Muslim teen jailed for 42 days, thrashed for Facebook comment in Adityanath’s UP

A Muslim boy, Zakir Ali Tyagi, was arrested on the night of April 2 in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar. His crime: A Facebook comment on a high court ruling on the Ganga that the Supreme Court has stayed, and a jibe at the BJP’s temple politics. His punishment: 42 days in jail with hardened criminals on the charges of “hacking”.

Factory worker Zakir, 18, was also allegedly tortured in prison and charged under Section 66 of the Information Technology Act.

He described his arrest and release on May 13 at a meeting of the Bhim Army Defence Committee at the Press Club of India in Delhi on Tuesday, where many others also narrated their plight under Yogi Adityanath’s rule in UP, The Hindu reported.

According to Tyagi, he had said on Facebook: “The Ganga has been declared a living entity; will criminal charges be initiated if someone drowns in it?”

A report in The Telegraph said the FIR against Tyagi accused him of posting “galat tareeke ke (wrong type of) comments” on Facebook, and that sedition charges were allegedly added after he got bail.

“I was locked up at Kotwali Nagar police station. Later that night, a man in a yellow T-shirt, jeans and shoes entered the cell and asked which of us was Zakir. When I raised my hand, he kicked and punched me till I lay writhing on the floor,” he told The Telegraph.

“I never imagined sharing opinions on social media will bring me to this pass. I urge everyone to help me fight the case as a charge of sedition can destroy my life,” The Hindu reported him as saying.