[On Sunday, the police
in Palghar, in Thane district, on the outskirts of Mumbai, arrested Shaheen
Dhadha after she posted a status update on Facebook that questioned the
shutdown, also known as a bandh. A local daily, the Mumbai Mirror, reported
that Ms. Dhadha, 21, had written, "People like Thackeray are born and die
daily and one should not observe a bandh for that." The police also
arrested her friend who "liked" the post, whom NDTV identified
by her first name, Renu.]
By Neha
Thirani And Hari Kumar
 |
| Image courtesy: The Hindu |
MUMBAI- For over 30 hours following the death of the Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray on Saturday, stores throughout Mumbai closed their shutters and taxis and autorickshaws stayed off the streets. While analysts throughout Mumbai debated whether the citywide shutdown following the death of Mr. Thackeray was inspired by fear or respect, one 21-year-old woman and her friend were arrested for raising a similar question.
On Sunday, the police
in Palghar, in Thane district, on the outskirts of Mumbai, arrested Shaheen
Dhadha after she posted a status update on Facebook that questioned the
shutdown, also known as a bandh. A local daily, the Mumbai Mirror, reported
that Ms. Dhadha, 21, had written, "People like Thackeray are born and die
daily and one should not observe a bandh for that." The police also
arrested her friend who "liked" the post, whom NDTV identified
by her first name, Renu.
The women were
arrested under Section 505 of the Indian Penal Code for "statements
creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill will between classes." Srikant
Pingle, station house in charge of the Palghar police, told India Ink that the
local Shiv Sena chief, whom he identified as "Mr. Bhushan," filed the
complaint against Ms. Dhadha because her comment on Facebook hurt Shiv Sena's
sentiments. Mr. Pingle declined to comment further on the details of the
arrests.
Sudhir Gupta, the
defense counsel for the two women, told NDTV, "Their posts don't incite
violence. It can't be said they have made any derogatory remarks. They don't
belong to any political ideology."
In a phone
conversation with India Ink, a police officer of the Palghar station, who
identified himself only as Gavali, said that the arrest took place on Sunday
night and that the pair had been taken to court on Monday.
The two women, who
were sentenced to 14 days in jail by the court, received bail after a bond of
15,000 rupees ($270) was paid, reported
NDTV.
The Times of India reported
that a mob of 2,000 Shiv Sena workers vandalized her uncle's orthopedic clinic
in Palghar. Repeated calls made to the Dhada orthopedic hospital in Thane went
unanswered, while Harshal Pradhan, a Shiv Sena spokesman, said that he was unaware
of the incident.
A police officer at
the Palghar Police Station, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that no
one has been arrested in the attack on the clinic.
Pranesh Prakash,
program manager with the Center for Internet and Society, said the arrests of
the two women were a violation of free speech and the misapplication of the
law. "There were thousands of people on Facebook, Twitter and in person
who were saying the exact same kinds of things that this girl is alleged to
have said," said Mr. Prakash. "And the fact that only she and one
other person who liked that comment have been arrested shows a clear
arbitrariness in the application of the law."
In an
open letter addressed to the chief minister of Maharashtra, the former
Supreme Court Judge Markandey Katju defended the two women, saying, "To my
mind it is absurd to say that protesting against a bandh hurts religious
sentiments." He further said that the arrest appears to be a criminal act
as it is a crime to wrongfully arrest or wrongfully confine someone who has
committed no crime.
On social networking
sites, people came out in support of Ms. Dhadha and her friend. The Facebook
group "Ban
Shiv Sena" had about 36,400 "likes" as of Monday afternoon,
while the party's
official Facebook page had just under 2,700. On Twitter, several commenters
expressed solidarity with the two women, including Milind Deora, the government
minister of state, communications and information technology, who said,
"To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to
criticize ~ Voltaire."
