Lois Sofia's arrest points to undeclared emergency, says Congress

Battle for 2019 is between fascism and democracy, says Manish Tewari.

Lois Sofia, who was arrested for her alleged jibe against BJP State president Tamilisai Soundararajan, comes out of the Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital on September 4, 2018.

The Congress on Tuesday said that the arrest of Lois Sofia , the India-born Canadian researcher who had shouted slogans against the BJP on a flight from Chennai to Thoothukudi on Monday, was yet another proof of “undeclared emergency” in the country.

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, former Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had been “consistently peddling one narrative that there will be only one voice in the country and that is of the BJP and RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). If anyone else speaks, he will be thrown into the jail.”

The Canadian researcher, released on bail Tuesday, was arrested after BJP’s Tamil Nadu president Tamilisai Soundararajan, who was on board the flight, insisted on filing a police case against her for calling the BJP a “fascist organisation”.

“Is this the India for which thousands had sacrificed their lives? Is this the India that we want? It is increasingly clear that the battle for 2019 is between fascism, represented by the BJP, and democracy that is represented by the progressive and pluralistic forces,” said Mr. Tewari.

Condemning the arrest of Ms. Sofia, Communist Party of India national secretary D. Raja said, “Her arrest is enough proof that today we are living under a fascist regime. Questioning the government and dissent is part of democracy of our country. And for a young girl to shout such slogans shows how deeply she must be hurt with the prevailing situation.”

Language ‘censorship’

The former Union minister also cited the I&B ministry’s latest advisory asking TV channels to refer to Dalits as Schedule Castes (SC) and the arrests of activists by Pune police in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence as examples of “censorship and authoritarianism.”

“If the I&B ministry ordains that the language of your reportage should be pre-cleared by them, then what do you call this advisory other than censorship?” asked Mr. Tewari.

He said the Congress may not agree with the views of some of the activists but never disputed their right to hold their views.

“When you don’t have a case that will stand in a court of law, then you will try to taint public perception by making all kinds of conjectures in the public space,” he said.