Political parties, civil society groups and citizens joined hands on Saturday afternoon to protest outside the police headquarters in Panaji, Goa against the police attempts to arrest Devu Chodankar, a marine diploma-holder over his controversial anti-Modi facebook post during the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls.
The protestors vowed to fight the misuse of 66-A of the Information Technology Act against freedom of expression on social media.
A joint protest meeting convened by Mr. Samir Kelekar, an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mumbai alumnus who has been campaigning to drop police action against Mr. Chodankar for his post was attended by Goa Congress President John Fernandes, Goa Nationalist Congress president Nilkant Halankar, independent MLA Vijay Sardesai, Aam Aadmi Party leaders, representatives of Communist Party of India(M), civil society organizations and others.
While many did not agree with what was posted by Mr. Chodankar, what they opposed was the severity of police action including moves of police to seek custodial interrogation.
While not agreeing with the post, AAP Goa convenor Valmiki Naik told The Hindu , “It is up to courts to decide whether his post would have inflamed communal passions or not. But one thing is certain, this issue is two months old now and certainly there has been no any such effect of his statements on people till date."
“We may not agree with what he posted, it was in bad taste, but he should not go to jail for that,” said Mr. Sardesai and cautioned that this could be a 'test-case' for Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to scuttle voices of dissent.
Many speakers condemned the police action as one reflecting the growing culture of intolerance to dissent and free speech.
During the run up to the Lok Sabha polls, Mr. Chodankar, in a post on Goa+, a popular forum had claimed that if elected to power, Mr. Modi would unleash a 'holocaust'. He deleted his post subsequently.
Mr. Chodankar’s anticipatory bail application was rejected by the Sessions Court on Thursday. However, his lawyers will move High Court for anticipatory bail on Monday.
The protestors have fixed an appointment with Goa Director General of Police on Monday morning where they will press for police to drop the case, said Mr. Kelekar.
The case pertains to a police complaint lodged by former chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industries(CII-Goa) Atul Pai Kane against him in March this year under sections 153(A), 295(A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 125 of the People's Representation Act and under Section 66 of IT Act.
