Last week, Kerala Police arrested a college student on charges of sedition, following complaints filed against him for allegedly changing some of the words of an undisclosed patriotic song with abuses in a Facebook post, reports TheNewsMinute. The report says he was arrested on charges of sedition (under IPC 124A), violation of section 66A of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008, and the Prevention of Insults of National Honour Act, 1971. The Thampanoor police told the publication that the case was being investigated by the cyber police cell and the sedition charges were included on the basis of the Facebook post. Following this arrest, several student groups are apparently organizing protests in several districts across Kerala and a Facebook page called 'Justice for Salman' has been setup. Several prominent citizens including Frontline Associate Editor Venkitesh Ramakrishnan, various film makers, journalists, book authors, university professors and activists across the country have also released a joint statement questioning the nature of the arrest and lack of clarity regarding his arrest. The group mentions that the sedition charges on the student is a gross over stretching of the sedition act and also claimed that an opposing faction is conducting a hate campaign against the student Salman on Facebook. The group also noted that Salman has been part of several human rights campaigns in the past. Read the full statement here. Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi's arrest It's worth noting that Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi was also arrested on similar charges in September 2012, for displaying allegedly offensive cartoons at a Jan Lokpal agitation in Mumbai in December…
