JOIN US'56-inch cowardice': Jignesh Mevani slams PMO for controversial arrest
Freed on bail by an Assam court and in the national capital, Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani on Monday accused “Godse-bhakts” in the Prime Minister's Office of "designing" a "conspiracy to destroy" him ahead of the Assembly elections in the state but said he will not cow down before such threats.
Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters here, the independent MLA said his arrest for a tweet "urging the Prime Minister to issue an appeal for peace and amity" following communal clashes was "56-inch cowardice", a reference to Narendra Modi's assertion of having a 56-inch chest.
"It is my charge that this is a conspiracy designed by the Prime Minister's Office. Gujarat elections are due soon and this is being done to destroy me. I fear that there is every chance that by now they may have planted something on my computer which has been seized by them," he said.
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"Godse-bhakts sitting in the PMO have got FIRs registered against me over a mere tweet," he said.
He said the Assam Police, which arrested him for the tweet, was actually undermining the "pride of Gujarat" and it was "shameful" for the state.
Mevani, who came into the limelight after leading a protest following the flogging of Dalits in Gujarat's Una and later elected as an independent MLA with the support of the Congress, also announced that he will hit the streets on June 1 along with Congress workers and ensure a 'Gujarat Bandh' demanding a probe into the leak of 22 exam papers, the recovery of "Rs 1.75 lakh-crore" worth of drugs from Mundra Port and press for the withdrawal of all cases against Dalits registered in in Una and against minorities.
"The protest is not for withdrawing the case against me. There is no action in these cases but it was instant in my case...My arrest by the Assam police was a pre-planned conspiracy. It was in blatant disregard to protocol and rules for an MLA," he said.
He also found it curious the haste in which he was arrested by Assam police and then a second case of outraging the modesty of a woman police officer was registered by Assam Police, which the lower court found as an after-thought.
"Assam Police registered a case against me on April 19 for my tweet, Police travelled 2,500 km and arrested me in 24 hours. It will take at least four hours to reach Guwahati airport from Kokrajhar where the case was registered...Once you land in Ahmedabad, it takes another 140 km to reach my constituency. So I think even before the FIR was registered, the police were there at the airport ready to fly," he said.
Emphasising that the bail order explained well how he was being targeted, Mevani said he would not take legal action against the woman police personnel who filed the complaint against him as he understood "how much pressure she would have been in". He said, "why was the woman officer put in my vehicle? The court itself said it is unbelievable that I would misbehave with a woman officer in the presence of two other male officers. I understand the pressure she would have been under."
Mevani said the bail order clearly gives him an opportunity to file a defamation case but he would not do that as he wants to show "generosity". "If I want to file an FIR, I can do it in Opposition-ruled Maharashtra or Chhattisgarh or anywhere else. I won't do that. There is no vendetta, no vindictiveness," he added.
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