New Delhi: Congress on Friday sought to
disapprove of the arrest of a Professor by West Bengal Police
for allegedly posting a cartoon showing Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee in poor light on a popular social networking site.
Party spokesman Manish Tewari said the Congress always
believed in the freedom of right of expression granted by the
Constitution which was intrinsic to the democratic ethos of
the country.
He, however, added that he had no first hand knowledge of
the incident and therefore it was inappropriate for making any
sweeping judgement without understanding facts from the West
Bengal unit of the party.
Congress is a junior partner in the West Bengal government
headed by the Trinamool Congress supremo while Banerjee`s
party is the second largest constituent of the UPA at the
Centre after Congress. In recent times, Trinamool has emerged
as the most troublesome ally for the Congress at the Centre.
The cartoon by the Professor of Chemistry of Jadavpur
University also involved Railway Minister Mukul Roy and former
Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi.
Police have said that Professor Ambikesh Mohapatra was
arrested along with a neighbour residing in east Jadavpur for
spreading derogatory messages against "respectable persons".
The cartoon showed the chief minister and the railway
minister exchanging dialogues from a popular Bengali film by
Satyajit Ray which alluded to the replacement of Dinesh
Trivedi by Mukul Roy as Railway minister.
PTI
