New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) Curbing the people's right to protest was a suppression of democracy, rights activists said Monday, a day after Gujarat police arrested riot victims and others protesting Chief Minister Narendra Modi's three-day fast for amity.


“We condemn the undemocratic and arbitrary detention of riot victims and activists who were protesting against the state government of Gujarat and Narendra Modi's 'Sadbhavana mission' in Ahmedabad,” the statement said.

"We believe that curbing people's right to peacefully protest is a suppression of democracy and condemn this unjust action by the Gujarat state government," the activists said.

Among the signatories to the statement are Team Anna members Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal as well as film director Mahesh Bhatt, and Magsaysay Award winner and theatre director Arvind Gaur.

Gujarat police Sunday detained several activists, including Mallika Sarabhai and Mukul Sinha, when they were staging a protest against Modi at Naroda Patiya in Ahmedabad. Naroda Patiya, about eight km from the Gujarat university where Modi is sitting on his fast, was the spot of one of the worst massacres during the 2002 Gujarat riots.