New Delhi: Amnesty International India, a non-governmental organization focused on human rights, has criticised the state government’s move to arrest Abhijit Iyer Mitra for his derogatory remarks on Konark Sun Temple.
Terming Iyer’s arrest as a violation of the freedom of expression, Amnesty International India on its twitter handle said, “The Odisha government must release journalist Abhijit Iyer Mitra who was arrested for making a sarcastic comment on two temples in Odisha. The right to #freedomofexpression extends to speech that may be considered offensive by some. A criminal case for such conduct is not justified”. “It is absurd for the Odisha government to arrest someone for making a sarcastic comment. The Odisha government must respect Abhijit Iyer Mitra’s right to freedom of expression and drop all charges against him,” Amnesty India tweeted.
Notably, Mitra was arrested by Odisha Police October 23. A case was registered against him under Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on religious ground), 295 A (hurting religious sentiments) and other Sections of IPC.
A local court in Bhubaneswar November 8 extended Mitra’s judicial custody for another 14 days.
Mitra had apologised to the State Assembly for his remarks against Odias, the State Assembly, legislators and temples here.
Earlier, he had approached the Supreme Court for bail but the apex court refused to grant bail, saying, “You are inciting religious feelings of the people of this country. You should go to prison.” Mitra had posted a video on his twitter handle making derogatory remarks on the Konark Sun Temple.
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