The co-director of Netflix’s ‘She’, Avinash Das, has been arrested for sharing a controversial picture of Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah. The photo uploaded in May 2022 featured the former President of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) alongside Pooja Singhal, an Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer arrested in a money laundering case. The now-deleted tweet showed the arrested IAS officer trying to whisper something into the ears of the BJP politician. The picture was reportedly taken a few days before Singhal’s arrest.
Indians Come Forward in Support of Avinash Das
BJP Supporters and other right-wing elements alleged that the picture Avinash Das shared was fake. Still, the citizens pointed out that it was not a good enough reason to detain someone. They voiced thier support and criticised the BJP government for yet another example of the democracy slump in India.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has linked Pooja Singhal in the MGNREGA (Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) fund embezzlement case. The federal agency also raided the premises of Singal and her contacts, arresting one Chartered Accountant named Suman Kumar. ED alleged that Kumar had links with Singhal’s family and acted as her financial advisor. It collected around 19 crore INR in cash after these raids. Having connections with an official accused of money laundering looks terrible on the resume. So, the police arrested Das for showing a picture in which Amit Shah interacted with Singhal. It also filed another case against Das for sharing an image of a woman wearing the national flag. It is considered illegal in India to wear the flag as a garment.
Amit Shah Also Receives Support
Where Avinash Das had the support of the people, BJP’s Amit Shah had the police’s backing. The Gujrat police filed a complaint against Das in June, alleging that he made the post deliberately to tarnish Shah’s image. BJP supporters claimed that Das uploaded an “old picture” when the Union Home Minister was reportedly on a 3-day visit to Jharkhand. He allegedly launched several new schemes, organised the “Garib Kalyan Mela” rally, and distributed LPG connections, so they opined that it was merely a political strategy by his opponents.
Just Modi Government Dealing with Critics
Avinash Das is a vocal critic of the Indian government and the second personality to face arrest over a social media post within 2 months. Previously, Indian journalist and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair was arrested in June 2022 for his 2018 tweet. Zubair posted a meme on the BJP regime by referencing a still from a 1983 comedy movie Kissi Se Na Kehna. The film showed Honeymoon Hotel renamed as Hanuman Hotel but never faced any ban. However, when Zubair used it to make fun of the BJP’s Hindu extremist policies, he was captured and accused of hurting religious sentiments.
The Indian government has been doing the same to all kinds of dissent. The government even banned Sidhu Moose Wala’s posthumously released song called SYL. It supported the cause of Sikh farmers in India and highlighted the highly disputed Sutlej-Yamna Link canal issue.
