A journalist and fact checker was recently arrested by the Delhi police for an allegedly offensive tweet which was posted four years ago, that too without any arrest warrant being produced. The arrest was unequivocally criticized by various rights bodies, free speech advocacy groups, civil society and NGOs ; the editors guild went so far as to say that his work was resented by those who use disinformation as a tool to polarize society and rake up murderous supposedly nationalist sentiments. On the other hand, a former spokesperson of the BJP whose remarks ignited the entire country and damaged the social fabric with her blasphemous comments about Prophet Mohammed on live TV continues to remain scot free despite there being multiple FIRs filed against her, in fact the ruling party has provided her with heavy security so that she can spew venom at a later date too. Even in the face of intense judicial censure and castigation by the Supreme Court, the suspended spokesperson continues to defy the law enforcement authorities and plays peekaboo with the courts. A retired judge of the Apex Court has expressed extreme concern that police arrest people at the drop of a hat based on some complaint by a random person saying that his/ her religious sentiments have been hurt.The Deep State has different yardsticks for different folks, anyone not subscribing to their divisive and bigoted ideology is immediately branded as the enemy and the full force of the government is brought to bear upon them. The poor journalist still languishes in jail having been denied bail on multiple occasions on frivolous grounds while the hate machines of the ruling party roam about unhindered.
May Fr Stan's work keep social activism alive
On July 5, it will be the first death anniversary of that most unfortunate custodial death of a brilliant and caring Jesuit Priest our late Fr Stan Swamy. It is high time to revisit the jail rules as it was absolutely improper to have detained a person like Fr Stan in jail despite him being over 80. Those that are elderly who have to be kept in detention could be possibly placed under house arrest or in old age homes Prisons should only be used to reform and to protect the…
