GUWAHATI: The Manipur High Court on Monday ordered for the release of journalist Kishorechandra Wangkhem, detained under National Security Act (NSA) since last November for his alleged “offensive” remarks in a video uploaded on Facebook.
“The honourable high court has today ordered for his release. We are awaiting a copy of the court’s order. We are hopeful that he will be released soon,” Wangkhem’s wife, Ranjita Elangbam, said.
Earlier, she had filed a petition in the court with a prayer for his release. The court completed the hearings of the petition on March 4 but reserved the judgment.
On November 21 last year, Wangkhem was arrested under Sections 294 and 500 of the IPC in addition to Section 124 A, which deals with sedition, for his criticism of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and the BJP-RSS and later, sentenced to one year’s “detention” by a local court.
He had uploaded a video on Facebook two days ahead of his arrest wherein he used expletives several times to slam the BJP-RSS and the state government. He had described the CM as a “puppet of Modi and Hindutva”. He was miffed with the state government for organizing a function to mark the birth anniversary of Rani Lakshmibai. He said she had nothing to do with Manipur’s freedom movement.