When a judge in Assam decided to let Jignesh Mevani go free because of tweets against Prime Minister Modi, the court said that Mevani should be able to go back home.
Jignesh Mevani, a Gujarat MLA, was re-arrested in a fresh case today, barely hours after being granted bail by an Assam court in a case involving disrespectful tweets about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Yesterday, the court said that it would postpone its decision on the bail application in the Twitter case.
The police from Assam’s Barpeta, who were sent to arrest Mr. Mevani, has not yet revealed the circumstances under which the Gujarat MLA was detained a second time. According to sources, one of the provisions of the Indian Penal Code under which Mr. Mevani has been accused in the current case contains charges of interfering with the performance of a government officer’s responsibilities.
Mevani was initially arrested on Thursday in Gujarat’s Palanpur by a group of Assam police officers after a local BJP leader in Kokrajhar complained to him. He was then taken into custody in Gujarat. Mevani, an outspoken opponent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has described his arrest as “vendetta politics by the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office).”
“The Bhartiya Janta Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh want to mess up the whole region with their certain actions. They did this to ruin my image and reputation. They have been doing this constantly. Rohit Vemula was victimized, Chandrasekhar Azad was victimized, and now they are aiming their guns at my head,” Mevani spoke to the press.
In addition to criminal conspiracy, the 41-year-old has been charged with an offense relating to a house of worship, outraging religious emotions, and provocation that might result in disturbing the peace.
BJP leader Arup Kumar Dey has filed a formal complaint alleging that Mevani’s tweets are “likely to agitate a portion of the people belonging to a certain religion,” as stated in his complaint. Dey said in an interview with the press that Mevani has been “trying to divide people with his tweets and keeps talking adversely about Prime Minister Modi.” Mevani, however, has denied them.
“As a nation, we are fortunate to have Modi Ji as our Prime Minister, and Mevani is attempting to connect his name with recent (incidents of) violence. Is it possible that Prime Minister Modi is to blame for this? What evidence does he have to support his claim that Godse is Prime Minister Modi’s God?” says Arup Kumar while speaking to the media.
Congress says that the arrest took place within 24 hours of a complaint being filed. The BJP has been in charge of the state of Gujarat since 1995. “Modi may try to suppress opposition in the country by manipulating the government system. The truth, on the other hand, can never be imprisoned,” said Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress, later in his tweet.
Jignesh Mevani, an Independent MLA from Banas Kantha’s Vadgam seat, had previously said that he would run as a candidate for the Congress in the next elections.
Published By – Chirag Agrawal
Edited By – Aakash Kanti Khuman
