Lawfare – 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. On May 22, Tiwari posted on his Facebook page in Hindi, “Gappu, Tadipar, Balatkari, aprakirtik sasanghat walo ko pare kar de to BJP suchmuch dheynisht party hai.” (Loose translation: If it gets rid of braggarts, the externed, rapists, and those who keep unnatural company, then the BJP is truly a party which focuses on its goals.)

The BJP’s Awdhesh Singh Bhadauria first commented on this post, “Tansen Tiwari ji, aaj aap ko jail bhejne ki vyavastha karte hai (Tansen Tiwari, be ready to go jail, we are making the arrangements).” And the following morning, 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.

Soon after the BJP leader’s written complaint was submitted, the Gwalior police booked Tiwari. Heera Singh Chouhan, town inspector of Gola Ka Mandir police station, told The Wire, “Based on the BJP leader’s complaint a case has been registered against Tansen Tiwari on Sunday under section 294, 500 of the IPC and section 67 of the IT Act for a Facebook post.”

Section 294 of the IPC pertains to public acts of obscenity (‘Whoever, sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place’), 500 is (defamation) and Section 67 of IT Act relates to publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form). The police say they are now probing the matter, and that no arrest has been made yet.