GUWAHATI: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Monday said he can tolerate criticism but not the humiliation of national heroes like the Rani of Jhansi Lakshmibai and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
His comments were with reference to journalist Kishorechandra Wangkhem who was sentenced to one-year imprisonment by a local court following his arrest by the Manipur Police under the National Security Act (NSA).
“I have no problem with criticism. I can tolerate it. However, I cannot tolerate the humiliation of my leaders. He (Wangkhem) was both abusing and humiliating national heroes like the Rani of Jhansi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. What he said was beyond the freedom of expression,” Singh said.
Talking about Wangkhem’s arrested under the NSA, he said the court would decide whether or not it was justified. He agreed that everyone has the right to criticize but, at the same time, said one must not forget that there are limits.
Last week, the Manipur High Court sent notices to the state and the Central governments asking them to respond by February 1 against the petition filed by Wangkhem challenging his detention order under NSA.
Wangkhem was arrested last month for his alleged offensive remarks against BJP, RSS and Manipur’s BJP-led coalition government. He had uploaded a video on Facebook on November 19 wherein he used expletives several times to go hammer and tongs at BJP-RSS and the state government. On the day he had uploaded the video, local television channel “Information Service TV Network”, where he worked, sacked him.
In the video, Wangkhem described the CM as a “puppet of Modi and Hindutva”. He was miffed with the state government for organizing a function in October to mark the birth anniversary of Lakshmibai. He said she had nothing to do with Manipur’s freedom movement.