Over 980 personalities on Monday criticised the Uttar Pradesh government after freelance journalist Prashant Kanojia was arrested by the state police on August 18 for allegedly posting a morphed photograph related to a Ram temple in Ayodhya. They said Kanojia’s arrest and detention is “politically motivated and driven by vendetta”.
A statement was released by activist Teesta Setalvad, writers Meena Kandasamy, politburo member of Communist Party of India Kavita Krishnan, Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, urging the government to immediately release Kanojia. It also includes signatories belonging to institutions such as the Oxford University, Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jadavpur University and several colleges of Indian Institutes of Technology.
Kanojia, a former journalist at The Wire Hindi, was also arrested last year by the…