On 28th August this year, five so-called activists were detained by the Pune Police. The Pune Police had conducted raids in the course of its investigation into the violence that had occurred in Bhima-Koregaon. Five raids were conducted simultaneously in five different states, in the homes of these self-proclaimed activists. The police were able to establish that they had indeed been instrumental in fomenting violence in Bhima-Koregaon, and detained all five of them promptly.
But what the police discovered during the course of these raids, other than the fact that the five of them had been instrumental in the violence that had left one dead and several injured, was that they were intimately connected with the Naxals. In fact, what this group had planned for the future left the entire country aghast.
In the course of these raids, the police recovered CDs, letters and emails which clearly outlined a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Modi. A Rajiv Gandhi style execution had been planned. Rajiv Gandhi was murdered by a suicide bomber after he got out of his car and was making his way to address a rally. The assassin had bent down and touched his feet, and then detonated the explosive-laden belt tucked below her dress. Fourteen others had also died along with Rajiv Gandhi.
That a similar execution was being planned for the current Prime Minister shook the country’s consciousness to its very core. And the fact that well-know members of the civil society who had masqueraded as activists for all these years were actually in cahoots with the Naxals to carry out this plan, left the country dumbfounded. Everyone demanded that the conspirators be punished severely.
The police on its part produced the five of them before a magistrate. The magistrate didn’t mince his words. He said that they were a threat to the country’s stability, and that the country would be better off with them in jail. He put them under rigorous police custody immediately. That’s where they continue to rot till today. And by now, with the information that they have provided, the police has been able to bust many other people who were planning to destabilize the country in different ways.
Oops. I’m sorry, I appear to have made a mistake.
With so many high-profile cases being taken up every day, it is difficult to keep track of things. What happened with these five so-called activists was that on the 29th of August, a day after they were detained by the police, the Supreme Court put them under house arrest. House arrest means that instead of jail, you’re confined to the comfort of your own home. Then on the 6th of September, the Supreme Court extended their house arrest till the 12th of September. They also asked the Maharashtra government to keep their police officer “in line”. On the 12th of September, their house arrest was extended till the 17th, and on the 17th, it was extended till the 19th. On the 20th, the court reserved its order in the case and on the 29th, their house arrest was extended by four more weeks. I’m not sure what happened after that. I lost interest.
But why did I make a mistake earlier? I must have confused the facts of this case with another one.
Oh yes, that’s right. Forgive me for my goof-up. The guy who was arrested is a defence analyst based out of Delhi. His name is Abhijit Iyer Mitra, and he has been in jail for exactly a month now. In the beginning, Abhijit Iyer Mitra was in the Jharpada Jail, known for custody deaths and undertrial suicides. Later, he was transferred to another jail, where he was put into a common cell with other prisoners. The bail plea of Abhijit Iyer Mitra has come up thrice, and it has been rejected thrice. On one occasion, when he sought bail on the ground that his life was in danger, the CJI-led bench responded by telling him that if his life was indeed in danger, there was no better place for him to be in than jail.
His crime, you ask? Oh he made a joke. That’s right. A joke. He took on certain regressive elements and mocked them for not recognizing that the sensual aspect is so important in Hinduism that you find it in the holiest of places. That was his crime.
Yes, Abhijit Iyer Mitra was the guy who debunked the colossal lie that was the Rafale scam. And yes, I know he traveled in Jay Panda’s chopper. But how dare you insinuate anything when the system has already spoken?