GUWAHATI: Manipur journalist Kishorchandra Wangkhem, who was charged under the National Security Act (NSA) by the state’s BJP-led government for his remarks ‘cow dung and cow urine don’t cure COVID-19’, was released from jail on Friday at 4:10 pm.
Earlier in the day, the Manipur High Court had ordered the state government to release him “forthwith and in any event, no later than 5 pm”. Wangkhem’s wife Elangbam Ranjita had moved the court challenging his detention.
Imphal-based activist Erendro Leichombam was released on Monday following a similar order by the Supreme Court. Both were arrested on May 13 on the same charges.
Wangkhem said he was considering moving the Supreme Court to thwart the misuse of NSA.
“My PIL against the sedition law is pending in the Supreme Court. I am now contemplating on doing something about the draconian NSA law. I will talk to my lawyers and see if I can move the Supreme Court,” the journalist told The New Indian Express following his release.
Accusing the government of abusing powers to silence the dissenting voice, he alleged he was targeted as he was conducting an investigation for a story relating to Covid-19. He claimed Covid cases had surged in Manipur following the return of some 200-250 people from Kumbh Mela.
“Probably, the government got a wind of what I was up to and put me in jail to make sure I cannot speak the truth,” Wangkhem said.
“This is a total dictatorship. I knew this government will do something rubbish just to silence me. I think we need to do a campaign so that this draconian law is never used by those in power,” he added.
A bench of Chief Justice PV Sanjay Kumar and Justice Kh Nobin Singh of Manipur High Court said: “On the face of it, we find no distinction or difference between the case of the petitioner’s husband (Wangkhem) and that of Erendro Leichombam. Both of them put up similar Facebook posts, critical of the utility of cow dung and cow urine in treating coronavirus…
“As they stand identically situated, we are of the opinion that the continued incarceration of the petitioner’s husband would be as much a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution, as it was in the case of Erendro Leichombam.”