Over the past five years, various state governments in India have charged hundreds of people with committing the crime of sedition, including cartoonists, activists, and students. Under the stringent National Security Act, authorities can detain someone for up to 12 months and, in a few rare cases, up to two years.
Sahil Lalla, a 21-year-old in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, was arrested under the National Security Act (NSA) for allegedly writing slogans which were against India and posting a “pro-Pakistan” photo on picture-sharing network, Instagram, state police said on Tuesday.
In his Instagram post, Lalla was seen wearing a T-shirt with the Pakistani flag and the word “Jordan” on it.
A Hindu nationalist organisation, Bajrang Dal, filed an official complaint against him.
In a similar incident on Sunday, Madhya Pradesh state police again invoked the Act to charge four people who allegedly shouted “Pakistan Zindabad” (Hail Pakistan) during an event on 19 August.
The NSA allows the federal or state government to detain an individual “with a view to preventing him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the defence of India or the security of India”.
The National Security Act allows the government to hold a person if the authorities are satisfied that he or she is a threat to national security or to prevent him or her from disturbing public order.
Recently, many civil rights activists have maintained that the Act is used these days more to silence those who wish to criticise the government.
Last month, four former Supreme Court judges decried the way laws are being rampantly abused and said that the growing tendency of police to fall back on the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), sedition law or NSA should be controlled by making police accountable for cases, especially those which end up either being discharged or acquitted.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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