“This is the minimum I can do as a concerned citizen in these dubious and dark times,” says 79-year-old former acting Vice-Chancellor of Lucknow University Roop Rekha Verma, who has agreed to stand as surety to fulfil the Lucknow court’s conditions for Kerala-based journalist Siddique Kappan after he was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) case.
Even days after the Supreme Court granted bail to Mr. Kappan, it was difficult for his lawyers to find residents of Uttar Pradesh who could stand as surety for the jailed journalist.
Speaking to The Hindu, Ms. Verma said, “I reasoned in my mind that by standing as surety I am not doing something anti-government as government allegations will remain and Siddique Kappan will have to fight it out in the courts. I am not blocking anything; I am only helping him to come out of jail and fight it out. It is a very small help which in the dubious and dark times any concerned citizen must do without disturbing the legal process,”.
