#ReleaseSharmistha trends on social media as netizens question Sharmistha Panoli's arrest for 'opposing Pak'

While Kolkata police have accused social media influencer Sharmistha Panoli of hate speech and "benefiting enemies" through her now-deleted post on Operation Sindoor, more rightwing leaders have come out in support of the social media influencer. The Bar Council of India called her arrest unjust and demanded a fair probe.

 

Sharmistha Panoli, the 22-year-old student studying at Pune Law University, was arrested by Kolkata police on Friday following a complaint over her alleged communal post in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor. Panoli was arrested by West Bengal police though she had deleted the video and issued an apology. A Kolkata court rejected her bail plea and she was remanded to 14-day judicial custody.

 

On Sunday, the Bar Council of India questioned the arrest and said it was "unjust, a blatant assault on freedom of expression".  "The Bengal government and Kolkata Police have once again proved their pattern of excessive, selective, and politically motivated action, targeting individuals from particular communities while ignoring or even shielding far more egregious acts by others," said Manan Kumar Mishra, Rajya Sabha MP and chairman of BCI. 

 

Hightling recent incidents of communal violence in West Bengal, Mishra charged, "Time and again, the state machinery has shielded those inciting or perpetrating violence against Hindus, while acting with unprecedented haste and severity against individuals like Sharmistha for expressing dissent." The BCI chairman also accused the Trinamool Congress government of opposing Operation Sindoor, a charge the party has denied. "I demand Sharmistha’s immediate release, a fair trial, and an end to the double standards that have long plagued the state’s administration of justice," Mishra said in a statement.

 

However, Kolkata police defended its actions and said "hate speech and abusive language should not be misconstrued as freedom of speech." Police dismissed claims that Panoli was arrested for opposing Pakistan as misleading. 

 

 

"At the time when the whole country stood united and our brave citizens were fighting at the frontier, posting such content on social media which is insulting and demeaning to any class of citizens of India is most abominable act. Any such act will only benefit our enemies," it said. "The accused was not arrested for expressing patriotism or for personal belief; legal actions were taken for sharing offensive content which promotes hatred among the communities," police said in a post on X. Police urged all to "refrain from doing anything that would benefit our enemies".

India