State govt violating free speech, lawyers’ team to address issue: BJP

NT Correspondent | NT

Bengaluru: The Karnataka BJP on Sunday reiterated the claim that the Congress government was threatening free speech by going after its critics on social media, adding that they had set up a team of lawyers to help those affected.

It is to be noted that many of the people who are on the receiving end of police action are BJP workers.

Congress on the other hand maintains that they are going after those violating the law of the land. BJP MLC Keshav Prasad said that his party would mobilise lawyers across the state to help those who feel they have been targeted for their social media posts.

“Within 100 days of attaining power, the Congress government has slapped cases against those who are active on social media and other news platforms. Instances of threatening them have also increased. The state BJP unit strongly condemns this. BJP has formed a state-level team of lawyers to look into the matter and provide relief where necessary,” he said.

Back in July, BJP worker Shakuntala was arrested for her comments on the Udupi college case wherein two girl students had recorded their classmate in a restroom as a prank.

The Tumakuru-based worker had asked if Congress would call the incident a prank if the womenfolk of Siddaramaiah’s family had been recorded.

Shakuntala had also been involved in a case of spreading fake news in June when she claimed Muslims were responsible for a train accident in Balasore.

Also in June, a case was registered against a paan shop owner in Gadag for an allegedly crude Facebook post criticizing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the Shakti scheme which gives women of Karnataka the right to travel for free in most government-run buses.

In May, a government school teacher from Chitradurga was suspended over his Facebook post that said that under Siddaramaiah, the state accrued more debt due to his welfare schemes.