by M.S.Shah Jahan

“With all respect, every day, thousands of people die, but still the world moves on. Just due to one politician died a natural death, everyone just goes bonkers. They should know, we are resilient by force, not by choice.

When was the last time, did anyone showed some respect or even a two-minute silence for Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Azad, Sukhdev or any of the people because of whom we are free-living Indians? Respect is earned, given, and definitely not forced. Today, Mumbai shuts down due to fear, not due to respect.”- Shaheen Dadha.

On Saturday 17 November at 4.45 pm. Dr. Jalil Parkar, an American trained Muslim cardiologist who has been the physician since 2009 for the Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, 86,the architect of the sons-of-the-soil ideology and the one who ruled Mumbai for more than four decades by ‘Hitler like style’ announced; “with great grief and sadness, we wish to inform you that Balasaheb breathed his last at 3.30 pm following cardio-respiratory arrest. We could not revive him”. Thousands of Sainiks who had been keeping vigil following news of his ill-health for the past 72 hours before his home ‘Mathoshree’ were saddened.

Thackeray’s funeral took place next day Sunday 18th with a call for ‘bandh’- shut down of the city of Mumbai which prompted a 21 year old Shaheen Dadha to comment on the Facebook and ‘liked’ by her friend Renu Srinivasan of 20.

Both the girls are from Palghar district near Thane, Mumbai. Shaheen, who finished her graduation in management studies, lives with her parents and her younger brother, Shakeel, 18, a student. Renu recently completed her graduation in botany and lives with her parents and an older brother Rahul. She was supposed to attend an interview last week in Chennai to pursue a sound engineering course in a college there from January.

As the Facebook post infuriated the Shiv Sena, the head of the Palghar unit of the Shiv Sena, Bhushan Anant Sankhe, made a complaint against the two girls at the Palghar police station, with a mob of Shiv Sainiks gathered there.

Police immediately called Dr. Abdul Yusuf Dhada, Shaheen’s uncle and said that his niece had posted some objectionable comment on Facebook and asked him to tell her to withdraw it. Accordingly, the girl deleted her comment and tendered an apology saying that she did not do it with the intention of hurting anyone’s sentiments

Around 8.30, Dr. Dhada got a call informing him that a mob of 80-100 angry Shiv Sainiks surrounded his orthopedic hospital and ransacked it pelting with stones. Police said the mobs broke glass and toppled beds in the hospital.

“There was some misunderstanding. Something was quoted by my younger brother’s daughter on Facebook. She had merely reposted the message someone had forwarded to her. After she posted it, her friend Renu ‘liked’ it. The Shiv Sainiks were unhappy about it. So they ransacked my hospital. My operation theatre and all the machinery, everything was ruined, totally broken. It was horrible, horrible,” he said. “Even my fishpond was vandalised.” said Dr. Dhada who suffered heavy financial loss.

Despite of the law being very clear that women can’t be called to a police station between sunset and sunrise, except in exceptional circumstances, both the girls Shaheen and Renu were summoned to the Palghar police station around 9 p.m.to tender a written apology for their Facebook comments.

In the police station they were never briefed about the possibility of an arrest. “I had never seen the inside of a police station before. An unknown woman even slapped me twice,” said Renu “We haven’t been given a copy of the apology we gave in writing,” said Shaheen.

They were formally arrested on Monday morning on charges of “promoting enmity between classes” and “sending offensive messages through [a] communication service,” under IPC’s sections 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 505(2) IPC (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) and the IT ACT and produced before a court at 3 p.m. and later released on bail on a bond of Rs.15,000.

Sangramsinh Nishandar, Additional Superintendent of Police, Thane Rural, later said “She had not mentioned Balasaheb Thackeray’s name anywhere. But some Shiv Sena supporters who came to know about the post got angry and ransacked the hospital of Dr. Abdul Dhada. On investigation, we withdrew Section 295(A) and booked them under Section 505(2) [of the Indian Penal Code],” he said. Section 505(2) pertains to statements which create or promote enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes.

