Arrest, bail, re-arrest of opposition lawmaker in India for criticizing Modi

New Delhi, Apr 25 (EFE).- A local opposition lawmaker in India was arrested on Monday immediately after being released on bail in a case concerning a tweet critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for which he had been arrested last week.

“Bail has been granted, but surprisingly, one more case has been initiated against him in a nearby district,” Angshuman Bora, the lawyer of state legislator Jignesh Mevani from Gujarat (west), told EFE.

The leader of the Dalits – the lowest in the Hindu caste system – is known for being critical against Modi, also from Gujarat, and is affiliated with the opposition Congress Party led by the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

Mevani had tweeted that the prime minister sees the Hindu fundamentalist Nathuram Godse, the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, “as his god.”

A member of Modi’s party viewed the publication as a call for unrest, in the context of recent cases of violence between the Hindu majority and the Muslim minority during religious celebrations.

The politician from Modi’s BJP lodged a complaint that led to Mevani’s arrest on Wednesday night in Gujarat by the police from Assam, located at the other end of India.

“So magistrate after the going to the records and the judgment of the various High Courts and the Supreme Court, granted bail to Jignesh saying it appears from the tweet that no material prima facie case has been made out,” said the lawyer.

The opposition politician was arrested immediately after the court’s decision, after being charged by a female police officer of “molestation,” something that allegedly occurred while he was being transferred from an airport in Gujarat last week.

His lawyer claimed the cases appeared to be politically motivated, and termed the arrest illegal.

The Dalit leader has in the past criticized the aggression of radical Hindu groups against his community, located in the lowest echelon of the Hindu caste system. EFE

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