Zee Jaipur Literature Festival 2020: Five detained for sloganeering against CAA during a session; police releases them after a warning

Five people were detained for raising slogans against the amended citizenship law during a session at the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) in Jaipur, police said.

They were released following a warning to not repeat such act in future, the police said.

A group of activists, holding a tambourine, shouted slogans against the new citizenship law, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditya Nath during a session at the fest.

In a video, purportedly of the protest, which circulated on social media, the activists are seen shouting slogans like ‘Modi-Shah ko ek jawab, Inquilab Zindabad’, ‘CAA down-down’, ‘Amit Shah ho Barbad, Modi-Yogi Murdabad’ and ‘Hum Lekar Rahege Azadi’.

Police teams at the spot took the activists outside the JLF premises where they continued shouting slogans.

Five of the activists were detained and taken to the Ashok Nagar police station for interrogation, DCP (South) Yogesh Dadich said.

Later, the organisers put out a message saying they do not intend “to silence protest” but just want to ensure that everyone present in the festival can “imbibe the vast spectrum of knowledge” that the JLF has been known for all these years. The message reads:

“Teamwork Arts and the Jaipur Literature Festival are fully committed to ensuring the safety of every guest at the festival and have a responsibility and duty to the Diggi Palace family to maintain peace and calm at all times.

Yesterday, while the venue was at full capacity a few protesters who were not our speakers or invitees had to be asked to leave after they started sloganeering that was impairing the literary sessions and for which we received complaints from our partners.

It is not our wish to silence protest, but to ensure our visitors — students, older people and international guests — can take in the diverse content and knowledge for which the festival is known. We appeal to all our visitors to use the opportunity that the festival provides to imbibe the vast spectrum of knowledge and views expressed on our platform.”

(With inputs from the Press Trust of India)