On Jignesh Mevani's arrest, Rahul Gandhi tweets 'truth can't be imprisoned'

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday spoke in support of Jignesh Mevani, the Dalit leader and party MLA from Gujarat's Vadgam after he was arrested by Assam Police for alleged 'offensive' tweets against prime minister Narendra Modi. "Modi ji, you can try to crush dissent by abusing the state machinery. But you can never imprison the truth," Gandhi tweeted in reaction to Mevani's arrest.

In the tweet, Gandhi also added hashtags reading '#daromat' (don't be scared) and '#satyamevajayte' (truth always triumphs).

On Wednesday at around 11.30 pm, a team of Assam Police arrested Mevani from Palanpur town in Gujarat. He was taken to Guwahati from Ahemdabad in the early hours of Thursday.

The Congress party on its Twitter handle also extended support to Mevani and termed the arrest 'undemocratic'. "The undemocratic manner in which Assam Police has detained Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, is an anti-constitutional move and an insult to the people who have elected him as a public representative. Congress workers will raise their voice against oppression," the Congress tweeted in Hindi.

Congress leader KC Venugopal also slammed the BJP and alleged authoritarianism by the party in power in Gujarat and Assam. "The unlawful and unconstitutional arrest of Jignesh Mevani at midnight by Assam Police is the latest proof of authoritarianism under BJP. Such an arrest of a people's representative not only betrays their fear of criticism but also attacks the foundations of our democracy," the senior Congressman tweeted.

The complaint against Mevani was registered by Arup Dey, who is a Bodoland Territorial Region executive member and BJP functionary. It was filed April 18.

According to the complaint Mevanis tweet referred to Modi and claimed he 'worships and considers [Mahatma Gandhi's assassin] 'Godse as God', while also asking the prime minister to appeal for peace and harmony in Gujarat’s communal violence-hit Himmatnagar, Khambhat, and Veraval during his visit to the state on April 20.

Charges relate to criminal conspiracy, injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class, promoting enmity between two communities, intentional insult to provoke breach of peace, and criminal intimidation, among others.