A petition has been filed in the Calcutta High Court against author Arundhati Roy, accusing her of making anti-national remarks. The petitioner, Mita Banerjee, alleged that Roy shared an interview on her social media handle, wherein she referred to India as a ‘Hindu fascist enterprise.’ This comment was made on the erstwhile Twitter platform, now known as ‘X.’ Banerjee’s plea to the division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya requested that Roy be asked to delete her post.
Banerjee argued that Roy’s statement denigrated India, a democratic secular republic, and went against the spirit of India’s
“dharma rakshati rakshita”
message, which translates to
“those who protect dharma are protected by it.”
She emphasized that India, where 80% of the population is Hindu, is a country where people elect their government, questioning how it could be termed fascist. Banerjee also mentioned that actor Prakash Raj retweeted Roy’s post, making him one of the parties in the case.
During the hearing, Banerjee contended that Roy, with millions of followers, spoke against India, which she described as
“one of the few secular countries globally.”
She further alleged that the West Asian media outlet Roy gave the interview to was affiliated with Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Banerjee asserted that any disrespect against any religion poses a threat to national security.
The Chief Justice inquired whether similar pleas were present in other high courts, to which Banerjee could not provide an answer. Consequently, the division bench directed the petitioner to serve fresh notices on the parties involved, considering the change in the social media platform’s name from Twitter to X.
This case highlights the ongoing debate and legal challenges surrounding freedom of expression and the portrayal of national identity in India.
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