Chennai: The arrest of a folk singer in Tamil Nadu on charges of sedition over a song in which he criticises Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa amounts to "strangling of democracy", DMK chief M Karunanidhi has said.
The singer Kovan's song, uploaded on YouTube earlier this month, demands the closure of government liquor shops in the state and its lyrics are critical of Ms Jayalalithaa and her government's liquor sale policy. The video shows caricatures of Ms Jayalalithaa serving liquor and has been widely shared on WhatsApp.
Kovan, 54, who is a member of a performing group called the Makkal Kalai Ilakkiya Kazhagam, was arrested in Trichy, where he lives, on Friday morning and was taken to state capital Chennai.
Condemning his arrest, human right activists are up in arms and are mulling ways to legally challenge it in court. Human Rights Activist Henry Tiphagne, Director of People's Watch, said, "At best this could be defamatory and how they could impose a sedition charge for this? How can the Chief Minister be so intolerant? It's the duty of rights defenders to criticise the wrong policies of the government."
Tamil Nadu will vote next year for a new assembly.
The singer Kovan's song, uploaded on YouTube earlier this month, demands the closure of government liquor shops in the state and its lyrics are critical of Ms Jayalalithaa and her government's liquor sale policy. The video shows caricatures of Ms Jayalalithaa serving liquor and has been widely shared on WhatsApp.
Kovan, 54, who is a member of a performing group called the Makkal Kalai Ilakkiya Kazhagam, was arrested in Trichy, where he lives, on Friday morning and was taken to state capital Chennai.
Condemning his arrest, human right activists are up in arms and are mulling ways to legally challenge it in court. Human Rights Activist Henry Tiphagne, Director of People's Watch, said, "At best this could be defamatory and how they could impose a sedition charge for this? How can the Chief Minister be so intolerant? It's the duty of rights defenders to criticise the wrong policies of the government."
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Tamil Nadu will vote next year for a new assembly.
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