In Maharashtra, Shiv
Sena has a history of banning books, movies and other popular culture that are
critical of the political party. In 2010, Rohinton Mistry's book, "Such a
Long Journey," was withdrawn
from the syllabus of Mumbai University after Shiv Sena officials complained
that the book insulted Bal Thackeray. Ironically, in a
January 2007 interview with Shekhar Gupta, the editor in chief of The
Indian Express, Mr. Thackeray said that what differentiated him from the mafia
is that journalists and others were free to disagree with him and criticize
him.
@ The New York Times
[The president’s provocative statement came shortly after Afghan and American officials began negotiating a bilateral security agreementthat is intended to define the U.S. military role in Afghanistan after most combat troops leave the country in 2014. ]
KABUL
—Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered his aides to institute the “full
Afghanization” of the
U.S.-run prison at Bagram Air Base, charging that American forces are
continuing to detain Afghans despite a
bilateral agreement in March to transfer all prisoners to Afghan
authorities.
In
a statement tweeted in Pashto language from the presidential palace late Sunday
after Karzai met with his top security officials, the president complained that
some prisoners ordered released by Afghan courts are still being held by U.S.
forces.
"These
acts are completely against the agreement that has been signed between
Afghanistan and the U.S. president," the statement said.
It
said the Afghan defense minister, the attorney general and the Afghan national
police general in charge of Bagram prison should "take all required
actions for full Afghanization of Bagram prison affairs and its complete
transfer of authority to Afghans."
No
date or timeframe for the takeover was mentioned in the statement, but Afghan
officials said that a two-month grace period had now ended for the Obama
administration to find an alternative to detaining prisoners without trial.
The
president’s provocative statement came shortly after Afghan
and American officials began negotiating a bilateral security agreement
that is intended to define the U.S. military role in Afghanistan after most
combat troops leave the country in 2014.
There
was no immediate reaction from U.S. officials here, but several Afghan
observers said Monday that Karzai was trying to put public pressure on the U.S.
so it would make more concessions to him in the final security agreement, while
also trying to show his nationalistic credentials to his domestic audience.
“This
agreement is more important for us than for the United States, but some of the
president’s comments make it more difficult,” said Khalid Pashtoon, a lawmaker
from Kandahar who has been promoting the bilateral agreement. He said Karzai
basically favors a comprehensive, solid security accord, but that he wants to
exact as many conditions as he can during the negotiating process.
Daoud
Sultanzoi, a former lawmaker from Ghazni, offered a similar assessment, saying
Karzai “wants to prove he’s a patriot,” and that he is convinced the United
States needs to remain in Afghanistan for its own interests, thus allowing him
to press for more concessions.
The
two governments signed a broad strategic partnership accord in May that
included the detainee transfer agreement, but U.S. officials have resisted
handing over prisons under their control, partly because they do not believe
Afghans are ready to assume the responsibility for running them.
Afghan
and U.S. officials have also disagreed on the issue of detention without trial.
Washington wants the Afghan government to continue holding certain prisoners it
views as dangerous, even if there is not enough evidence to try them.
Aimal
Faizi, the chief spokesman for Karzai, told reporters Monday that detention
without trial is illegal in Afghanistan, and that there are more than 50 Afghan
prisoners still being held in U.S. custody at Bagram, about 40 miles northeast
of Kabul, even though they have been ordered released by Afghan courts.
One
Afghan analyst said Monday that Afghan courts had released a number of
prisoners in the past several years who had been later linked to Taliban
activities or terror attacks.
Karzai
has raised several other objections that could potentially undermine the
current negotiations or the entire bilateral agreement on the U.S. security
role after 2014. He opposes giving U.S. forces immunity from Afghan prosecution
if they kill Afghan citizens, which will be a critical issue in the talks now
underway.
Afghan
and American officials have agreed the negotiations can take up to a year. For
the United States, it is especially important to avoid a repeat of its exit
from Iraq, in which the two countries were unable to agree on the rules that
would have allowed a small U.S. military assistance force to remain after
combat ended.
In
Afghanistan, both U.S. and Afghan military officials have said they would like
to see an American force of up to 20,000 remain in place after most American
troops here withdraw, in order to shore up the Afghan army and security forces
with training, logistical support and special operations.
