At least 17 people have been arrested, and 21 police reports have been registered for allegedly spreading posters critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his decision to send COVID-19 vaccines to foreign countries amid a shortage of jabs in his own country.
The posters read in Hindi: "PM Modi, why did you send our childrens' vaccines to foreign countries?"
Are these the posters that people in Delhi have been arrested for? pic.twitter.com/HpX1fuzfXm
— Seema Chishti (@seemay) May 15, 2021
An east Delhi police official has confirmed that they have recovered more than 800 similar posters. The arrests were made across Delhi, suggesting the operation was a coordinated action.
It is not yet revealed if any political party is involved in the act.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are currently facing sharp criticism from the media, activists, political parties, and citizens for the way they handled the surge of COVID-19 cases in April.
When the number of coronavirus cases was rising, the BJP government neither stopped religious gatherings of thousands of people at the Ganges river banks to celebrate a Hindu festival, nor did his government insist on postponing or scaling down a month-long election process in West Bengal. They campaigned unmasked at massive rallies, gathering thousands of people there.
Meanwhile, according to media reports, India has provided the COVID-19 vaccine to more than 90 countries and by the end of March, it had exported more jabs than it administered within the country.
