Kamlesh Tiwari comments on Prophet Mohammad. He gets booked under the National Security Act. He gets arrested as a threat to the national security of India.
He just made a statement. Police stations were torched by a mob of 2.5 Lakh Muslims in Malda. Yet he was a threat to the national security. Mullahs were offering 51 Lakhs for his beheading in open. Yet, he was a threat to the national security.
If I remember correctly, the Mullah who made an offering of 51 Lakhs wasn’t arrested. Because that would have been Fascism! Secularism put behind bars!
The threat to national security were those Lakhs of goons going on a rampage in Malda. But, Kamlesh Tiwari was arrested because what Kamlesh Tiwari said was portrayed to be provocative.
That’s like arresting a girl for getting molested because some people found her dress provocative.
No one cried free speech, dissent under threat. No one cried Fascism by the UP govt. There was pin-drop silence among the champions of free speech like Kejriwal, Rahul Gandhi, Barkha, Rajdeep, Sagarika, Pratap Bhanu Mehta and other self-proclaimed intellectuals.
Media was forced to pick up the story. Even then, media didn’t debate”Why has Kamlesh Tiwari been arrested under NSA”, but they discussed, “Bhaiya, arrest kar liya hai, Ab dange kyon kar rahe ho? Phansi kyon maang rahe ho?” No one questioned 295A then?
An Editor of an Urdu daily Shirin Dalwi was arrested for publishing Charlie Hebdo cartoons. No one came out in her support. Not even people from the media. Op-eds by Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Sagarika, and others on Charlie Hebdo are great case studies of hypocrisy in their commitment to free speech.
In fact, Pratap Bhanu Mehta wrote :
Sometimes, such attacks are intended to draw attention to double standards. Can a country that bans hijabs stand the ground of free expression? If liberty can be curbed for equality, why not for piety? Suppose we now publish the cartoons, not as an act of disrespect for Islam but as an act of defiance against violence.
Today, suddenly same voices are championing calls for violence in the name of Free Speech.
Kya Free speech mein bhi odd even chal raha hai kya?
Malda mein Maun the! JNU mein ON ho gaye?
Their support for free speech is a Sin Wave. Crest in JNU, Trough in Malda/Charlie Hedbo. What we are seeing is not a principled commitment to free speech but free speech used as a shield for a deeper sinister campaign.
Today, some JNU Students are chanting, “Bharat tere tukde honge, Insha-Allah, Insha-Allah. Afzal hum sharminda hai, tere kaatil zinda hain!”, “Bharat ki barbadi tak yeh jung chalegi.”
These are calls to violence. Does Jinnah’s call for “direct action” qualify as free speech? Would you support that?
No one is shutting JNU down. No one is arresting all students. But how can you support people like Umar Khalid?
It’s a political issue, painted as a free speech one. There is something sinister going on.
Remember Ishrat Jahan was sold as an innocent school girl by Barkha. This time, it is Umar Khalid’s turn, and he too incidentally is a student. If they could paint terrorists as victims, what keeps them from painting an Islamist like Umar Khalid a victim?
Look at their narratives. Ishrat Jahan was Bihar ki Beti. But, when evidences surfaced and she was found a terrorist, these messiahs of humanity changed their goalposts from “innocent girl” to “fake encounter”.
KPS Gill is considered a hero for putting an end to the insurgency in Punjab. Ever seen a campaign against him for fake encounters? Did you ever see the same intellectuals making sure he goes to jail? But the cops who killed Ishrat Jahan went to jail. Why? Because they killed a good terrorist, a terrorist who wanted to kill a person whom the ruling elite of politics, media and the intelligentsia hated.
If you take them to courts, these people sign mercy petitions. When SC orders execution, then you read headlines in the Indian Express like “And They Killed Yakoob!”
Matlab, Agar koi Terrorist mil gaya Hindustan mein. Mazaal hai tum use haath laga kar dikha do. We will make you pay the price. The Police, the IB, even call SC names.
So leave the terrorists alone. Leave the people offering money to behead Kamlesh Tiwari alone. Leave the mobs of rampaging extremists in Malda alone.
If you stand up for Kamlesh Tiwari, you will be called enemies of Muslims. If you touch these students with links to Jaish, you will be accused of saffronizing the universities.
These people promised Fascism, and because they don’t see it coming, they are ensuring that every incident is painted as Fascism. They promised riots, but because we don’t see those happening, they are propping pro-separatist forces to create riot like situation. They won’t mind seeing this country burn for political gains.
IB head Rajender Kumar who was framed by CBI and the puppets of Madam to nail Modi in Ishrat Jahan encounter said, “26/11 could have been averted had the then regime not targeted IB!”
“I hate India” is free Speech. “Bharat ke tukde honge, Khoon bahega, Afzal niklenge” is a threat of violence. If we don’t draw a line between the two concepts, we’re helping them draw a new line on the map. And remember the mayhem when a new line created. The last time it was drawn in 47!
It’s a dangerous game being played in the garb of supporting free speech at JNU. The irony is, threats to the national security are treated as victims, and victims like Kamlesh Tiwari are treated as a threat to the national security.
(adapted from Nitin Gupta’s Facebook post)