While the police showed no delay in summoning the two girls to the police station on Sunday night and arresting them on Monday morning, they took their own sweet time to arrest the hoodlums who ransacked the Dhada hospital. The arrests were made only on Tuesday after a public outcry. Furthermore, only 10 of the hooligans have been arrested. Why the delay in nabbing the rioters and why the others are still absconding, people asked.

A case has been registered against 40-50 “unknown persons” under Sections 143, 147, 336, 427, 451 of the Indian Penal Code; Sections 3, 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act and Section 4 of the Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institution (Prevention of Violence, Damage or Loss of Property) Act. But they were soon released on a bail of Rs 7,500 each as surety.

The duo, traumatized after being paraded like anti-nationals by the cops says, local residents haven’t been too kind either, staring and passing comments at them. “What I expressed on the internet was my personal view. But I realized many people were hurt by it. The written apology I gave was for hurting people and not for posting my opinion,” Shaheen told media. “I don’t have an inclination towards any political party. I just want peace and harmony.”

Following public outcry over what has been widely condemned as an attack on the constitutionally guaranteed right of free speech and expression — among others, Press Council of India chairperson Markandey Katju said the arrests were illegal and demanded action against the police.

Katju, in an e-mail to the chief minister of Maharastra Prithviraj Chavan, warned of “legal consequences” if the CM failed to act.”I will deem it that you as CM are unable to run the state in a democratic manner as envisaged by the Constitution to which you have taken oath and then legal consequences will follow”.

He further said “to my mind it is absurd to say that protesting against the bandh hurts religious sentiments. Under Article 19 of our Constitution, freedom of speech is a guaranteed fundamental right. We are living in a democracy, not a fascist dictatorship. In fact, this arrest itself appears to be a criminal act since under sections 341 and 342, it is a crime to wrongfully arrest or wrongfully confine someone who has committed no crime,” he added.

Social media platforms were abuzz with support for the two women and anger against the arbitrary police action. Some reposted Shaheen’s message on their wall and offered to court arrest. Others offered legal aid to Shaheen and Renu.

“People like Thackeray are born and die daily and one should not observe a bandh for that. Shaheen got arrested for posting this. Let’s post this on our wall, and let them arrest us too,” Divya Rajagopal posted on Facebook.

“If anyone knows the girl arrested for posting a comment on Facebook, ask them to contact me! Would love to help them filing a case in SC,” media professional Sumit Nagpal posted on Twitter.

Meanwhile, a national news channel showed a video clipping stating how Palghar Deputy Superintendent of Police Ramdas Shinde tried to appease the Shiv Sena men and promised action even after the girls had apologized for their Facebook comments, though his face was not clearly seen.

“We are registering a case under section 295 A of the IPC and Section 66A of the IT Act. Their family members are here and they are ready to give a written apology. But that doesn’t mean we will not register a case. I will also give you a copy of the apology in 15-20 minutes,” Shinde was seen saying in the video.

“Be rest assured that action will be taken. Please remain calm. An unfortunate incident has taken place. Please don’t give in to incitement. I am with you in your sentiments. Please understand me,” the video showed Shinde as saying.

Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut justified the police action against the girls. “Balasaheb’s death has been a shock to the entire nation. Sainiks showed tremendous restraint in controlling their emotions. The bandh was spontaneous and not forced by the Sena. It was because of love and respect for Balasaheb. Shiv Sainiks were naturally upset at the misuse of the social media to post provocative comments,” he added.

Following the outrage over the girls’ arrest, the state government instituted an enquiry headed by Inspector General (Konkan Range) Sukhvindar Singh. The enquiry report indicted the policemen involved in initiating action and observed that the arrests could have been avoided. It also mentioned that sections applied in the case were not justified and recommended departmental action against the errant.

