Three years after Ambikesh Mahapatra was arrested for hitting the forward button on his email which carried a cartoon featuring Mamata Banerjee and other Trinamool Congress leaders, the chemistry professor from the Jadavpur University in West Bengal is unrepentant and uncowed. Even though he is still facing cases in two courts, Mahapatra told Scroll.in that he will not give up his fight against the oppression of the West Bengal government.
On Tuesday, he won a victory when the Kolkata High Court directed the state government to pay the compensation of Rs 50,000 each to Mahapatra and the other person named in the FIR. The court also ordered an investigation into the role of the two police officers involved in the case.
Excerpts from an interview with him:
The High Court has ordered the government to compensate you and Subrata Sengupta. Are you relieved?
This case started in 2012. We spent a night in the jail and have been slapped with charges under the IT Act, which is still pending in the district court of Kolkata.
Sections 114, 500, 509 were dropped by the police in 2012 itself when they filed the chargesheet but the IT Act ones are still there. The West Bengal Human Rights Commission investigated the case and recommended that a compensation be issued to me and Subrata Sengupta along with an investigation into the role of policemen involved but the state government completely ignored their recommendations.
We finally moved the High Court in November 2013 to fight for its implementation and after multiple trials and hearings, we have reached here.
The High Court’s decision is welcome but the state government is not going to relent so easily on us.
Why do you think the state government didn't accept the recommendations?
The Mamata Banerjee led government has been running a campaign to suppress dissenting voices and curtail the freedom of speech for a long time now. I have been slapped with another criminal case and was named absconder by the police so that they could get an arrest warrant against me when I have been in the state and attending classes. The case is with another police station and I am trying to fight it as I can best.
What were the difficulties that you have faced so far in fighting the state government?
I was beaten up by goons at my home when I first shared the cartoons. Since then, there has been a constant fear of state intervention. The students and people from my housing society came out in the protest and offered us some much needed support but I have felt scared for my family a lot of times. I’m trying to lead a normal life by going to the classes and also attending court hearings but it’s difficult.
You were arrested for forwarding a comic strip. Do you think it is one-off case that won’t happen now that the High Court has rapped the government?
Two cases against me in two different courts is definitely harassment against me by the government but it’s nothing new. The freedom of speech in the state is under siege. Many people have been wrongly accused, others harassed by the police and sometimes party’s goons take things into their hands and just beat people up. The government is very vindictive, intolerant and hardly follows the rule of law. Miscreants in all spheres are continuously forgiven and condoned.
Do you think there’s a chance that the state government will now take back these cases against you?
I don’t see that happening. The state government is working on an agenda and they won’t let the cases go. I am sure the prosecution will continue as long as they want to harass me.
Have you altered your online activity after the incident?
You never know when the state government comes with its cases, police and muscle power to crack down but that doesn't scare me. I have enough support from the civil society to fight back so I haven’t changed my activity at all ever since the incident happened. A single incident can’t frighten me.
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On Tuesday, he won a victory when the Kolkata High Court directed the state government to pay the compensation of Rs 50,000 each to Mahapatra and the other person named in the FIR. The court also ordered an investigation into the role of the two police officers involved in the case.
Excerpts from an interview with him:
The High Court has ordered the government to compensate you and Subrata Sengupta. Are you relieved?
This case started in 2012. We spent a night in the jail and have been slapped with charges under the IT Act, which is still pending in the district court of Kolkata.
Sections 114, 500, 509 were dropped by the police in 2012 itself when they filed the chargesheet but the IT Act ones are still there. The West Bengal Human Rights Commission investigated the case and recommended that a compensation be issued to me and Subrata Sengupta along with an investigation into the role of policemen involved but the state government completely ignored their recommendations.
We finally moved the High Court in November 2013 to fight for its implementation and after multiple trials and hearings, we have reached here.
The High Court’s decision is welcome but the state government is not going to relent so easily on us.
Why do you think the state government didn't accept the recommendations?
The Mamata Banerjee led government has been running a campaign to suppress dissenting voices and curtail the freedom of speech for a long time now. I have been slapped with another criminal case and was named absconder by the police so that they could get an arrest warrant against me when I have been in the state and attending classes. The case is with another police station and I am trying to fight it as I can best.
What were the difficulties that you have faced so far in fighting the state government?
I was beaten up by goons at my home when I first shared the cartoons. Since then, there has been a constant fear of state intervention. The students and people from my housing society came out in the protest and offered us some much needed support but I have felt scared for my family a lot of times. I’m trying to lead a normal life by going to the classes and also attending court hearings but it’s difficult.
You were arrested for forwarding a comic strip. Do you think it is one-off case that won’t happen now that the High Court has rapped the government?
Two cases against me in two different courts is definitely harassment against me by the government but it’s nothing new. The freedom of speech in the state is under siege. Many people have been wrongly accused, others harassed by the police and sometimes party’s goons take things into their hands and just beat people up. The government is very vindictive, intolerant and hardly follows the rule of law. Miscreants in all spheres are continuously forgiven and condoned.
Do you think there’s a chance that the state government will now take back these cases against you?
I don’t see that happening. The state government is working on an agenda and they won’t let the cases go. I am sure the prosecution will continue as long as they want to harass me.
Have you altered your online activity after the incident?
You never know when the state government comes with its cases, police and muscle power to crack down but that doesn't scare me. I have enough support from the civil society to fight back so I haven’t changed my activity at all ever since the incident happened. A single incident can’t frighten me.