A blight on the blotter of Mumbai Police

The principle of freedom of speech is one that must be safeguarded in a democracy. It is this principle in India that allowed Balasaheb Thackeray to spread his message of firebrand Hindu populist theories, earning support from those who bought into his inflammatory and divisive rhetoric.

His passing and funeral rites led to the shutdown of Mumbai as business owners and merchants opted to shutter shops rather than risk the wrath of those who followed his extremist path. How ironic then that this principle of freedom of speech is so conveniently ignored with word that two people were arrested in Mumbai for simply asserting on Facebook that the shutdown was not fully warranted — hardly the words of subversion. In this silly case, the poster has been charged, and so too has her friend who simply ‘liked’ it on Facebook.

Really? Have things reached a stage in Mumbai where posting publicly a commonly held belief about the passing of such a divisive figure warrants police action? Do Mumbai Police have nothing better to do than troll through Facebook and arrest those whose comments they do not like? Or do supporters of Shiv Sena have so much power that they can intimidate and hold sway over forces of law and order and good judgement? These charges are a smear on the democratic principles on which India is so proudly founded. They are a blight on the blotter of Mumbai Police. They must be dropped.