‘A shame on democracy’: 80 days of jail for an MP Congress leader over Modi remark

Out on bail, ex-MP minister Raja Pateria says targeted for speaking for the deprived, asks why no action over BJP leaders' remarks calling for a Hindu Rashtra

Congress leader Raja Pateriya being taken by police after a court rejected his bail plea in connection with his alleged remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Panna on December 13. (ANI photo)

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

STILL DETERMINED to carry on his “fight”, Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh minister Raja Pateria says that he has, however, learnt one lesson. When he came out after spending 80 days in jail for a remark made regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pateria warned his family members and supporters, who had “undergone mental trauma”: “Do not do anything that can land you in trouble.”

Pateria was arrested on December 13 last year after a video surfaced where he could be heard telling Congress workers at a meeting in Pawai in Madhya Pradesh: “Be ready to kill Modi. Kill in the sense of defeating him… Modi will end elections. Modi will divide on the basis of religion, caste and language. The future of Dalits, tribes and minorities is in danger. If you want to save the Constitution, then be ready to kill Modi. Kill in the sense of defeating him.”

On March 4, the Madhya Pradesh High Court released Pateria on bail, after the police said they had completed their probe and filed a chargesheet.

Talking to The Indian Express, Pateria, 69, said: “I have utmost respect for the Judiciary. I blame the BJP-run state government for misusing the law and jailing me.”

Also Read | Sitaram Yechury: ‘Opposition unity must happen at state level and not on election eve’

According to him, the BJP wanted to silence him as he “follows the principles of Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar”. “I am against the caste system. But the BJP follows the principles of (Nathuram) Godse, (Veer) Savarkar and (M S) Golwalkar. I had spoken with the intention of safeguarding our Constitution and defending the rights of tribals, Dalits and minorities in the country.”

He says the series of protests he had led against the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government further angered the BJP. “They jailed me to threaten me as I was one of the leaders raising a voice against them and I have a stronghold among the Scheduled Castes and minorities.”

Pateria says while there are “several examples of arrests like mine”, “I want to ask why BJP leaders are never arrested for openly talking about Hindu Rashtra in their speeches. Is this not unconstitutional? They misuse religion and get sadhus to make controversial statements, but no action is taken.”

Story continues below this ad

Pateria entered politics in 1971 and won his first Assembly election in a bypoll in 1991. While he lost in the 1993 polls, in 1998, he won by a margin of 27,000 votes from the Hata seat in Damoh district. He was subsequently inducted as a minister in the government of then undivided Madhya Pradesh led by Digvijaya Singh.

Pateria was arrested from his residence in Hata and lodged in Pawai sub-jail of Panna district. An FIR was registered against him under Sections 451 (house-trespass), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (statements conducting public mischief), 506 (criminal intimidation), 115 (abetment of offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life if offence not committed) and 117 (abetting commission of offence by the public).

Former advocate general Shashank Shekhar who appeared for Pateria said: “The Sections applied in the case do not apply at all to my client. A person must be punished for a crime committed by him / her as per the law. The biggest thing in a democracy is a person’s freedom. If a person has not done anything and is kept in jail for 80 days, then it’s time for all of us to think about it. This behaviour (of the system) is a big question mark on democracy.”

Don't miss | BJP readies 2024 blueprint: 100 rallies by PM Modi; focus on South, Bengal, Odisha

Senior advocate in the Supreme Court and a Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh, Vivek Tankha, said, “Pateriaji is a former Samajwadi and a loyalist who believes in non-violence. First he was a Lohia (Ram Manohar Lohia) follower, and is now a Nehruvian leader. During his speech he might have said a sentence wrong, which was a momentary thing, but he did not intend to say anything violent. The way he was kept in jail for two months over this is a matter of shame for democracy. I am a part of Parliament as well as the Judiciary and I regret what happened.”

Story continues below this ad

BJP spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said, “The comment of Raja Pateria was the comment of the Congress party. During the Bharat Jodo Yatra, they said they were spreading mohabbat (love). Is this mohabbat? Patetria’s statements put a question mark on Rahul Gandhi’s yatra. Surprisingly, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other leaders kept mum on the issue.”

About his long stint in jail, Pateria says he fell into a routine, getting up early, spending his days walking around, and reading books such as Why I am a Hindu by Shashi Tharoor and a book by Arundhati Roy. “Like any other prisoner, I did jhadu pocha (sweeping and cleaning) and ate the food I was given. I lost 2 kg. I am diabetic and sometimes there was a sudden decrease in my sugar level. But the jail authorities took note of it and gave me chocolates and always served food on time.”

Out on bail now, Pateria says he realises that he is among the luckier ones. “I feel bad for the other prisoners; many of them were falsely implicated. I intend to help them and work on reforms in jail,” he says.

(with PTI inputs)