The French philosopher Montesquieu said, “There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.”
The arrest of the Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV Arnab Goswami, is reminiscent of the infamous emergency that was unconstitutionally imposed by Indira Gandhi in 1975.
The emergency lasted for 21 months and during this time, citizens of India were stripped of their freedom, and untold atrocities were committed by the state. It was the first time since Independence that our sacred rights as citizens of India were molested by the dictator.
Now, it is Uddhav Thackeray who has emerged as the demon that is wreaking havoc. The use of state machinery to stifle freedom of speech and using excessive force to take Arnab Goswami into custody is giving the feelers of Indira’s emergency to the generation that did not experience it.
Arresting a senior journalist on a charge which was closed by the police two years ago is ludicrous and at the same time shows the extent to which Uddhav Thackeray and his boss lady Antonio Maino can go.
For the uninitiated, Arnab Goswami has been arrested by Maharashtra Police in connection with a 2018 murder-suicide case of interior designer Anvay Naik.
As per the suicide note, Naik was driven to suicide due to the non-payment of dues from Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV.
After, investigation, the police did not find any evidence against Goswami in abatement to suicide and also discovered that Naik was in heavy debt and was struggling to repay money to contractors, hence the police decided to close the case.
However, this case was reopened in May 2020 after Anvay’s daughter Adnya had approached the Home Minister of Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh. This seems to be like a deliberate attempt to instigate the family to reopen the case so that it becomes convenient for the Sonia Sena government to go after Arnab.
The live footage of Goswami being dragged from his home by police who came with assault weapons as if it was a counter-terrorism operation is nothing but a statement being given by the Sonia Sena government through its lapdog Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh to all the nationalists who want to put nation first.
Goswami has been a thorn under the skin of the Uddhav Thackray following the Palghar Sadhu lynching episode and the alleged suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Goswami exposed the incompetency of Uddhav’s administration in handling the pandemic and the Mumbai Police’s blatant disregard for due process of law in handling the Sushant Singh Rajput case.
The Mumbai Police were further humiliated when it charged Republic TV with manipulation of ratings but instead were made to look like a bunch of fools when they could not provide enough evidence.
His relentless broadcast of the alleged incompetency and shoddy investigation of both incidents led to direct confrontation with the Sonia-Pawar-Sena
Bal Thackray who formed the Shiv Sena never took an oath of office when he was the undisputed leader of the Hindu political organisation. However, he was the one who issued the diktat to his elected members of Parliament and members of the State Assembly.
However, Uddhav in his absolute lust for power ditched their alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the post-poll scenario standing as a tall example for the proverb “A man who does not keep his word is no man at all.”
He formed an unholy alliance with INC and NCP to sit on the throne to fulfill his wish. Sadly, this move erased the party’s nationalistic credibility. The party has now hit another sinking ship, the Congress and is now falling into abyss.
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) November 4, 2020
In order to keep his office, Uddhav Thackeray has compromised on all the values his father stood for and got into bed with politicians who do casteist and communal politics.
Bal Thackeray was also known to intimidate his opponent and even the press, but he never dragged a journalist by the collar to jail. Bala Saheb knew how far he could push and where the ‘lakshman rekha’ ends.
Right now, in Maharastra, Uddhav wants everyone to bow before his unquestionable authority. And like during the emergency, the Uddhav plans to spare no one and impose strict censorship of the press who must acquiesce.
Except for BJP politicians and a handful of professional journalists none of the flagbearers of free speech and democracy have cared to condemn the incarceration of Arnab. Worse, the anti-national cabal are celebrating it.
Now the Maharashtra Police will question Goswami and ask him to provide evidence that he had indeed paid Naik all the dues and will then take further action.
However, one thing has become clear – Sonia and her Sena have no respect for democracy, much like her tyrannical mother-in-law. .
Edmund Burke, the Irish statesman, and philosopher said, “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent”.
Today it is Arnab.
Tomorrow it could be any other person who puts nation first.