The Student’s Islamic organization of India (SIO) termed the targeting of social media users by Tripura police under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) as “highly reprehensible” and said that they won’t be silenced by these “strong arm-tactics”.
“@Tripura_Police‘s targetting of social media users that had raised alarm over anti-Muslim violence in the state is highly reprehensible. We won’t be silenced by these strong arm-tactics of the majoritarian state and continue raising our voice against communalism,” the SIO said in a statement.
The statement from SIO comes after The Tripura police have charged 68 Twitter profiles with Section 13 of UAPA for allegedly posting “distorted or objectionable” contents regarding the vandalism of Mosques in the state.
The Tripura police have also asked Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to provide details of over a hundred accounts from which various fake and provocative posts were made in connection with some incidents in Tripura following recent instances of communal violence in Bangladesh.
In a series of tweets, the student organisation said that they stand in solidarity with the individuals targeted by the police and vow to fight back against these slanderous charges. “We will continue demanding justice for Tripura Muslims and action against the culprits. This high-handedness by the police won’t work,” the statement read.
The organisation alleged that the Tripura police failed to perform its duty of protecting the property and livelihood of Muslims, and accused the police of giving a free pass to “right-wing goons”. Instead of taking any stringent action against the rioters, they are hounding innocent social media users, the student body said.
The state police are filing dozens of criminal cases and taking action against more than 70 people including Supreme Court lawyers, activists, and Muslim campaigners.
On November 5, the Tripura police registered a case against four Supreme Court lawyers under UAPA and various sections of IPC. The lawyers had visited the state to investigate the anti-Muslim violence and demanded appropriate police action against the attackers.