Talking about Jayalalithaa's health can be dangerous in Tamil Nadu
Statutory warning: Discussing or worse, gossiping about Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa's health could be injurious to your freedom and well-being.
Airports, railway stations, ports and bus stands may well display this advice, given the enthusiasm with which the Tamil Nadu police and its cyber wing is arresting people.
So far eight persons have been arrested, with over 55 cases booked for gossiping online and offline about the CM's health status.
The latest FIR has been filed against social activist KR Ramaswamy, more popularly known as "Traffic" Ramaswamy, in Chennai following a complaint by another activist KK Swamy and an AIADMK worker who alleged that the 82-year-old was spreading rumours about Jayalalithaa's health.
Swamy, in his complaint has accused Ramaswamy of sharing videos with the "criminal intent of creating panic among the public and instigate violence against police and judiciary".
Ramaswamy and the political class have never quite seen eye to eye. He is known for his PILs and even tearing down political banners and hoardings if they are seen obstructing traffic and pavements.
He went to Madras High Court asking that the government release details of Jayalalithaa's illness. But the court threw it out, dismissing it as a "Publicity Interest Litigation".
The result is that after a few days of medical bulletins issued by Apollo Hospitals, there was radio silence from October 10 to 20. Little surprise that rumours have once again taken over the street.
It was on the evening of October 21 that a bulletin was put out that significantly said, "The chief minister is interacting and progressing gradually."
While some of the early arrests had to do with mischievous posts put up on social media platforms, mainly Facebook and WhatsApp, the last two arrests and the FIR against Ramaswamy has shocked Tamil Nadu.
This week, a 28-year-old grocery shop owner Sagayam was arrested from Tuticorin, on charges of having posted something on Jayalalithaa's health on Facebook. The content was not revealed even as he was picked up at night by the police from his home.
On October 13, two Canara bank employees in Coimbatore were arrested and sent to judicial custody following a complaint by an AIADMK activist who claimed they gossiped about the CM's health status and intimidated her when she objected. Local newspapers reported this occurred even as CCTV images did not show anything to substantiate the complaint.
The fact that relatives of the bank employees also aren't reportedly coming forward to protest about them, shows the extent of the fear factor in Tamil Nadu.
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| Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa. (Photo credit: PTI) |
The AIADMK IT wing which monitors all forms of social media to check on anything negative being written or reported about Jayalalithaa's health quickly informs the cyber cell which acts on the complaint.
Most of them are arrested under Section 505 of the Indian Penal Code, which accuses a person of making "statements conducing to public mischief".
But clearly different members of the judiciary interpret the law and the situation differently. Proof of that is in how the National Human Rights Commission has a different take from the Madras HC.
Reacting to what is being seen as police overzealousness in arresting people over Jayalalithaa's health issue; the NHRC has said that people have the right to ask questions.
Incidentally, the NHRC is headed by former Supreme Court chief justice HL Dattu.
Which indeed is the correct position. Jayalalithaa is an individual entitled to her privacy but she is also Tamil Nadu's CM and it is but natural for people of her state to be curious about her health status.
It is in fact, extremely irresponsible on part of the government and the hospital not to issue medical bulletins despite instructions from the governor of Tamil Nadu. It is this vacuum of credible information that has pushed two emotionally distraught AIADMK cadres to commit suicide.
The AIADMK spokespersons have defended this sort of a crackdown to ensure no one says anything untruthful about the leader. But then they ought to realise that it is the truth the public is seeking, in the absence of which half-truths obviously take over.
The irony is that even the party spokespersons have not been let inside the Apollo Hospitals gate and much of what they are saying on TV cameras is public posturing sans authentic information from inside the critical care unit.
Not that Tamil Nadu is not used to the long arm of the law being used liberally. Defamation cases against political rivals and the media - over 200 of them filed since 2011 - are routine in the AIADMK regime. But the common man being hounded with cases is only ensuring Tamil Nadu is in a state of fear.
Even the Tamil Nadu government behaves in a manner no administration in India does. Jayalalithaa is present in the form of a photograph at every meeting addressed by a minister or a bureaucrat.
Even the cabinet meeting was presided over by O Panneerselvam only in name. All decisions were taken in the presence of Jayalalithaa's photograph.