Shaheen Dhada, Renu Srinivasan, Indian Women arrested for hitting 'like' on Facebook

Shaheen Dhada, Renu Srinivasan, Indian Women arrested for hitting ‘like’ on Facebook – Police in Mumbai, India arrested Shaheen Dhada, a 21-year-old college student after her and her friend Renu Srinivasan clicked like on a Facebook status update. The case is the latest in a string of recent crackdowns on Internet speech in India.

The Press Council of India chief Markandey Katju on Monday demanded “immediate” action against police personnel for arresting women in Mumbai.

Police said they had arrested Dhada, for hitting like on a Facebook post criticizing the shutdown of Mumbai after the death of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.

Both girls got bail and left for an undisclosed location. The police said that the two, both 21, were summoned for questioning at 10pm on Sunday, but were unable to explain why the girls were called to the police station after sunset.

This is the latest in a string of crackdowns on Internet speech in the world’s largest democracy.

The Minister of State (Communications and IT) Milind Deora tweeted: “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize ~ Voltaire”.

To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize ~ Voltaire

— Milind Deora (@milinddeora) November 19, 2012

Featured Image from Hindubusinessline.com.

Shaheen Dhada, Renu Srinivasan, Indian Women arrested for hitting ‘like’ on Facebook.

Fatehan Shahid

Aseem saheb, Hun hain kaun? Insan ? ya rajnetaoun ki kathputli ? Hindoostan ka sanvidhan jo ham ko Aazad rahne ka haqu deta hai us ko yeh Nafrat karne wale kaise chheen lete hain! Aur Quanoon Khamosh tamashai bana rahta hai. agar doo jawan bachchiyon se kuch khata ho gaye thi to unko samjhaya ja sakta tha un ko Duniya mein itna mashoor karne ki kiya zaroorat rahi hogi!!!!!! Aaj k aaj yeh dono facebook star ban gayen.
Mandar

There is a time and place for everything. Even exercising freedom of speech. It is insensitive to post against someone whose funeral is on and 2.5 million people are on streets for the same. Imagine if the girls fathers funeral is on and someone says to her why is she sad when thousands die everyday, how would she feel? And if the thing leaked means someone on her friend list on FB must be offended and spread the news of the post. Else how a comment went public?
- Inita
  
  Even if there IS a time and place for everything, was it necessary to arrest them? If the girl’s father’s funeral was on and someone negatively commented on it, what would/could she have done? Been upset/hurt/angry? Would she have had those people thrown in jail? Or even more importantly, could she have done so? It is RIDICULOUS to arrest someone based on their point of view. No matter how you look at it, it is repressing our so-called freedom of speech. After this arrest, how many people will post such things in public? Should we all live in fear now? It is true what she said: “Respect is earned, given, and definitely not forced”. All those people who speak out against their political leader or against social norms and rules (think Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King), in retrospect they are our heroes, they are your heroes. But would YOU have the courage to stand up to your leaders for what you believed in? The girls never challenged anyone, merely voiced their opinion. If that too is to be taken away from us, then we may as well be under an openly totalitarian rule.
  - Mandar
    
    Those who ransacked the hospital are culprits, and no debate on that. They were arrested and court allowed them bail. But consider that even the court had given the girls 14 days custody, and later allowing bail on application.
    
    If you are opposing her arrest means you too are opposing the law of the land. Police and courts did what the law states. Recently a small time businessman was held because he tweeted about the Finance Minister’s son. That too was using the same provisions of the IT Act.
    
    If these girls were living in USA, UK or any part of western world, this would be a non issue. But this is India and there is a certain social fabric. Women and certain castes who were oppressed centuries ago are now given reservations. Which means a person with 35% marks is suitable to construct a traffic bridge or conduct surgery, better than someone who is passout with 85% marks, just because he is of a lower cast or just because she is a woman. Which also means a woman working in an AC office with desk job has right over a reserved seat in public transport over a man who pulls cart for 12 hours under scorching sun.
    
    Hence I still believe there is a time and place for everything, including freedom of speech.
  - Mandar
    
    And yes, maybe you are not aware of this. The political party had categorically given statements in media that they are not calling any shut-down, and had urged essential supplies like milk and vegetables to go ahead with their day to day routine. All the shut down was because of respect and respect only. Does this girl believe that 2.5 million people taking streets for a funeral in a cosmopolitan city like Mumbai is a joke? Or is there any force in India that can threaten 2.5 million people across the state to compulsorily join a funeral? Do you know even the national media from Delhi had to take note of the phenomenon.
    - Dave
      
      It doesn’t matter what they think. Whatever they thought is theirs to think and theirs to say.
      
      Actions by the state like this Put India on the same footing as Pakistan and Afghanistan. The country just deludes itself into thinking they have freedom. You only have freedom if you tote the gender/caste/political lines and do not cross them… Talk about hypocrisy at it’s finest.
wahid girach

well done shahin dhada
Steven Kenniff

If you want freedom of speech, you have to first embrace freedom. I think that India has a way to go, much like America did for the first 100+ years of its democracy too. This may not be a popular arrest, but it takes “mistakes” like this to show people where they need to improve.
J.G.

Cheeecheeecheee!!!!!!….no words to express!! Intolerance comes from fear of losing…cheeecheee!!!
Ashmita

I wish real crimes and offenses were acted upon this fast! India would have nothing to worry about then.Truly sad what happened. My empathy with Shaheen Dhada and Renu.
Dave

More proof that India is flirting with being a democracy in name only and is becomming a sham of a place to live. You either tote the line in your cast, gender, or political roles or society will slam down on you to make sure you do.

Every time this happens freedom in that country diminishes. This is why I refuse to visit that country when my friends go back to visit family etc. I might look at someone the wrong way or say something someone takes offense to and end up being arrested by a corrupt judicial system.
rafiq

Great support by shown the media. However, it would have been good to know what saheens dhadas status message was after the august 11 Azad maidan Riots. That would have been a test of her commitment to free speech or her bias against this leader
Eric

This is a grave abuse of power to suppress free speech – but is not just in India that it is occurring. In Britain, powers keep being extended with which legally to harass people who post on Facebook and Twitter. The current excuse is that the government is trying to prevent comments (about footballers and their wives, recently deceased or otherwise stricken celebrities, and so on) which they claim may be profoundly offensive to other readers. This is a very inadequate excuse. With such powers are in place, future leaders will not be able to resist using them to crack down on dissidents and loudmouths who bring them political embarrassment. If the plight of Nabeel Rajab in Bahrain is anything to go by, then many other nations are keen to follow suit. Beware, world. Your governments are doing what they can to silence you. When that happens, democracy will be dead.

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