Lois Sophia was well within her right to speak her mind
The case of Lois Sophia a research scholar who was incarcerated and later released in Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu state for reasons best known to cops shows how might of the state is being used unabashedly and this is indefensible. By merely stating "Fascist BJP Govt down down" she was well within her right to speak her mind and the State BJP President on a wrong foot by asking cops to invoke sections of IPC that would instigate her arrest. Instead of using the might of the state the BJP leader could have just smiled and moved on unperturbed by a mere slogan here and there.
There are slogans and counter slogans in Parliament when it is not dysfunctional and functioning and does anyone get arrested for mere slogan shouting. There is no room for dissent. Such acts are alienating the right wing party from its core voter base and shows how difference of opinion what to talk of dissent is being muzzled with the power of the state. Millions lined up in support of Lois Sophia and the sections under which she has been booked may well see the need for her to come all the way from Canada where she is pursuing her studies. If the party which rules at the Centre can't take dissent of this benign nature what hectoring we would be witness to in the run up to 2019 polls. Democracy in India is alive and thriving and isolated incidents like this which are becoming more of a routine now spells danger to the very fabric of democracy and its remnants.
The right wing party doesn't look to be a disciplined organisation with well chain of command and the rank and file needs to be told in no uncertain terms that dissent shouldn't dilute their campaign to stay in the fray. If anyone expresses an opinion different from what the party stands for that should not make them resort to misuse of state might to keep dissenters at bay. If there is no dissent there is no hope. The best remedy would be sections under which Lois Sophia has been booked are lifted with no time lost and her passport returned so that she can continue with her studies
The case of Lois Sophia a research scholar who was incarcerated and later released in Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu state for reasons best known to cops shows how might of the state is being used unabashedly and this is indefensible. By merely stating "Fascist BJP Govt down down" she was well within her right to speak her mind and the State BJP President on a wrong foot by asking cops to invoke sections of IPC that would instigate her arrest. Instead of using the might of the state the BJP leader could have just smiled and moved on unperturbed by a mere slogan here and there.
There are slogans and counter slogans in Parliament when it is not dysfunctional and functioning and does anyone get arrested for mere slogan shouting. There is no room for dissent. Such acts are alienating the right wing party from its core voter base and shows how difference of opinion what to talk of dissent is being muzzled with the power of the state. Millions lined up in support of Lois Sophia and the sections under which she has been booked may well see the need for her to come all the way from Canada where she is pursuing her studies. If the party which rules at the Centre can't take dissent of this benign nature what hectoring we would be witness to in the run up to 2019 polls. Democracy in India is alive and thriving and isolated incidents like this which are becoming more of a routine now spells danger to the very fabric of democracy and its remnants.
The right wing party doesn't look to be a disciplined organisation with well chain of command and the rank and file needs to be told in no uncertain terms that dissent shouldn't dilute their campaign to stay in the fray. If anyone expresses an opinion different from what the party stands for that should not make them resort to misuse of state might to keep dissenters at bay. If there is no dissent there is no hope. The best remedy would be sections under which Lois Sophia has been booked are lifted with no time lost and her passport returned so that she can continue with her studies
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