Renowned economist briefly detained in India

By Ahmad Adil

CHANDIGARH, India (AA) – Indian authorities detained well-known economist and activist Jean Dreze and two others in Jharkhand state Thursday for organizing a public meeting without permission but released them after a few hours, local media reported.

“If people are not even allowed to hold peaceful non-political meetings about issues like the right to food at election time, then democracy has no meaning," Dreze was quoted by local broadcaster NDTV as saying.

The organizers had sought permission in writing from the district administration 10 days ago. But as the administration did not respond, they decided to go ahead with the meeting, since it had no direct connection with the election, the report said.

“They had no permission to hold the program…He was not arrested but brought to the local police station,” Deputy Inspector General of Police Vipul Shukla told Anadolu Agency.

The program was not allowed because the Model Code of Conduct is in place in the country, said Vipul.

The Model Code of Conduct is a set of guidelines issued ahead of the country’s general elections, which will start next month. Under these circumstances, Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code is imposed, meaning assemblies of four or more people are unlawful.

The 59-year-old is a leading development economist who has been working in India since the 1970s. He has authored a number of books on development and policies in India, some of them with Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, NDTV reported.

The main opposition Congress party reacted to the detention.

“World-renowned economist & social activist Jean Dreze & 2 others have been arrested by the BJP govt. in Jharkhand for daring to hold a meeting on Right to Food. In a state with so many hunger deaths, you'd expect the govt to be more receptive to help,” the party said on Twitter.