MUMBAI, Aug. 31 -- Human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj said on Saturday that it was a great thing that the civil society in Maharashtra had already begun protesting against the Maharashtra Special Public Security Act (MSPSA), passed by the state's legislative assembly in its recently concluded monsoon session. She said the law that still awaits the Governor's assent, was completely unconstitutional and is an attempt to criminalise all kinds of organisations. Bharadwaj was among the speakers at a webinar organised by All India Inquilabi Youth and Students Alliance (ALIYSA) and National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) along with senior advocate Mihir Desai and activist Ulka Mahajan. Mahajan said protests were planned on September 10 and October 2. "This may be the only way.the answer will have to be on the ground," Bharadwaj said. Bharadwaj was released on bail by the Bombay High Court in December 2021 after spending three years in jail as one of the accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case. She worked for 30 years as a trade unionist and a human rights defender in Chhattisgarh. She said a similar law was enforced in Chhattisgarh in 2005 and rampantly misused to criminalise organisations of all kinds. She cited examples of cases in which people who were arrested under the law included sellers of camouflage print cloth used by both Naxalites and security forces, tailors who stitched the uniform, a doctor whose medical prescription was found in the bag of an encountered Naxalite, lawyers, and human rights defenders. She said that mens rea, or criminal intent, which is an important ingredient in an offence, was missing in the legislation. Advocate Desai called the law passed in July by the Maharashtra legislative assembly "draconian". He said, "It's very use will be misuse." Desai added that civil society needs to rise and protest in courts as well as on the streets....