After the consecration of the Ram Mandir on 22 Jan, in Panjab, Hindutva groups have targeted the Left and the Rationalists. (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 4, Story 1). There have been five cases so far against those who talked about Lord Ram on social media without deifying him, filed against Section 295 and 295A of the Indian Penal Code as ‘deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.’ On 19 Jan, president of the Tarksheel (Rationalist) Society Surjit Dhaudar was booked in a complaint by Shiv Sena (Panjab) president Rajiv Tandon. Bhartiya Kissan Union (Indian Farmers Union, Ekta Ugrahan) raised its voice against the charges. In another development, social media influencer Bhana Sidhu, critical of CM Bhagwant Mann and known to recover peoples’ money from fake immigration agents, was arrested on what seemed like a fabricated case of demanding a $120 bribe from a travel agent. He was allegedly tortured by police. As soon as he got bail, a person from Ludhiana claimed Sidhu stole his chain, and there was an additional case of him using a caste slur against a police official. Sidhu is supposed to be a close aide to social activist Lakha Sidhana, and close to slain singer Sidhu Moosewala. On 29 Jan a big crowd gathered at village Kot Dhunna in Barnala, protesting his arrest and the three new cases against him. Farmer unions and opposition joined voices calling out AAP’s vigilantism. (SDW Vol. 1 Issue 3, story 5).
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