After a Jhunjhunu-based Instagrammer was detained by police, allegedly over a video post critical of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Congress party threw its weight behind the 25-year-old on Monday while alleging police high-handedness.
Talking to The Indian Express, Naveen Choudhary, who runs the ‘Jhunjhunu Express’ Instagram page with over 11,000 followers, said that he had posted the video on Saturday evening.
The video shows two groups of children in a playground. While one group of children are skating on a basketball court, the others were part of a larger group, including elders, dressed in the style of RSS workers. In the voice-over for the video, Naveen says one of these groups was “being taught how to sweat in the field, get medals for the country and make it proud”, and claimed that “seeds of hatred” were being sown in the other.
Picked up by police
Naveen claimed that he posted the video on Saturday evening, and by Sunday morning, he started receiving calls from cyber police, demanding that the video be deleted. He also claimed that he was getting threat messages on his Instagram page and WhatsApp.
“At around 9 or 10 am, about five to 10 police vehicles came to my residence, as if they were here to arrest a terrorist. They snatched my phone and dragged me out as if I was a terrorist,” he claimed.
Naveen alleged that he was assaulted for about half an hour inside the police vehicle itself. “They were saying ‘what do you even know about the RSS or Sangh?’” he claimed, adding that he was taken to the local Kotwali police station, where he was threatened again. Police have denied this claim.
He further claimed that police went through his photo gallery, and that he was in an isolated cell from 10.30 am to 8 pm on Sunday. “There was no food, water, toilet facility, or even ventilation. I was mentally tortured… They kept saying that multiple cases would be lodged against me,” he claimed.
Naveen said he was eventually let go around 11.30 am on Monday, and alleged that some of his posts were deleted, although he managed to recover some.
‘Breach of peace’
Kotwali SHO Shrawan Kumar Meel said, “A video had gone viral, and our teams are active on social media. Additionally, we received complaints that he is spreading discord in society and disturbing the peace. So, he was arrested for breach of peace and presented before a magistrate.”
The SHO denied Naveen’s allegations of assault, terming them as “false”, and said, “Police are not political. No one even raised a hand on him.”
“It is the police’s duty to maintain law and order and restrict persons who make such videos go viral,” the SHO said, adding that no FIR was lodged.
Jhunjhunu SP Kavendra Singh Sagar did not respond to calls and messages seeking his comment. Additional SP Devendra Singh Rajawat, too, did not comment on the issue.
Congress slams police
Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and other Congress leaders took to social media on Monday to share Naveen’s “objectionable” video and express solidarity with him.
“Has criticising the RSS now become a crime in this country? Has some new secret law been enacted? The arrest of Naveen from Mandawa and the seizure of his mobile phone is nothing short of outright dictatorship. The government must clarify under which law this action was taken…,” Gehlot said.
He claimed that multiple such instances were reported from different parts of Rajasthan. “In a democracy, the voice of truth cannot be suppressed by the might of the police. On whose orders is the Jhunjhunu Superintendent of Police acting like this? The DGP, Police must take cognisance of this,” the former CM said.
Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra took an even more combative tone, saying, “If posting this video, which reveals the true face of the RSS, is a crime, then every Congress worker will commit this crime again and again. If speaking about sports and nation-building in the face of hatred and division is a crime, then we will commit this crime again and again.”
Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully said, “The ideology of the RSS has always been to spread hatred, division, and ideological intolerance in society. Intimidating and silencing those who speak the truth, ask questions, and hold a mirror to power is nothing new.”
“If criticising an organisation, ideology, or government is deemed a crime, then it is not democracy but a symbol of oppressive rule. Suppressing the voices of youth, criminalising dissent, and attacking freedom of expression is an insult to the fundamental spirit of the Constitution,” Jully said.
The video shows two groups of children in a playground. While one group of children are skating on a basketball court, the others were part of a larger group, including elders, dressed in the style of RSS workers. 
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