Two arrested over Facebook comments in India

[al bupp]

Source: Aljazeera English

Two women have been arrested in India over a comment posted on Facebook, sparking criticism from media and analysts who are accusing the government for attacking freedom of expression.

As India's financial capital shut down for the weekend funeral of a powerful politician linked to waves of mob violence, a woman posted on Facebook that the closures in Mumbai were "due to fear, not due to respect."

In her Facebook comment on Sunday, 21-year-old Shaheen Dhanda wrote: "People like Thackeray are born and die daily and one should not observe a 'bandh' [shutdown] for that."

Her 20-year-old friend Renu Srinivasan 'liked' the status. For that, both women were arrested.

Read more: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2012/11/20121120113931506397.html

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According to the article, many in India are condemning these arrests, including the media and a former Supreme Court justice.

[snooper2]

1. I thought India was more enlightened than that...

Sad...Fail...

[al bupp]

2. I have worked w/ a lot of Indians in the last few years...

... many of them from Mumbai, and I was shocked when I saw this news. When you see the laws these arrests were based upon, it's apparent that free speak is hardly a protected right in that country.

[Egalitarian Thug]

4. Why did you think that? India's egregious repression has been infamous, even here,

since the Beatles brought it into the spotlight 40 year ago. It is a horrible place run by horrible people that grind their poor under the heel of hereditary privilege far worse than we do.

[loudsue]

3. Sending warning shots across the bow, is more like it.

A warning to the masses of "who's in charge here", and not to get out of line.

I think we're going to see existing democracies doing this more and more over the course of the next 10 to 15 years as a result of the Egyptian Spring type thing, with the masses demanding more and more compliance from their governments....governments and those with power are going to be pushing back more.

The earth populations and their governments can either evolve with the new global awareness of its people, or it will struggle to go backward and more authoritarian. For the most part, the bad guys who desire full control have all the military power, so it will be interesting. Because, after all, MOST soldiers are people, too.