Mamata Banerjee's Censorship Efforts Continue as Bengal Police Asks X to Take Down Manjul's Cartoons on CM
The spirit of democracy is the spirit of criticism and satire. But not exactly in West Bengal.
On June 18, political cartoonist Manjul revealed that he received a takedown notice from X (formerly Twitter), acting on a request by the West Bengal Cyber Crime Wing. The agency asked for the removal of two of Manjul's cartoons, posted back in 2019, alleging they violated Indian law.
The cartoons in question featured Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, lampooning the mass defections from Trinamool Congress (TMC) to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the party's alleged role in the chit-fund scams that rocked the state several years ago. Satirical, sharp, and unmistakably his own style, the posts are political commentary – nothing more, nothing less.
The very act of seeking to remove two cartoons from a social media platform years after they were posted underscores discomfort with critical commentary, even when expressed through satire and artistic interpretation. Manjul's situation is not isolated. It's a clear symptom of a broader, troubling trend of intolerance toward dissent in Bengal, both online and offline.
Bengal police filed an FIR against former CPI(M) politburo member Mohammad Salim and BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya. The complaint stemmed from their sharing a video on X depicting the public flogging of a woman by a local Trinamool leader in Chopra, North Dinajpur, an incident that ignited widespread outrage across the state. Just as in Manjul's case, the state police requested the posts be taken down by X.
The blueprint for this crackdown goes back years. Way back in 2012, Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra experienced this firsthand. He was arrested for forwarding an email containing a cartoon depicting the chief minister. Mahapatra endured a decade-long legal battle before finally being acquitted, a period during which he had to renew his passport every year.
That same year, Banerjee had made news after publicly commanding police to "catch" a farmer, Shiladitya Chowdhury, who had asked her about fertilizer prices at a public meeting. She branded him a "Maoist", initiating a legal case that dragged on for years.
Sanmoy Banerjee, a former Congress spokesperson and an outspoken critic of the Trinamool Congress and its leader's nephew, was arrested from his home. He faced multiple serious Indian Penal Code sections, including forgery and defamation, for criticising the government. He required hospital treatment post-release.
Kaustav Bagchi, another former Congress spokesperson, was arrested for allegedly making derogatory comments
Both Banerjee and Bagchi subsequently joined the BJP.
controversial YouTuber Anirban Roy, widely known as 'Roddur Roy', was arrested by Kolkata Police from a resort in Goa for allegedly making abusive comments against Banerjee and her nephew.
Scores of social media users routinely face intimidation and arrests that often go beyond standard legal procedure. The frequent use of legal provisions under the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), such as sections 353 (public mischief), 352(intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and 196 (promoting enmity between different groups), against social media critics highlights a clear willingness to employ legal avenues to suppress dissent.
This pattern extends beyond the digital sphere. Last year, during protests related to the rape and murder of a young doctor at the R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, a faction of the TMC leadership publicly advocated for a boycott of artistes critical of the West Bengal government and chief minister Banerjee. The boycott call, initiated by TMC leader and state general secretary for the party, Kunal Ghosh, received support from other prominent party figures, including Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee and state education minister Bratya Basu. Basu, himself an acclaimed actor and playwright, declared that artistes critical of the government had no right to accept state grants or permission for their shows. There are also reports indicating increased difficulty for theatre and film directors critical of the ruling party in booking performance halls.
Despite public outcry, Banerjee did not make any public statement against the boycott call. Her silence on such a controversial issue can be interpreted as tacit approval or a strategic move to allow aggressive tactics by party members while maintaining deniability for the party's highest leadership. This subtle yet potent form of suppression has become a new normal in West Bengal, actively undermining cultural freedom, artistic independence, and critical thought. It fosters a pervasive climate of fear and self-censorship, eerily similar to the environment under the Narendra Modi regime in Delhi.
Manjul in his post noted, 'For those who think Mamata is different from the BJP.' The latest overreach, along with many others, affirms comedian and writer Varun Grover's assessment of the TMC supremo: 'Mamata Banerjee is Narendra Modi in a cotton saree.'
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