As the nation rejoiced when India’s numero uno journalist Arnab Goswami was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in what one hopes will end the Maharashtra government’s witch hunt, in another incident, social media user Sameet Thakkar has been granted bail by a magistrate court in Mumbai after spending 21 days in custody over his tweets which were perceived as derogatory towards Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and his son, Aaditya Thackeray.
Instead of focusing on how to contain the pandemic, the Maharashtra government has launched a massive witch hunt against anyone who has dared to speak up against Uddhav Thackeray and his son, Aaditya. Kangana Ranaut and Arnab Goswami had to pay dearly for their audacity to question the Shiv Sena honcho. However, in what appears that even a tweet against the rulers of the Maha Vikas Aghadi can land one in serious trouble, social media user Sameet Thakkar had to spend 21 days in jail for his tweets against Uddhav and Aaditya Thackeray.
In a blatant disregard of the Fundamental Right to Free Speech, Thakkar was reportedly arrested for labelling Uddhav Thackeray as “Modern Day Aurangzeb” and Aaditya as “Baby Penguin” in his series of tweets. As was the case with Arnab during the Palghar lynchings case, multiple FIRs were filed at different locations which saw Thakkar tossed around from one jail to another and unfortunately had to spend Diwali behind bars.
It is pertinent to note that not only was Thakkar re-arrested after securing bail in a case lodged over the objectionable tweets, he was also shockingly brought to court bound; with a black cloth covering his face as if he was a threat to security. Such public hounding just because the rulers of Maharashtra took objection to Thakkar’s tweets.
“It’s human rights’ violation by police as my brother’s hands were tied & face was covered with black cloth when he was brought to court today. They treated him the way hardcore terrorist is treated,” said Rishi Thakkar, brother of Sameet.
The video where Sameet was being taken to a court bounded was universally panned on social media with BJP MP, Varun Gandhi tweeting, “Is @thakkar_sameet a terrorist, is he an animal, is he a danger to the nation that he’s being treated in this manner? This goes against every tenet of humanity. Irrespective of political views, it is completely unlawful & immoral. All of us should be raising our voice against this.”
Now that Sameet has been released with the state government deciding to not oppose his bail plea in the Supreme Court, the Uddhav Thackeray government has a lot of uncomfortable questions to answer. First, what was the need for filing multiple FIRs for reportedly objectionable tweets and what exactly did the Police conclude during their 21-day custodial interrogation? What was the need for parading Sameet as a high profile terrorist and isn’t this a case of executive overreach?
It is unlikely that we will get the answers to any of the questions as Uddhav Thackeray and his minions aim to send a message to everyone currently residing in Maharashtra: Criticise the Thackerays at your own peril.
