Sanmoy Banerjee held for speaking true words: Soumen Mitra on Congress leader arrest for anti-Mamata post
Kolkata/IBNS: West Bengal Congress President Soumen Mitra on Saturday hit out at Mamata Banerjee for arresting senior Congress leader Sanmoy Banerjee for speaking "true words" against the Chief Minister and the rule of her Trinamool Congress party on his YouTube channel.
Speaking to IBNS, Mitra said, "Sanmoy Banerjee's detention is unconstitutional and undemocratic and unmasks Mamata Banerjee who keeps harping on freedom of expression and speech in the country. He is being punished for speaking true words."
Mitra said Sanmoy Banerjee had been arrested for expressing his views on his channel, but he was treated like criminals.
"Isn't it the right of the Opposition to speak against the policies of the government? How can the state government throttle those voices?" he questioned.
"We know, we have to face worst consequence if we try to criticize the government," he added.
Sanmoy Banerjee was arrested from Sodepur in North 24 Parganas district near Kolkata on Thursday night based on a cybercrime complaint lodged in Purulia by a Trinamool Youth Congress worker in September under Section 66 of the IT Act accusing him of "forgery, forgery with the purpose of harming the reputation, defamation and statements leading to public mischief".
On his YouTube Channel Banglar Barta, Banerjee(58) speaks on political matters, mostly against the TMC rule in the state. The channel has more than 83,000 subscribers.
Mitra said Congress will stand in support of the arrested leader politically and legally till he is absolved of all the charges.
President of Youth Congress Leader Shadab Khan said the top leadership of Congress has directed the party workers to hold mass demonstrations across 27 districts of the state to protest Sanmoy Banerjee's arrest.
"We will be holding protest rallies in all the 27 districts between 11pm -12 pm tomorrow [Monday]," he informed.
Hitting out at the state government, Khan said, "Sanmoy Banerjee was dragged out of his house and taken away. It was like kidnapping."
"Till now, we are not aware what are the charges against him. He is being treated like a criminal for speaking against the ruling party," he alleged.
Earlier, Murshidabad MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha AdhirRanjan Chowdhury had urged the Bengal Congress workers to take to the streets to protest the "kidnap" of the Congress leader, media reports said.
Condemning the arrest, Chowdhury had said such "ugly attacks" will not weaken the Congress party in the state.
Meanwhile, a protest demonstration was held in Purulia on Friday.
Today WBPYC staged a protest against illegal arrest of @INCWestBengal Spokesperson @sanmoybanerji by @AITCofficial police. They demanded release of the Congress leader under the leadership of @ShadabKhanIYC, CLP Leader @0786abdulmannan, Chief Opposition Whip Manoj Chakrabarty. pic.twitter.com/Ga31cuHhON
— WB Youth Congress (@IYCWestBengal) October 18, 2019
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