The arrest of independent MLA from Vadgam Jignesh Mevani by Assam Police on his alleged controversial tweet, which is now withheld, has come in for criticism from the civil society, even as eyebrows are being raised over the swift action initiated for his arrest.
Mevani, a dalit leader, was arrested from Palanpur Circuit House late night on Wednesday and has been taken to Assam.
His induction into the Congress Party is a mere formality and he is likely to join once the assembly elections are announced.
Gujarat DGP Ashish Bhatia told a section of the press that the Assam Police had sought permission and the local police gave the necessary support. About the FIR, he said that the Assam Police would be able to give the details.
THE WEEK is in possession of the soft copy of the letter based on which the arrest was made just within a day. On April 19, one Anup Kr. Dey wrote to the Kokhrajhar Police Station about a tweet by Mevani. Dey in the letter said that the tweet may cause disaffection towards a particular community and in all probability is sure to promote enmity or hatred towards different communities, detrimental to peace and harmony of the common masses (sic). He sought action as per the law.
While the opposition Congress staged a protest in the eastern part of the city, questions are being raised about the urgency to arrest the lawmaker in the middle of the night.
Gujarat Congress working president and Mevani’s friend Hardik Patel smelled something fishy in the arrest and warned the government that if something happened to Mevani then the government would be responsible. “Now, MLAs are also not safe in this country,” he tweeted.
Support for Mevani came from Pratik Sinha also. Sinha, founder of Alt News, tweeted that Assam police travelling all the way to Gujarat to arrest Mevani over a harmless tweet that has got nothing to do with Assam is the latest example of the BJP blatantly misusing institutions to target members of the opposition.
In his tweet, Mevani had urged the prime minister to make an appeal to the public for peace and harmony in areas such as Himmatnagar, Khambat and Veraval. The places had witnessed violence between two communities on the occasion of Ram Navami. In his tweet, Mevani had addressed the prime minister who worships and considers Godse as “God”. Here, Godse is Nathuram Godse who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi. The tweet was dated April 18.
Reacting to Mevani’s arrest, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “Modi ji, you can try to crush dissent by abusing the state machinery. But you can never imprison the truth.”
In her tweet, actress Swara Bhasker asked why Mevani has been arrested for his tweets. She described him as one who always stood up against injustice and extended solidarity to the marginalised.
Mevani’s Vadgam constituency falls in North Gujarat where the opposition Congress has a majority of the seats.
A few Congressmen said that this a tactic to keep Mevani away from the campaigning as he would shunt between Gujarat and Assam in the times to come. Gujarat faces election by the year end. A senior Congress leader questioned as to what Assam has to do with the tweet.
