Arrest of professor Ambikesh Mahapatra for circulating a cartoon-India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) on Saturday slammed Mamata Banerjee led-West Bengal Government for the arrest of Jadhavpur University chemistry professor Ambikesh Mahapatra for circulating a cartoon allegedly satirizing Banerjee. CPI (M) politburo member Brinda Karat said it was a very unfortunate development for a state like West Bengal . “It shows the level of intolerance, which is completely against the principles of freedoms that we have in our Constitution. The freedom of expression, the freedom to read what we want to read, the freedom to speak what we want to speak. Because there is no law, which has been violated, there is nothing demeaning about this cartoon. The whole country has seen what the content of the cartoon is. It is a very unfortunate development for a state like West Bengal ,” said Brinda Karat. Meanwhile, CPI (M) leader Mohammed Salim said he was ashamed of the way things had turned out , stating that the murderers and goons were moving around scot-free and the professor was being unnecessarily targeted. “I feel ashamed, first of all, because arrest was made under pressure of the Trinamool Congress local goons. He was tortured and police you know under the Mamata Banerjee government is protecting them. The murderers, the goons, the looters are moving around scot- free. The professor was the target since he had some problem with the local… (sic),” said Salim. He asserted that forwarding messages and e-mails was not an offence and added that the decision to release the professor was sensible. “There are lakhs of people who are forwarding messages and emails and that is not a crime and as it is, the police have made it such a laughing stock in the eyes of the people and the world and they have put aside whatever the rulebooks have said. But good that the court has released him. The police could have done this at the police station itself, but they did not have the courage to face the onslaught of the Trinamool Congress leadership,” added Salim. Mahapatra, was arrested on Thursday for allegedly circulating a ‘defamatory’ cartoon featuring West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He was released later on bail.

CPI (M) slams Mamata Govt over arrest of professor