A mob of over 50 men gathered outside the residence of a college lecturer, who was arrested for a controversial Facebook post criticising the government, in Assam’s Silchar, and asked, ‘what kind of Hindus are you?’ on not having any images or idols of god at home.
25-year-old Souradeep Sengupta, who taught Physics in the college as a guest faculty, was arrested by the Assam Police following a complaint by the students of Silchar’s Gurcharan College.
The Indian Express had reported that the mob chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and refused to leave until he apologized on Facebook Live. Reaching his residence, the police officials had taken him to the police station citing reasons for his safety where eventually he was arrested and sent to judicial custody.
It has been alleged that the complainants were affiliated to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) which is an all India student organisation affiliated to the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Sengupta had expressed his views on the communal violence that shook the national capital, hinting at a BJP-RSS scheme to ‘recreate the Godhra in Delhi.’
In one of the social media posts, he also attacked the Sanatan Dharma where he was accused by the followers of hurting the religious sentiments.
Outlook reported that the complaint said Sengupta ‘made derogatory remarks and abused the Sanatan Dharma as a whole from the last couple of days. He also alleged the prime minister of the nation as a mass murderer and tried to incite communal violence by making inflammatory comments against the Hindu community in the context of the recent Delhi riots.’
After the backlash, Sengupta had apologised for his irresponsible comments.
‘I apologise for any religious sentiments I may have hurt by my posts. I made some irresponsible comments about a communally sensitive issue. It was a lapse of judgement. My intention was not to insult any religion at large,’ he wrote.
Sengupta was arrested under three sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 66A of the Information Technology Act that encapsulates punishment for sending offensive messages through a computer resource or a communication service.
The IPC sections slapped against him include Section 153A and 295A.
Section 153A deals with the offence of promoting disharmony or enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc. and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony while Section 295A includes deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.
Sengupta’s mother was ‘disturbed by the sequence of events’ and was frightened by the behaviour of the mob, reported The Print.
Also Read: Assam Lecturer Arrested For Criticizing Government Of ‘Trying To Recreate Godhra In Delhi’