Thane Superintendent of Police (Rural) Ravindra Sengaonkar and Senior Police Inspector of Palghar police station Srikant Pingale have been suspended, while Deputy Superintendent of Thane (Rural) Samrat Nishandar has been issued with a warning. The judge who promptly granted bail was transferred.

But Shiv Sena was angered by this disciplinary action against police and called for shutdown in Palghar town and a bandh was observed on Wednesday. Commercial establishments, schools and colleges remained shut and there was no vehicular traffic in the town. The Palghar Bar Association had also called for a bandh in the courts to protest the transfer of the judge.

Though Shaheen was not in Palghar on Wednesday during the bandh, members who stayed back in the town got police protection. Shaheen’s uncle Dr. Abdul Dhada whose hospital was vandalized on November 18 soon after she put up her Facebook post, said: “A police van has been stationed outside my hospital and a policeman was asked to accompany me everywhere on Wednesday. Though I am not that afraid about my safety, my family was tensed”.

Rahul Srinivasan, 29, Renu’s older brother, said the family had also been given protection on Wednesday. “A police van was stationed outside our house. My mother was a little shaken by the entire episode. Renu was alarmed because of the presence of an armed policeman in our house. We are simple people and not used to such things,” said Rahul, an employee with a private firm. “We are not afraid for our safety, but life has changed because of this incident.

Before this controversy had not even begun to subside, another youth from the same area faced arrest but he was let off following investigation.

On Wednesday afternoon, a group of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), a split Sena party headed by senior Thackeray’s nephew Raj Thackeray, another fire brand, who quitted Shiv Sena on future leadership quarrel with Thackeray’s son Uddhav, brought Sunil Vishwakarma, 19, a high school dropout who is currently pursuing a computer course, to the local police station claiming he had posted abusive literature against their chief Raj Thackeray as well as the Marathi race.

However, by evening it was clear that a fake account using Vishwakarma’s name had been used to post the abusive content. A senior official said Vishwakarma is now the “complainant since he has been victimized”. Acting SP Anil Kumbhare said a case under section 66 A of the Information Technology act has been registered against unidentified persons and police are now trying to trace the guilty.

As this very section 66 A of IT Act has been vague and become controversial, many agitated to have Guidelines from the law authorities to prevent misuse of it. A 21-year-old Delhi girl Shreya Singhal who graduated from the University of Bristol filed Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of Section 66A of the Information Technology Act. “Someone needs to do something about it,” said she.

“People being arrested for voicing their opinions is a gross violation of their right to free speech guaranteed under the constitution,” Supreme Court asked the AG to appear to reply on Section 66 A.

In the mean time, unable to put behind the ordeal of her illegal detention and arrest thanks to the public attention the case has received, Shaheen left Palghar for Gujarat with her family. “We left for Gujarat on Sunday and have been here ever since. Shaheen wanted some peace and the best option was to leave Palghar. We will return once the dust has settled,” Farooq, 52, her father and a businessman said.

In contrast Renu is back on the social networking site. “I am too tired but determined to fight. I am back on the Facebook and I have posted my latest photo clicked in Delhi on Saturday. All these days I introspected whether I did anything wrong by clicking the ‘like’ button and realised that I don’t regret what I did,” she wrote after logging in. The state home department has asked the police to file a closure report in the case.

The founder-leader of the Shiv Sena mobilized on the basis of ethnicity and religion. He first invoked Maratha pride against the State’s linguistic minorities and then the divisive agenda of Hindutva against religious minorities. The language of hate and, when needed, violence were deployed to generate fear and insecurity, pride and solidarity.

He taught his carders whom to blame for all their miseries: the south Indians, the Gujaratis, and the Muslims who were systematically killed in riots engineered by Sena leaders. Thackeray’s legion of followers raised him to the status of a demigod who could force an entire state to shut down with the mere threat of violence.

Will Mumbai be safe after Bal Thackeray? I do not think so.!

(Exclusive to this Blog)