‘India run by Modi Penal Code’: Opposition criticises arrests made after posters against PM

Opposition leaders on Saturday scorned at the Narendra Modi government for arresting people who allegedly pasted posters critical of the prime minister’s Covid vaccination policy.

The Congress demanded to know the legal basis for the action, while the Trinamool Congress wondered why the government was cracking down on citizens for asking a “perfectly valid question”.

The controversy erupted earlier this week, when posters mocking Modi for exporting vaccines without thinking about domestic demand were spotted in Delhi. “Modi ji humare bachon ka vaccine videsh kyon bhej diya? [Why did you send our children’s vaccines abroad?]” the posters read.

Authorities of all the districts of the Capital were alerted and as many as 17 first information reports were registered under relevant sections of the Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, Delhi Disaster Management Act and the Indian Penal Code. On Saturday, the police arrested multiple persons in connection with the matter.

The move has angered Modi’s opponents, who accused his government of stifling free speech.

“Putting up critical posters against PM is now a crime?” wrote Congress leader Jairam Ramesh. “Is India run by the Modi Penal Code now?”

The Congress leader also wondered if the Delhi Police was “so jobless in the middle of a raging pandemic” that it…

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