A professor arrested for making fun of West Bengal CM on the internet.
After newspapers, it is cartoons. The people of Bengal are at the mercy of their Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The police on Friday morning arrested a chemistry professor of Jadavpur University, Kolkata, for posting cartoons of Banerjee, railway minister Mukul Roy and his predecessor Dinesh Trivedi on social networking sites.
Later in the day Ambikesh Mohapatra, 50, booked under various sections of the IPC and for cyber offences, got bail. Defending the arrest, Banerjee said it was the handiwork of the CPI (M). “They don’t do any work but think of ways to frame me,” she said.
Some weeks back when the Bengal government banned several newspapers from state libraries — ostensibly for writing against Banerjee — she had said she would tell people which newspaper to read, if the need arose.
Trinamool workers allegedly attacked Mohapatra late on Thursday night and forced him to write on a piece of paper that he worked for the Left and that he had intentionally uploaded the cartoons. His collage of cartoons — based on Satyajit Ray’s movie, Sonar Kella — shows Banerjee and Roy, possibly, discussing how to get rid of Trivedi.
The arrest triggered a slew of protests and criticism from several quarters. While political parties like the BJP and the Left termed the incident “unprecedented” and said it sets a “dangerous trend of silencing those who criticise the government”, Twitter was flooded with a barrage of angry comments.
“Shame! Shame! A professor is arrested over a cartoon in Kolkata. It’s an extreme violation of freedom of expression!” tweeted exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen. Some staying outside Bengal tweeted: “Mamata Banerjee is Hitler draped in a cotton sari, with Tagore’s verses on her lips!”
BJP state president Rahul Sinha asked: “Are we heading for a party-sponsored emergency?” CPI (M) leader Brinda Karat said it was reminiscent of the Emergency.
Educationist Sunando Sanyal, once considered close to Banerjee, said: “This is not the change one had desired. It is unfortunate. I cannot understand how she [Banerjee] can take such a step. It shows her impatience.”
Writer Sunil Gangopadhyay said the arrest was a pointer to the dictatorial attitude of the ruling party “which is ominous”. “I fail to understand how arrests can be made over cartoons that are natural expressions in a democracy,” he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}