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South India isn’t as free as we think. Andhra Pradesh arrested a YouTuber five times in a week

From Prashna Raavan to journalist KV Reddy to comedians Anudeep Katikala and Mohammed Rafeeq, Andhra Pradesh's crackdown on dissent is starting to look a lot like the rest of the country.

Many of us South Indians generally maintain this notion that we have it better down here when compared to the north. That there is more freedom, less bigotry, and more civil liberties.

The illusion is that we have more of a dissent culture, that things work better, education levels are higher, that we have better roads and functional governments. Better roads and more jobs don’t add up to a better health of democratic culture. We are not better than the northern states in reality, but are left at the mercy of our political masters, just like anywhere else in the country.

At the centre of this is YouTuber Bachalakuri Joseph, a Dalit Christian influencer popularly known as ‘Prashna’ Raavan, who has been arrested five times across Andhra Pradesh within a single week. He was first taken into custody on 30 June by Kakinada district police for allegedly making controversial remarks against Andhra Pradesh Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan at an event titled ‘Dalit Christian War Cry’ (Dalitha Kraisthava Samara Sankharavam), held to demand Scheduled Caste status for Dalit Christians.

What followed was........

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