Sharmishta Panoli's arrest: BJP leader's 'Mamata Banerjee only works for Muslims' claim as she thanks Kangana Ranaut

Hindustan Times

3 days ago

West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party leader Agnimitra Paul on Monday hit out at the Mamata Banerjee government for the arrest of Instagram influencer Sharmishta Panoli, and thanked the Bar Council of India and actor-politician Kangana Ranaut for coming out in support of the student.
Citing the BCI and Kangana Ranaut's example, Agnimitra Paul also urged every Indian, be it a Hindu or a Muslim, to stand against this injustice.
'I thank the Bar Council and Kangana Ranaut (for standing by Panoli). Every Indian, Hindu and nationalist Muslim must stand against this injustice. We have seen so many posts from West Bengal lately abusing India, PM Narendra Modi, our Goddess Maa Kamakhya, after Operation Sindoor, but no action was taken,' the BJP leader said.
The Kolkata Police had arrested Sharmishta Panoli, 22, for allegedly uploading a video with communal comments, claiming Bollywood actors were silent on Operation Sindoor.
A case against the woman was lodged at the Garden Reach Police Station on May 15 based on allegations that she posted a video that Kolkata Police claimed: "was insulting to the religious belief of a class of citizen of India and amounted to promoting disharmony and hatred between different communities".
In what she termed as a wake-up call, Agnimitra Paul said, "It is a clear message from the Mamata government that if you are a Hindu or a Muslim who is abusing or saying something against Muslims, you will not be spared, but if it is the opposite, no action will be taken... Hindus of West Bengal also need to rise; they are sleeping under the cloud of secularism. We need to have a neutral government. The police of the state today only see a religion. No action was taken against Anubrata Mondal, a TMC leader who abused a police officer. The Mamata government only works for the Muslims, not for Hindus."
The 22-year-old influencer, a resident of Kolkata and enrolled in Pune's Law University, was arrested from Gurugram on Friday night.
She was on Saturday produced before a Kolkata court, which sent her in judicial custody till June 13.
BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra on Sunday called for an immediate release and fair trial for Sharmishta Panoli.
The senior advocate and Rajya Sabha member said that he was standing firmly with Panoli, whose arrest and judicial custody for a now-deleted social media video despite her immediate apology represented "an absolute failure of justice and a blatant assault on freedom of expression".
"It is deeply troubling that the same government that opposed Operation Sindoor -- a decisive counter-terror operation -- meant to avenge the brutal killing of innocents, now seeks to silence a young law student for questioning such similar double standards," said Mishra in a statement.
A mere wrong choice of words cannot be called blasphemous and a young law student being made a scapegoat and subjected to harsh legal action, while past atrocities on particular communities by the government-sponsored persons and entities remained unaddressed was "unconscionable", the statement added.
Actress and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut also urged for the release of THE influencer.
"Harassing someone in the name of law and order is not good. When someone has apologised and deleted the post, but putting her in prison, torturing her, ending her career and raising questions on her character is very wrong. This should not happen with any daughter," Kangana told ANI.
Further, she said, "I urge the West Bengal government not to try to make the state into North Korea. Everyone has democratic rights. She has apologised for her indecent remarks. She had said everything in general and today's generation uses such language very normally- both in English and in Hindi. She should be released soon because she is a very young woman. She has her whole career and life ahead of her..."