Paresh Rawal tweeting Arundhati Roy should be tied to Army jeep is plain inflammatory
Recently, India has witnessed a spate of lynchings and mob violence where people have delivered their own version of "justice" on the slightest rumours. From Pehlu Khan's lynching in Rajasthan over rumours of cow slaughter to the recent Jharkhand lynchings on rumours of the victims being child-lifters, mob mentality has become the norm in the country.
The ruling establishment has mostly remained slilent on these ghastly acts of violence, making the perpetrators believe the law will never catch up with them. It seems we have turned into a mobocracy. The situation has deterioted so much that even parliamentarians are calling for violence against public figures on public platforms.
National-award winning actor, BJP leader and member of the Lok Sabha Paresh Rawal has called for Booker-prize winning author Arundhati Roy to be tied to an Army jeep, instead of a stone-pelter.
Instead of tying stone pelter on the army jeep tie Arundhati Roy !
— Paresh Rawal (@SirPareshRawal) May 21, 2017
This comes in the wake of the "human shield" episode last month where a young Kashmiri man was tied to an Army jeep and paraded around several villages in the Valley as an apparent warning to protesters.
As if calling for violence on a public platform against a public figure wasn't enough, the BJP MP from Ahmedabad East constutuency stooped to a further low. The actor re-tweeted a tweet by another abusive troll which said that if Roy wasn't available, senior journalist Sagarika Ghose could be tied to a jeep.
To this, Rawal added his two bits: "We have a wide variety of choices."
This is a parliamentarian inciting mob violence against two eminent women figures, on a public platform. Many Twitter users pointed out that the actor's tweets are akin to hate speech and incitement to violence - a punishable offence under law.
As one user pointed out: "A ruling party MP wants to use an author as a human shield in conflict. And then we worry about lynchings and mob rule."
A member of parliament, a lawmaker inciting lynch mobs?A theatre artist & film actor exhorting violence against an author! Shame on you. https://t.co/AysMEMOKda
— Rakesh Sharma (@rakeshfilm) May 22, 2017
@SirPareshRawal Am deeply moved by your empathy that brings every character to life in movies. But I'm shocked by your ability to be so violent with words!
— Priyanka Borpujari (@Pri_Borpujari) May 21, 2017
@PrashantKrPawan @SirPareshRawal You do know that this tweet could get u behind bars for incitement to violence.
— Priyanka Borpujari (@Pri_Borpujari) May 22, 2017
Technically @SirPareshRawal is a lawmaker in the parliament of The Democratic Republic of India. pic.twitter.com/SVtLgA3bl3
— thakursahab (@65thakursahab) May 22, 2017
Fantasies of violence against women are the surest sign of cowardice.And of cow-ards we have no lack. https://t.co/zfBDPF4u60
— Omair Ahmad (@OmairTAhmad) May 21, 2017
That is an incitement to violence. Probably actionable criminally https://t.co/hySdkiLf3K
— SANJAY HEGDE (@sanjayuvacha) May 21, 2017
Nope @SirPareshRawal . This level of trolling doesn't suit your stature. Regardless of your emotions attached with the issue. IMHO. https://t.co/VCGygIzV8Q
— Yashwant Deshmukh (@YRDeshmukh) May 22, 2017
This is Hindutva in its pristine elements. An actor-parliamentarian proudly and publicly ignorant, bigoted & unconstitutional. https://t.co/MAbMSBZ4oK
— Rohin Dharmakumar (@r0h1n) May 22, 2017
Rajnath Singh recently announced that they will find a permanent solution to the Kashmir problem. Now we know what he meant.#BunchOfJokers pic.twitter.com/jEPw3OETxo
— Sanjiv Bhatt (IPS) (@sanjivbhatt) May 22, 2017
A ruling party MP wants to use an author as a human shield in conflict. And then we worry about lynchings and mob rule. https://t.co/sM8sx2yW9E
— Shoaib Daniyal (@ShoaibDaniyal) May 22, 2017
"Shame" & all are loaded words. Stick to IPC which doesn't exempt MPs. It's incitement to violence on a fellow Indian you disagrees with https://t.co/sjSP3UVNfJ
— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) May 22, 2017
Paresh Rawal is helping bring Arundhati Roy back in headlines on the eve of the publication of her second novel in 20 years.
— Shivam Vij (@DilliDurAst) May 22, 2017Liberals hoping PM Modi would censure Paresh Rawal would do well to remember the actor's famous line: Jo chacha hai, wahi bhatija hai.
— Aditya Menon (@AdityaMenon22) May 22, 2017Paresh Rawal should ignore Arundhati Roy. She feeds off India-bashing. Saying a politically incorrect thing to her is giving her victim-ammo
— Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) May 22, 2017And this is a verified official account of Paresh Rawal? He is openly calling for violence against a women.. he even beats Kher in bigotry pic.twitter.com/ESZFkC5lBn
— Stuti Mishra (@StuteeMishra) May 21, 2017Mr. Rawal is only one in many #misogynist #bhakts who cant stand assertive #women with independent opinions. #BollywoodCrawling https://t.co/SPXcegoV3h
— Neha Dixit (@nehadixit123) May 22, 2017If we need to hear from a**holes, we can just fart—why do we have to pay for them to be in Parliament? https://t.co/mYEeeIhb0T
— Praveen Swami (@praveenswami) May 22, 2017Another one of @TwitterIndia 's premium customers on #HateAsYouPay modeland therefore immune from @Support 's rules. Be proud @Raheelk ???????? pic.twitter.com/lWAqvYnVCw
— The Last Caveman (@CarDroidusMax) May 22, 2017@DilliDurAst Book promotion in 2017 pic.twitter.com/nRmyvfd0ib
— Raghu Karnad (@rkarnad) May 22, 2017and this worthy gent is a member of parliament from Ahmedabad and the ruling party! Jai ho! https://t.co/Wa6wGDmjJF
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) May 22, 2017