Assam Police Arrest Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani Over Tweet On Modi

An Assam Police team arrested Gujarat legislator Jignesh Mevani over a tweet in which he criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mevani had, on 18 April, tweeted that Modi, “who considers Godse as God”, should appeal for peace and communal harmony when he (Modi) visits his home state on 20 April. The tweet was withheld by Twitter following legal complaints.

One Anup Kumar Dey, a resident of Bhabanipur in Assam’s Kokrajhar district, filed a police complaint against Mevani under IPC section 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), section 153(A) (promoting enmity between two communities), 295(A) (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, 506 (criminal intimidation) and sections of the IT Act.

A four-member team of Assam Police arrested Mevani from Palanpur circuit house in Banaskantha district of north Gujarat around 11.30pm Wednesday (20 April). He was reportedly taken to Ahmedabad by road, from where he is reportedly being taken to Guwahati by train.

Dey, in his complaint to the police, said he came across a tweet by Mevani on 18 April that the “Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi worships and considers ‘Godse’ as God and appealed to the PM that on his visit on April 20 to Gujarat, he should make an appeal to the public for peace and harmony in areas such as Himmatnagar, Khambhat and Veraval where communal violence had taken place”.

Dey said that the tweet had “caused widespread criticism and has the propensity to disturb public tranquillity, is prejudicial to maintenance of harmony among a certain section of people and likely to incite a section of the masses belonging to a certain community to commit offence against another community in this part of the country”.

Mevani, an Independent MLA, supports the Congress and is an ‘unattached member’ of the radical left lobby in the Congress that is close to Rahul Gandhi. Mevani has often used highly derogatory language to criticise Prime Minister Modi and other BJP leaders. He called Modi a namak haram (traitor) in Patna (read this). His attacks on Modi have often been personal and highly abusive.

Mevani’s arrest has triggered a chorus of protests. Rahul Gandhi termed it as “undemocratic” and “unconstitutional”. Gandhi said Modi cannot “imprison the truth by crushing dissent”.

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