DNA Special: Is talking about nationalism and unity a crime in India?

In a shocking development, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government on Monday ordered a probe to know if celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, singer Lata Mangeshkar, cricketer Virat Kohli and others tweeted under pressure by the Centre in support of farm laws.

Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has ordered this inquiry and most importantly, this step was taken after the complaint of Congress leaders. Imagine the party whose role is repeatedly remembered in India's independence stands today. Today, the Indian National Congress has become an Anti National Congress.

And we are saying this because when pop star Rihanna, Greta Thunberg and Pornstar Mia Khalifa campaign against India under the guise of the farmers' movement, Congress doesn't have a problem. But when Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar present their side against this propaganda, the party immediately starts having a problem and this problem becomes the subject of investigation in his ruled state.

This entire investigation is related to the hashtag given by the Ministry of External Affairs of India and these hashtags were India Together and India Against Propaganda. There were lakhs of tweets in India on this hashtag and among those tweeting were Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar.

In the tweets, they opposed the interference of outsiders in India's internal matters, spoke of solidarity and wrote that India can resolve its own issues.

But it is unfortunate that the Congress found politics in these tweets in favour of the country and the result of this is that the Maharashtra government will now check whether there was any pressure from the Central Government behind these tweets.

The Maharashtra government argues that the same language and words have been used in all these tweets.

Resolved and Amicable are the two words that were used in the tweets by Lata Mangeshkar, Virat Kohli, Akshay Kumar, Saina Nehwal and Indian cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri. And based on these two words, the Maharashtra government decided to investigate. However, the thing to understand here is that all these tweets were in support of the hashtags India Together and India Against Propaganda.

How can it be a crime to give a message to the people of the country to remain united and to raise voice against propaganda being run against the country? Was it Lata Mangeshkar's mistake that she supported the country instead of Rihanna? And was it wrong for Sachin Tendulkar to think that the people of India are united and our country is capable of solving internal issues?

Today, the principle of "one India" is challenged in West Bengal. The government there changes the rules according to its convenience. In Maharashtra, the rules change for the citizens of the state. And where the Congress governments are there, such laws are brought, which give serious consideration to the ideological differences that flourish in India and this shows that the 'tukde tukde gang' is still working in active mode.

Today, you must also understand the true character of the Maharashtra government. When the country was battling with coronavirus pandemic last year, Maharashtra was the first among the affected states and then a campaign was launched on Twitter in support of the government and Maharashtra Police. As part of this campaign, Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli, former cricketers Zaheer Khan and Surya Kumar Yadav changed their profile picture on Twitter and had put the logo of Maharashtra Police and then all these players tweeted the same thing. But then the Maharashtra government did not conduct any investigation. And State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh was thanking these players at the time on Twitter.

This shows that everything happens in the name of politics in our country. Such investigation is completely unconstitutional and it is a violation of the fundamental rights of those against whom the investigation has been launched.

Supreme Court has clarified that Right to Privacy is a Fundamental Right. If a person tweets on being asked by someone, it is within the right of Right to Privacy. This is their fundamental right and the Maharashtra government has violated the decision by investigating it.