New Delhi: Condemning the witch-hunt of Journalists, Twitter users on Monday started a campaign on the micro-blogging site demanding the release of Journalist Prashant Kanojia.
The campaign that started at 4 pm on Monday, soon caught the pace and #ReleasePrashantKanojia was one of the top three trending topics on Twitter India at the time of posting this report, with over 20,000 tweets in less than two hours.
Journalist Prashant Kanojia was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police on August 18 from his residence in Delhi in connection with a tweet that he posted from his Twitter account.
“There were five-six people. Only one of them was in uniform. The rest were in civil clothes. At first, they gave us no reason as to why he was being arrested, except to say that orders had come from above.” Prashant’s wife Jagisha Arora had said after his arrest.
The FIR alleges that Kanojia had tweeted a morphed Facebook post by Sushil Tiwari of the Hindu Army, with the intent of defaming the latter.
The FIR notes that Kanojia’s tweet was objectionable and could have resulted in disturbing communal harmony, create tension between different communities, and hurt religious feelings, which can threaten law and order.
His wife Arora, however, had said, “He had not tweeted this at all. Someone edited that image to make it look so. I am 100 percent sure that he has not tweeted anything of the sort.”
This isn’t the first time Kanojia has had run-ins with the law. Earlier this year, an FIR was filed against him for making “objectionable remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on social media.
Several top political leaders and activists including Jignesh Mevani, Swara Bhasker and others tweeted in support of the campaign and demanded his release.
Here are some of the tweets from Monday’s campaign that demanded Kanojia’s release.
NOTE: The claims made in the tweets embedded below or the ideas presented in them are those solely of the users. Vartha Bharati does not guarantee the authenticity of any of the claims or does not necessarily endorse, support the ideas, views posted by any of the users.
Prashant Kanojia has been arrested twice in two years by the same UP Police. It simply indicates that the brahmanical nexus of state- police is hellbent to take 'revenge' from bahujans who question them.#ReleasePrashantKanojia
— Jignesh Mevani (@jigneshmevani80) September 28, 2020
#PrashantKanojia is in jail for a tweet.. that did no harm.. meanwhile @KapilMishra_IND ............ ??♀️??♀️??♀️??♀️ #NewIndia #ReleasePrashantKanojia https://t.co/6OGloLWmbb
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) September 28, 2020
UP is the worst state in India where journalists are arrested for dissent. I stand with Prashant Kanojia and demand #ReleasePrashantKanojia
— پربھا (@deepsealioness) September 28, 2020
Rise in rage against the attack on dissent. The Modi- Yogi duo wants to establish an authoritarian rule. But we shall stand fiercely upholding our Constitution!
— AISA Delhi (@aisa_delhi) September 28, 2020
Shame on UP police!!#ReleasePrashantKanojia
Prashant Kanojia's Partner Appeals For Twitter Trend To Demand Journalist's Release
— Indias Muslims (@IndiasMuslims) September 28, 2020
Jagisha Arora said in a video that @PJkanojia was arrested for standing up to the government and speaking up for women, Dalits and Muslims#ReleasePrashantKanojia https://t.co/pRNbtDn56j
We stand in solidarity with Prashant Kanojia. He has been targeted for speaking out against this system, for speaking against the power.
— Power of Socialism (@PoS__community) September 28, 2020
Targeting of dissenting voices has been the method of this authoritarian government.#ReleasePrashantKanojia ✋✋@PoS__community ? pic.twitter.com/AHEMQuJDo1
Constitution gave us the space to exercise freedom of speech. Then why has it become a crime under Modi-Yogi regime? Free Prashant Kanojia! Free all political prisoners!#ReleasePrashantKanojia
— Damni Kain (@DamniKain) September 28, 2020
Prashant Kanojia has been arrested twice in two years by the same UP Police. It simply indicates that the brahmanical nexus of state- police is hellbent to take 'revenge' from bahujans who question them.#ReleasePrashantKanojia
— Jagisha Arora (@jagishaarora) September 28, 2020
Stop attacking Dalit Intellectuals, Activists, Journalists and Lawyers. #ReleasePrashantKanojia
— Hritik #DalitLivesMatter (@Rittikated) September 28, 2020
Journalist @PJkanojia is the voice of Bahujans. His arrest is a targetted attack on Bahujan activism. Anti-caste activists are hated by Left, Right & Centre, hence there's hardly any voice in support of him.
— Deepika Singh (@Deepika_Theias) September 28, 2020
Stop harrassing anti-caste activists and #ReleasePrashantKanojia.
Babasaheb is behind us and we will surely win. Jai bhim.#ReleasePrashantKanojia pic.twitter.com/y4vwrqkgUb
— dimple yadav (@dimpleydv_) September 28, 2020
We need to speak today for a great
— Saira Ambedkar (घर में रहें-सुरक्षित रहें) (@SairaAmbedkar) September 28, 2020
voice that always raised against wrong.#ReleasePrashantKanojia pic.twitter.com/uOO4Gkss1J
Prashant bhai always spoke for us.
— Buffalo Intellectual ? (@BuffaloSpeaks) September 28, 2020
He spoke against caste atrocities,
for Muslims, for women & against Fascists.
Now its time for us to speak for him!! Stand with him!
Twitter storm- #ReleasePrashantKanojia
Journalist @PJkanojia is languishing in jail because
— Shahid (@Shahid_Naim007) September 28, 2020
1. He Fights for Truth
2. He stands against atrocities
3. He speaks up for weak
4. He is fearless
5. He asks tough questions to goverment
Yes we all say aloud #ReleasePrashantKanojia pic.twitter.com/9steLKeV59
Over 300 #Journalists, writers & activists have signed a public statement condemning journalist @PJkanojia arrest by the UP police
— Tanya Yadav (@TanyaYadav128) September 28, 2020
~ via @roshan_b
#ReleasePrashantKanojia
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Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
