Tripura violence: Cong, CPI(M) condemn police action against lawyers, others
On October 26, violence erupted in the state's Panisagar town, where a mosque, a few houses and shops were reportedly vandalised by activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
Opposition parties on Sunday condemned the Tripura Police for acting against 102 people over their social media posts on alleged communal violence in the state. These people, which included journalists, rights activists, have been booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) along with criminal conspiracy and forgery charges.
Earlier the police registered a case against four Supreme Court lawyers under the UAPA and several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), for allegedly promoting communal disharmony with their social media posts on the recent violence targeting Muslims.
Notices were also served to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to freeze all such accounts.
Also Read| Tripura police book 102 social media accounts under UAPA after violence
The Congress on Sunday demanded the withdrawal of cases against all those who were booked for allegedly trying to "spread communal disharmony".
“The mosque at Panisagar was attacked by activists of VHP and houses of minority communities were vandalised by them... they should be arrested first. I do not think the lawyers, who visited the state, came with any bad intentions and did not spread any communal hatred," Tripura Congress president Birajit Sinha told news agency PTI on Sunday
On October 26, violence erupted in the state's Panisagar town, where a mosque, a few houses and shops were reportedly vandalised by activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The incident occurred during the VHP's rally on October 26 to protest against communal violence in Bangladesh.
Four people were arrested and the police claimed that no mosque was burnt and the images shown were not from Tripura, Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday.
A Delhi-based lawyer was booked under the UAPA on Wednesday for allegedly sharing fake details on social media concerning the incident. This move came hours after 71 people were booked over alleged fake and provocative social media posts regarding communal violence in the state.
In a statement, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M) said on Sunday that when lawyers visited the state as fact-finders into the violence, cases were filed against them. "If they (lawyers) had done any illegal activity then normal law was enough to take actions against them, but applying such stringent acts (as the UAPA) against them is an instance of intolerance”, the statement added.
The Tripura police, meanwhile, said that action taken against the 102 people and the Supreme Court lawyers did not mean that they were guilty. "If those people have not said anything false or had no intention of spreading communal hatred or hatching any conspiracy, they should appear before the police and clarify their position”, Inspector general of police (law and order) Arindam Nath told PTI on Sunday.
(With PTI inputs)
