New Delhi : Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi, on Monday tweeted that condemning the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) invoked by the Tripura Police against 102 people, including journalists, for reporting and writing on the recent communal violence in the state.
Four Supreme Court Lawyers have been booked by the Tripura Police who had expressed discontent over incidents of violence and vandalism against Muslim-owned houses and shops, under the UAPA.
Gandhi on Monday wrote that ‘Tripura is burning’ is a call for corrective action and criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying that their “favourite cover-up tactic is shooting the messenger”.
“Truth can’t be silenced by UAPA,” he added.
Pointing out that #Tripura_Is_Burning is a call for corrective action. But BJP’s favourite cover-up tactic is shooting the messenger.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 8, 2021
Truth can’t be silenced by #UAPA.
Gandhi appeared to be referring to the case of one of the journalists, Shyam Meera Singh, who has alleged that he has been booked under the UAPA for merely tweeting “Tripura is burning”.
Earlier, the Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Sunday had issued a statement saying that it was “deeply shocked” by the Tripura Police’s action of invoking the UAPA, saying that there has been an “extremely disturbing trend” of using this “harsh law” for merely reporting on and protesting against communal violence.
“The Guild is of the opinion that this is an attempt by the state government to deflect attention away from its own failure to control majoritarian violence, as well as to take action against the perpetrators of this. Governments cannot use stringent laws like UAPA to suppress reporting on such incidents,” a release from the EGI said.
Last week, Gandhi had alleged that Muslims were being attacked in Tripura and asked how long the government would pretend to be deaf and blind.
Gandhi on Thursday tweeted in Hindi: “Our Muslim brothers are being brutalised in Tripura. Those who perpetrate hatred and violence in the name of Hindus are not Hindus but hypocrites.”
Using the hashtag “#TripuraRiots”, he asked, “How long will the government keep pretending to be blind and deaf?”
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