- Monday, January 20, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE Supreme Court of India on Monday (19) ordered the release of Erendro Leichombam, an activist from the northeastern state of Manipur, after he was arrested on charges of sedition a few months ago for a Facebook post that said cow dung did not cure Covid-19 disease.
The 40-year-old made the remarks in May following the death of a state politician who belonged to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party which rules both at the Centre and Manipur.
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Cows are considered sacred under India’s majority Hindu religion and there have been several instances of BJP politicians in the country backing the use of cow urine and dung to cure the coronavirus which is causing the current pandemic all over the globe.
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“The cure for corona is not cow dung and cow urine. The cure is science and common sense,” Leichombam wrote on Facebook. Leichombam was arrested shortly afterwards, along with a local journalist, on charges of “outraging religious sentiments” of family members and BJP workers after another local BJP politician filed a complaint. He was later charged with sedition under the National Security Act, which under the accused can be held in prison for a year.
In May, Manipur’s BJP chief S Tikendra Singh passed away after contracting the virus and the activist posted his Facebook remark after that.
The apex court slammed the activist’s detention on Monday saying it only violated his rights. Kishorechandra Wangkem, the journalist, however, has remained behind bars.
“We are of the view that the continued detention of the petitioner would amount to violation of right to life and personal liberty under Article 21. We direct him to be released today by 5 pm with a personal bond of ₹ 1,000,” a two-judge bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah said.
The top court’s order came on a plea made by Leichombam’s father.
Speaking after his release, the activist hit out at the government saying it was trying to “silence everyone with NSA (the National Security Act)” and declared “but that is not going to work”.
“326 cases of sedition across India. Let me tell you something… the Supreme Court came out and said, ‘Why are we using the sedition law, which was used by the British to arrest freedom fighters. Mahatma Gandhi himself was arrested under sedition law.” he said.
“I think the current government is trying to abuse the power of the Executive and go beyond the Constitution… and trying to silence everybody. But I don’t think that’s going to work. India is a very strong democracy,” the activist said.
Last week, the Supreme Court rued the “misuse” of a colonial-era sedition law and asked the Narendra Modi government why such a law should not be scrapped.
Earlier in July, the death of 84-year-old priest-activist Stan Swamy, who had been arrested under an anti-terror law last October, died in judicial custody, sparking an outrage both in India and abroad.
