Modi govt jails protesters

- Serious allegation made by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen.

-Sen has been constantly criticizing the policies of the government

New Delhi, 29 December 2020 Tuesday

Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen alleged that the Modi government was imprisoning anyone who spoke against it.

Sen said that sometimes in the name of peasant movement, sometimes against the opponents of CAA and NRC, sometimes the Modi government was imprisoning those who spoke about intolerance.

In an e-mailed interview to a news agency, Sen repeatedly lashed out at the Modi government. He said the scope of dissent in the country was dwindling day by day. The Modi government cannot tolerate protests on any issue. If there is any excuse, the government throws the rebellious tone directly in jail. The government was arbitrarily imprisoning him as a traitor. This is a dangerous trend.

Sen claimed that if a person's views are not liked by the government, he is immediately thrown into jail for one reason or another. You see, how many arrests were overturned by the court. Some cases in the name of treason were rejected by the court. This government used any pretext to suppress the insurgency. Whatever ends up in jail by declaring him a terrorist. Dissent or protest is not allowed. Sen expressed the view that the possibilities of disagreement and discussion were decreasing day by day.

He further alleged that the youths like Kanaya Kumar, Shehla Rashid, Umar Khalid etc. were being treated like enemies. This is not a feature of democracy. Umar Khalid was considered the mastermind of the violent riots. The court's verdict is yet to come. He questioned the government's reputation if the court dismissed it.

Opponents of Amartya Sen, however, say that Sen is biased. Had it not been for the protests, Sen himself would not have been able to speak in public.