Woman held for shouting slogans against Centre in aircraft
Thoothukudi (Tamil Nadu), Sep 3 : A young woman who shouted slogans against the "fascist" Modi government in an aircraft in the presence of Tamil Nadu BJP President Tamilisai Soundararajan was on Monday arrested when the plane landed here.
Sophia (25), who is said to be pursuing research in Canada, was returning home and was seated behind Soundararajan's third row seat. Suddenly she got up and shouted slogans against the BJP and the "fascist" government at the Centre, creating a flutter in the aircraft.
On landing here, the BJP leader got into a verbal duel with the student and lodged a complaint with the police who arrested her.
Soundararajan later told the media that the girl student rose in a "menacing" manner against her and felt there was a threat to her life in the manner in which she protested.
"She is not an ordinary person," the BJP leader said, adding she suspected her "background" and that there must be some "organisation" behind her protest which should be probed.
Leaders of various political parties including the CPI-M, CPI and PMK criticized the police "high handedness" and demanded the woman's immediate release.
They also said Soundararajan should have handled the issue in a mature manner without resorting to gimmicks. The incident only showed that young people in the country were angry with the Central government, they said.
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Karnataka Assembly passes hate speech bill amid din
Belagavi (Karnataka), Dec 18 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed a bill against hate speech amid a din.
The Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill, the first such law in the country, has a provision for a jail term up to seven years and fine up to Rs one lakh.
It was passed amid din by the BJP MLAs.
The bill, cleared by the cabinet on December 4, was presented in the House by Home Minister G Parameshwara on December 10.
The Minister said the provision for 10 years jail term in the event of repeated offence has been reduced to seven years.
According to the bill, any expression, which is made, published or circulated in words either spoken or written or by signs or by visible representations or through electronic communication or otherwise, in public view, with an intention to cause injury, disharmony or feelings of enmity or hatred or ill-will against person alive or dead, class or group of persons or community, to meet any prejudicial interest, is hate speech.
During the discussion, Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh said coastal Karnataka is "burning" due to hate speech and hate crime.
BJP MLAs from the region raised objections to this and then trooped into the well of the house. Other BJP legislators followed them.
Later, the bill was passed.
