Although Indian authorities have refused to repeal the controversial Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, the ordeal undergone by two young girls living in Palghar on the outskirts of Mumbai, held under the act, has not gone in vain. Shaheen Dhada, 21, was arrested for posting on Facebook a message questioning the shutdown in Mumbai after Shiv Sena leader Ball Thackeray's death last month and her friend Renu Srinivasan, 20, for “liking” her comment. Both were charged with engaging in “offensive and hateful” speech. On Thursday India's Communication and Information Technology Ministry issued new guidelines making it harder for the police to arrest people for comments on social networking and other Internet sites. Now, a senior officer must approve before a complaint can be registered under Section 66A of the act. This follows a nationwide public outcry over the Palghar arrests and the Supreme Court's intervention in the matter following a private petition challenging the constitutional validity of Section 66A. The apex court has issued notice to the federal government seeking its response to the petition. State authorities in West Bengal and Puducherry have been asked to explain similar arrests made in recent past. Even though the cases against the two girls have been withdrawn and the police officers involved suspended pending inquiry, the Shiv Sena connection adds a sinister dimension to the Palghar developments and raises larger questions that have bearing on India's future as a democratic entity. Sena, a regional party, has dominated the western state of Maharashtra, especially its capital Mumbai, for decades — often using intimidation, violence or vandalism to enforce bans against certain movies or citywide strikes or prevent Pakistan playing cricket matches in the state. Whoever may be in power in Maharashtra, Sena can always hold the state to ransom. It can bring Mumbai, India's most populous city, a global financial center and moviemaking capital, to a standstill whenever it wants. Some say Sena is not a state within a state, but a quasi-fascist state within a democratic state. The developments following Thackeray's death were vintage Shiv Sena at its worst. The party wanted Mumbai to show its deference for its leader, a man who made no secret of his admiration for Hitler. Not wanting any trouble, merchants hurriedly closed their shops and people tried to rush home. Mumbai was effectively shut down. Within hours of Dhada posting her comment mildly protesting all this, a Sena official complained to the police, who notified the girl's family. She quickly posted an apology and closed her Facebook account. Still the police arrested the two girls, ignoring a superior officer's advice. Sonia Gandhi's Congress is leading the coalition ruling Maharashtra but officials at lower levels are seen beholden to Sena. Political parties, businessmen and movie actors and producers had tried to curry favor with Thackeray for temporary political gains or to avoid courting Shiv Sena's wrath. This is what made Thackeray, who began as anti-south Indian and morphed into rabidly anti-Muslim, the menacing power that he was. By insisting on the arrest of the two girls, Sena was testing whether its strong-arm tactics can still cow Mumbai into submission. India's democratic parties should decide whether they should allow another Thackeray or a bigger Thackeray to dominate Maharashtra and eventually national politics.
