Arrest of student for raising anti-BJP slogans the latest in TN govt’s crackdown on dissent

Chennai: A 28-year-old research scholar was granted unconditional bail on Tuesday, a day after being arrested for raising slogans against the central government in the presence of the state Bharatiya Janata Party chief, in what critics said was the latest example of the Tamil Nadu government’s crackdown on dissent. Lois Sofia was arrested at Thoothukudi airport for raising slogans against the BJP government on a flight in the presence of the party’s state president Tamilisai Soundararajan. In Tamil Nadu, they include environmental activists who have protested in the last few months against a copper smelting unit of Vedanta’s Sterlite Industries and the central government’s eight-lane highway project between Chennai and Salem. Terming the arrests an extraordinary situation, A. Marx, Tamil Nadu chapter president of the Peoples Union for Human Rights, said, “All basic rights to question and criticize the government have been curbed… have never seen a worse situation than this in Tamil Nadu.” Last month, Thirumurugan Gandhi, co-coordinator of the May 17 Movement, an organisation fighting for the rights of Sri Lankan Tamils, was arrested on charges of sedition when he returned after attending a United Nations Human Rights Council session at Geneva.