Overreach of law: IT Min on BJP leader SG Suryah's arrest

NEW DELHI: Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar on Saturday termed the arrest of Tamil Nadu BJP State Secretary SG Suryah as an "overreach of the law" while calling it a violation of his fundamental rights.

Speaking to ANI, Union Minister said, "This is the violation of fundamental rights. It is wrong, it is an overreach of law that someone has been put up in jail just for a tweet... The party (BJP) will strongly support Surya"

"We will fight for his liberty," he said. Taking a dig at Chief Minister MK Stalin, Chandrashekhar said, "Rahul Gandhi travels around the world and claims democracy is in danger now his ally Stalin is doing this" adding, "It is the Rahul Gandhis Congress during their 10-year rule that pioneered this of putting people behind jail for whatever they said on the internet".

"He was tweeting to support a sanitation worker. He would be hauled up and put into jail by the regime of MK Stalin in Tamil Nadu. It is wrong. It is against the principles of natural Justice," he said.

The Tamil Nadu State Secretary was produced before the Madurai court by the police on Saturday amid heavy security. He was arrested on Friday for his recent tweet on Madurai MP Su Venkatesan.

In a scathing letter aimed at Communist Party of India (CPI) Councilor Viswanathan, the BJP State Secretary Suryah had earlier referred to an incident in which a sanitation worker from Madurai died on the job. He claimed that he was forced to work in faecal water and hence he developed an allergic reaction in his body.

In the letter attached to his tweet, Suryah lashed out at Viswanathan for his double standards, for forcing the deceased sanitation worker to resort to manual scavenging despite being aware that it is prohibited by law.

In the same tweet, Suryah attacked Madurai MP Venkatesan for his silence. "Your fake politics of separatism stinks worse than that cesspool, find a way to live as a human being, mate!" a rough translation of his tweet in Tamil read.