Sharmishta Panoli arrest: After Kolkata Police arrested social media content creator and influencer Sharmishta Panoli from Haryana's Gurugram for allegedly posting a communal video, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Saturday asked the West Bengal Government and state police to act "justly" in the case. The superstar of Telugu cinema asserted that "blasphemy must be condemned", but secularism should not be used as a "shield".
The Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister said in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), “Blasphemy must be condemned, always! Secularism isn’t a shield for some and a sword for others. It must be a two-way street. West Bengal Police, the nation is watching. Act justly for all.”
Kalyan said that law student Sharmishta spoke out "regrettable and hurtful words on some" in relation to incidents leading up to Operation Sindoor and India's response to Pakistan's repeated terrorist misadventures.
He said, “She owned her mistake, deleted the video and apologized. The WB (West Bengal) Police swiftly acted, taking action against Sharmishta.”
He added an older video of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee speaking at a rally, and said, "But what about the deep, searing pain inflicted upon millions when the elected leaders, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs mock Sanatana Dharma."
Commenting on West Bengal CM's alleged inflammatory speech, the founder of the Janasena Party (JSP), an ally of the BJP, asked, "Where is the outrage when our faith is called 'Gandha Dharm'? Where is their apology? Where is their swift arrest?"
Who is Sharmistha Panoli: What did she say?
Sharmistha Panoli, a 22-year-old social media content creator and influencer, was arrested from Gurugram by Kolkata Police after she faced flak for her viral social media post, which allegedly hurt the sentiments of a particular community — members of which field legal cases against her.
Panoli later took the video down after facing backlash. An FIR has been filed against her under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections that are linked to promoting enmity on grounds of religion, deliberate acts to outrage religious feelings and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace.
Panoli was produced in court, and has been sent to judicial custody till June 13.
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