‘Fearing freedom’: Shiv Sena(UBT) criticises Centre over CJP activists’ arrest in ‘Saamana’
Mumbai, Oct 23 (IANS) Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Friday accused the BJP government at the Centre of suffering from ‘deep insecurity’ and establishing a virtual “Police Raj” in the country.
The party criticised the arrest and seven-day detention of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) youth activists Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, who were jailed for carrying the National Flag and protesting peacefully at Delhi’s historic Jantar Mantar against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The Thackray camp, in an editorial in the party’s mouthpiece, Samaana, questioned whether the government is afraid of peaceful democratic protests or terrified of young citizens holding the Indian National Flag. It condemned the government for systematically seizing public protest venues — from Mumbai and Delhi to Patna, Lucknow, and Kolkata — denouncing it as the outright choking of democracy.
Pointing out a stark contrast, the editorial highlighted that while courts lecture idealist youths holding the Tricolour, justice appears surprisingly lenient towards perpetrators of grave crimes, citing the case of rape-convicted former politician Kuldeep Sengar, whose sentence was suspended by a judge on the bench.
The editorial criticised the administration for using uniformed forces and political loyalists to suppress dissent, asserting that politicians once faced protesters directly, whereas the current regime hides behind barricades, police forces, and court injunctions.
The editorial detailed how CJP activists Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were locked up in Tihar Jail after defying prohibitory orders issued by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who unilaterally removed Jantar Mantar from the list of approved protest sites. “The children did not go to Jantar Mantar to play ‘Dandiya’; they went to raise their voice against corrupt electoral practices. If the government were truly generous and democratic, would it lock down Jantar Mantar? Asking protesters to seek government permission before rallying against state injustice is absurd — would a despotic regime ever grant permission for a protest against itself?” questioned the editorial.
Refuting arguments that “unscrupulous elements” might infiltrate public rallies — a rationale cited to justify police clearances — the Thackeray camp pointed out that prominent leaders such as Sonam Wangchuk, opposition MPs, and Parakala Prabhakar (the economist and husband of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman) have all taken to the streets. “Are these individuals also ‘troublemakers’?” the editorial asked, alleging that actual violence stems from government-backed elements clad in khaki executing crackdowns on students.
Expressing deep disappointment over the High Court’s lecturing young idealists about student unrest in France or Albania, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena urged the judiciary to look at the root cause rather than the symptoms.
The editorial asserted that the policy under the current leadership has become clear — citizens must not ask questions, nor should they demand accountability. The editorial concluded that when a government begins fearing peaceful, nation-loving youths holding the Tricolour, it signals not strength but the peak of political paranoia — a phenomenon uniquely characteristic of the Modi-Shah administration.
–IANS
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