Advocacy groups condemn arrest of student for raising anti-BJP slogans

The arrest of a woman student, who raised slogans against the BJP on board a domestic flight, is part of a "larger pattern of criminalisation and suppression of dissent" by the ruling party at the Centre, advocacy groups said Tuesday.

In a joint statement, CERAS (Montreal), India Civil Watch-Canada, and South Asia Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD, Vancouver) said the arrest of Louis Sophia for "a quite minor expression of opposition" was not an isolated incident.

"It follows last week's arrests of five eminent democratic rights defenders on unfounded charges of being supporters of alleged 'terrorist' organisations, and is part of a larger pattern of criminalisation and suppression of dissent by the BJP," they said.

Sophia, 28, is a student of a Canadian university and was on her way to visit her native Tuticorin city in Tamil Nadu.

He arrest followed the arrest of five activists last week by Maharashtra police in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence.

The groups said they would take up the matter with Canadian parliamentarians and urge them to discuss this with the Indian High Commissioner in Ottawa.

They said: "The party (BJP) has used agencies of the state to attack and arrest, and encouraged social vigilantes, hate trollers, and lynch mobs against Muslim and Christian minorities, Dalits and adivasis, as well as writers, artists, journalists, lawyers, academics, and others who speak out in defense of civil liberties and democratic rights," the groups said.

They demanded that all charges against Sophia be dropped.

"The expression of opposition and dissent is a fundamental right in a democracy. The criminalisation of the exercise of this right suggests that democracy itself is under threat in India," they said.

The BJP and its state unit chief Tamilisai Soundararajan, on whose complaint the woman was arrested, have come under attack for "crushing" freedom of expression.

Sophia was granted unconditional bail by a court Tuesday.

Soundararajan and the student, who travelled to Tuticorin by the same flight last night from Chennai, were involved in an altercation after landing at the airport, a video of which was aired by TV channels.

Soundararajan is heard telling Sophia and other people at the arrival lounge that a plane was no place to raise slogans.

"It (inside of a flight) is not a public forum... How can you expect me to keep mum when she (Soundararajan) shouts down with BJP's fascist government looking at me? Is it freedom of expression?" she asked.