Lawfare, Summons/Notices – Journalists

Tansen Tiwari, a veteran journalist from Gwalior district in Madhya Pradesh, has been booked by the police for referring to Bharatiya Janata Party leaders as gappu (braggart) and tadipar (externed) in a social media post on Sunday. The Gwalior police registered the case after a local BJP leader and advocate, Awdhesh Singh Bhadauria, reported the matter to the Gola Ka Mandir police station on his party’s letterhead.

In his compliant, the BJP leader said that on May 22, 66-year-old journalist Tansen Tiwari wrote a post on Facebook which indirectly describes Prime Minister Narendra Modi as ‘gappu’ and other party leaders as ‘tadipar’ and ‘balatkari‘ (rapist), which not only defames the party and its leaders but also hurt the sentiments of party leaders and “crores of members”.

While Tiwari’s post did not name any leader, Modi is sometimes referred to by critics on social media as “gappu” and “feku” – a reference to his extravagant claims – while home minister Amit Shah is called “tadipar” for being externed by the high court from Gujarat as a condition for his bail in the Sohrabuddin-Kausar Bi custodial killing case.