Maharashtra minister ''orders'' student''s arrest for recording interaction

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, January 6

Maharashtra's Education Minister Vinod Tawde is caught in the middle of a controversy after he allegedly ordered the police to arrest of a student for recording his speech during an elocution competition at a college in Amravati district on Saturday.

The incident happened shortly after Tawde inaugurated the elocution competition organised at by the Shivaji Shikshan Sanstha's College of Arts and Commerce at Amravati. 

During his interaction with students of the Bachelor of Journalism course, the minister was asked about the soaring cost of education. Tawde told the student that he could look for work if he could not afford his educational expenses. By then the minister saw another student, Yuvraj Dabad, recording his conversation with the students.

Students of the college told local newspapers that the minister asked Dabad to stop recording his conversation. When Dabad refused, Tawde asked the security detail accompanying him to arrest Dabad and force him to delete the footage.

Dabad told television channels that he was detained by the police for some time after which they returned his smartphone to him. 

Opponents of Tawde's BJP have picked on the incident. Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray tweeted reports of the incident. "Every student must read this. The education minister of Maharashtra directs cops to arrest student. Why? Because he was shooting an interaction! No tough questions please! They want Youth only to man their electoral booths, not answer questions about education & jobs," Thackeray said on Twitter.

A day after the incident, Tawde denied that he asked the police to arrest the student. "I saw students recording the incident and told them that we could have a proper discussion inside the hall," he told reporters.