A day after climate activist Disha Ravi’s arrest which created nationwide protests, a member of the legal wing of Tamil Nadu BJP submitted a petition to the cyber crime cell demanding action against actor Oviya who tweeted with the hashtag #GoBackModi just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Chennai on Sunday to launch a few projects and inaugurate a few more. The petition was submitted to the superintendent of police, Cyber Cell, CB-CID by Alexis Sudhakar, a lawyer and member of the BJP’s legal wing, seeking an inquiry against the tweet.

The party also demanded the police check if the actor’s intention behind the tweet was to incite public disorder ahead of Modi’s visit to the state’s capital city and take appropriate action against her. The complaint even asked the police to impose sedition charge on her for a mere tweet.

The said tweet was posted from Oviyaasweetz, the official Twitter account of the actor, known from Bigg Boss Tamil, on Saturday.

Sudhakar alleged that Sri Lanka and China were working with the likes of Oviya to create law and order problems against India’s sovereignty and some political parties are also indulging in activities that would lead to distortion of peace and order in and around Chennai. However, he did not present any proof to back his claims.

He claimed in his complaint, “Following her tweets, public in Tamil Nadu, including some petty political parties, indulged in activities that lead to distortion of peace and order in and around Chennai and I, along with my friends and relatives, were victimised. It is pertinent to note that even last time during the Prime Minister’s visit such similar illegal activities distorting public order by inciting through words published in social media occurred and the same has been repeating distressfully. Hence this continuous criminal activities deserve a serious investigation to unearth the motive and the culprits behind offender Oviya as there remains a reasonable suspicion that activities against India’s sovereignty is backed up by notorious criminals.”

He appealed in his complaint that investigation officers check her correspondence and communication with foreign countries and also inspect her passport to understand if she is of Indian nationality only given her violent acts.”

But BJP state social media head CTR Nirmal Kumar denied that the party had given any official complaint.

Support for Disha:

Meanwhile, support has been pouring in from all quarters of Tamil Nadu for the Bengalurubased activist Disha Ravi. Carnatic singer and activist TM Krishna questioned whether “we have descended into police state territory”.

Actor Siddharth extended his “unconditional support” to Disha on Twitter. Actor and politician Prakash Raj urged people to raise their voice against the activist’s arrest and demanded her release. Playback singer Chinmayi also raised her voice against the arrest, adding she was “heartbroken”.

Meanwhile, DMK president MK Stalin on Sunday dubbed Modi’s visit to Chennai as a “show” ahead of elections. He pointed out that chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami claims that his party is not subservient to the BJP, but whether he could ask Narendra Modi why there was no progress in the setup of AIIMS Hospital in Madurai or what happened to the demand to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET, or what happened to the release of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convicts or about Mekedatu dam project?