Lois Sofia’s arrest is fascism in full display: Congress

Lois Sofia was sent to judicial custody for 15 days after she shouted “fascist BJP government down, down”.

The Congress on Tuesday said that the arrest of a 28-year-old woman on the basis of Tamil Nadu BJP president’s complaint, for allegedly shouting “fascist BJP government down, down” in the latter’s presence, was yet another instance of “fascism in full display”. It said the 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be a battle between fascism represented by the BJP and democracy represented by progressive and pluralistic voices.

READ | Day after arrest for anti-BJP slogan, Lois Sofia gets bail

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent remark that if someone calls for discipline he is branded as autocratic, Congress leader Manish Tewari said, “There is a very thin line which divides disciplinarianism, autocratism, authoritarianism and fascism. They are all interchangeable metaphors…”

Tamil Nadu BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan filed a police report.

He said Tamil Nadu BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan’s decision to file a complaint against the woman was “a display of unbridled arrogance…which is what happens when you are completely inebriated by power”.

“If this is not undeclared emergency, then how else would you characterise the situation. What happened in Tamil Nadu yesterday on that flight… was not only an assault on the freedom of speech and expression… it was fascism playing itself out in its fullest glory,” he said. ens

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