But there are many many reporters and Twitteratis who are unpopular and say a lot of things against Modi. They don't get arrested. I myself say a lot of anti-Modi things on Twitter. So does my friends. I don't see many people arrested.
but you ask who is getting arrested while your para starts with acknowledging that a reporter was arrested.
No, not really. I acknowledged that there has been a few arrests, but such cases are common in all states for all kinds of governments. I can show you similar cases for Congress, TMC, CPIM, etc. They certainly arrest a few people, but don't do it like, say, CCP of China or Putin.
Nobody should've been arrested in the first place is the argument
Not really, the argument was whether we are able to fearlessly criticize our governments. And honestly, it seems other than a few examples, majority of people do not get arrested for saying anything against the government (BJP or Congress or TMC or whatever).
but that doesn't mean they've stopped doing it to unpopular figures like reporters.
But that doesn't really make sense. Why would you target unpopular figures if you are an authoritarian government? Your primary target will be arresting and executing your popular opponents who have larger mass appeal. There are so many YouTubers, so many Twitter handles, so many people in general who joke and criticize the governments, but most doesn't seem to get arrested.
Take TMC as an example. A guy got arrested for making cartoons of Mamata Banerjee. He is still fighting for his case. But on the other hand, most of us joke, insult and criticize Mamata all the time. Major news sources here like ABP Ananda criticize her all the time. Doesn't mean they are getting arrested.
If BJP is really that authoritative, their targets will be Ravish Kumar, Nidhi, Akash Banerjee, Chirpy Says, Nehr_Who, etc. Basically anyone who criticize them with mass following. They don't get arrested. And they probably never will.
So, it seems to me, given what I know, that yes, a few people do get arrested for dissent against BJP, but that's applicable to all parties, not just BJP. Also, the majority, given the number of cases, seem to be exempt from this.