Daijiworld Media Network (SR)

Kolkata, May 19: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has often accused the BJP government in the centre of been intolerant and has always positioned herself as a champion of free speech, but the situation in Bengal does not seem to be any different. Priyanka Sharma, a convener of Bharatiya Janata Youth Morcha (BJYM) was arrested by the Howrah cyber crime branch police for posting a MET Gala 2019 themed meme on Mamata Banerjee on Facebook.

TMC leader Bivas Chandra Hazra filed a complaint against Priyanka Sharma saying that sharing the CM's photoshopped picture online was a grave crime and it was an insult to the CM of the state. In the complaint he mentioned, "Priyanka Sharma posted a most awful post on Facebook on May 9 at 5 pm on her timeline, that is she cut the face of Mamata Banerjee from any picture and pasted it on a picture of some model or something like that, which broke the community guidelines and it is also an issue of violence. She not just tries to insult our hon'ble chief minister, but she trying to insults the culture of our Bengal by her post on facebook and which is Cyber Crime."

The move has come under tremendous criticism and netizens slammed the West Bengal administration for filing a case against the BJP worker for merely poking fun at Mamata.

With over 50,000 tweets, Twitter hashtag # #ISUPPORTPRIYANKASHARMA has been trending with over 50,000 tweets since May10. A Twitter user Rishi Bagree said, "I don't know her. I never met her. But still I can feel the pain of Priyanka Sharma who has been arrested for sharing a viral meme on Mamata. Just imagine what her family is going through right now. What if this happens with your daughter or sister?"

This is not the first time the Bengal chief minister has taken offence at satire mocking her. A Jadavpur University professor Amibkesh Mahapatra was arrested in 2012 for sharing cartoons of Mamata Banerjee.