealing UAPA Act, farm laws, CAA/NRC etc,” reads the Government Order.
It also noted that some of the activists of these front organisations became underground cadres of CPI-Maoist to wage war against the lawfully established governments.
On April 1, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had carried out searches in the residences of reportedly at least twenty activists in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The raids were conducted against activists who are members of the Human Rights Forum, a civil rights organisation, Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee, Virasam (Revolutionary Writers’ Association) and others.