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Indian lawmaker arrested after tweet criticising Narendra Modi

theguardian.com

31–40 of 213 posts

Re: Indian lawmaker arrested after tweet criticising Narendra Modi

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where is “here”? In the US, for example, defamation is a tort, not a criminal offense. And calling the president or any other public figure a “Nazi” would be totally safe.

The Grauniad is a U.K. newspaper. They're criticizing India for something that happens all the time in their own country. A total double standard.

The article was a rather neutral reporting of facts. The facts should be embarrassing to India, but that’s not the newspaper’s fault.

The Guardian often reports on similar issues occurring within the UK. Here are just two examples:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/feb/14/transgender-...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jun/04/gender-criti...

So you are utterly mistaken.

Re: Indian lawmaker arrested after tweet criticising Narendra Modi

#33
post #6

Boris Johnson arrived in India. Rabble-rousers know that the world's media attention will follow; and they use this opportunity to garner some of the spotlight. It's just a shameless ploy to get their names out. Such is democracy, I guess. And the Guardian doesn't help by adding flame bait such as this: "In the capital, Delhi, bulldozers have demolished the homes of Muslims accused of rioting." Illegal construction,…

This is a very ingenuous take, trying to shield the wrong doings by Current Gov. First, Illegal encroachments were not bulldozed. People had valid documents proving the legitimacy of their houses. Also, the Supreme Court ordered for the demolitions to stop, but the houses and shops of people were still razed to ground. The Rabble rousers were people who were undertaking religious processions with swords and guns raised in front of mosques, mocking and troubling Muslims. They even hoisted saffron flags over the mosques. Rabble rousers are those who are continuously giving calls for genocide of Muslims in Dharm sansads, publicly. And PM of India has stayed mum all through out. What Guardian said is absolutely right. It's not flame-bait. Such is Democracy, I guess.

Re: Indian lawmaker arrested after tweet criticising Narendra Modi

#34
post #6

Boris Johnson arrived in India. Rabble-rousers know that the world's media attention will follow; and they use this opportunity to garner some of the spotlight. It's just a shameless ploy to get their names out. Such is democracy, I guess. And the Guardian doesn't help by adding flame bait such as this: "In the capital, Delhi, bulldozers have demolished the homes of Muslims accused of rioting." Illegal construction,…

About the content of the tweets, the article says: But Mevani tweeted this week that Modi “worships and considers Godse as God”, accusing the prime minister of fomenting religious division. He also demanded that Modi apologise for communal violence in Gujarat, where Mevani is a member of the state legislature. Assuming this representation of the tweets is accurate, are you saying that posting them should be an arrest…

[deleted]

Re: Indian lawmaker arrested after tweet criticising Narendra Modi

#35
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This actually has less details than the Guardian article. It just recites the government's argument. It doesn't seem that he incited violence but rather accused Modi of doing so.

The tweet baselessly accused Modi of worshiping the terrorist who killed Mohandas Gandhi. That would be highly offensive to many Indians, and easily construed as "fighting words" and inciting violence. We know this especially well because earlier fringe attempts to "rehabilitate" the perp have caused widespread offense in India; also as far as can be ascertained, Modi has not given any support whatsoever to these ext…

Without knowing much of how Indian law is spelled out, this would be very clearly permitted language in every other liberal democracy. The narrow exceptions for "fighting words" need to be very explicit physical threats. Insults, even lies, are well within the realm of protected speech. Protection against causing offense is exactly what free speech rules are written for. Americans say absolutely awful things about our presidents whether or not they're true and none have ever been punished for expressing an opinion no matter how odious.

Modi and the BJP may not literally worship an assassin, but they absolutely do support violent confrontation against Muslims. The kind of thing that is not only offensive and "fighting words" but a very real existential threat against a minority of Indian citizens. Yet they don't receive punishment because they have the protection of the government. It makes it seem very obvious that this prosecution is just government oppression.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/world/asia/india-hate-spe...

Re: Indian lawmaker arrested after tweet criticising Narendra Modi

#36

I admit I'm not super familiar with India's freedom of speech, is this a backslide or has it always been like this?

India never had freedom of speech. Opposition newspapers are often harassed and shut down. They have a law criminalizing offending religious feelings. This is not an exaggerated paraphrase, that’s what the law says. A scientist was convicted under this law a few years ago for demonstrating that a “weeping” statue of the Virgin Mary was not actually weeping blood. The truth was offensive, so the law applied. EDIT: I r…

There is a difference between a law in paper and its enactment. There are various laws in the constitution of india that can be conveniently represented to prosecute someone on the basis of their speech. There is significant evidence of such happenings only increasing lately

Re: Indian lawmaker arrested after tweet criticising Narendra Modi

#37

I admit I'm not super familiar with India's freedom of speech, is this a backslide or has it always been like this?

India never had freedom of speech. Opposition newspapers are often harassed and shut down. They have a law criminalizing offending religious feelings. This is not an exaggerated paraphrase, that’s what the law says. A scientist was convicted under this law a few years ago for demonstrating that a “weeping” statue of the Virgin Mary was not actually weeping blood. The truth was offensive, so the law applied. EDIT: I r…

Your point still stands, but there was never a formal prosecution or conviction (he fled to Finland before it got that far):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeping_crucifix_in_Mumbai

Re: Indian lawmaker arrested after tweet criticising Narendra Modi

#40
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The tweet baselessly accused Modi of worshiping the terrorist who killed Mohandas Gandhi. That would be highly offensive to many Indians, and easily construed as "fighting words" and inciting violence. We know this especially well because earlier fringe attempts to "rehabilitate" the perp have caused widespread offense in India; also as far as can be ascertained, Modi has not given any support whatsoever to these ext…

Without knowing much of how Indian law is spelled out, this would be very clearly permitted language in every other liberal democracy. The narrow exceptions for "fighting words" need to be very explicit physical threats. Insults, even lies, are well within the realm of protected speech. Protection against causing offense is exactly what free speech rules are written for. Americans say absolutely awful things about ou…

“every other liberal democracy”

In every liberal democracy. India is not one of those. They have elections, but those are necessary, not sufficient conditions for a meaningful state of democracy to exist.

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