Law student Sharmishta Panoli’s arrest sparked nationwide debate over free speech, religion, and political bias.
KOLKATA: Sharmishta Panoli, a 22-year-old law student from Pune and an Instagram influencer, was arrested by the Kolkata Police from Gurgaon on Friday afternoon for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through her remarks on social media following Operation Sindoor. She was brought to Kolkata on transit remand and produced before the Alipore Police Court on Saturday afternoon.
While the police sought 14-day custody, the judge remanded her to judicial custody until June 13.
As she was being taken out of court, a distraught Panoli said, “You cannot harass me like this. This is a democracy.”
The police identified Panoli as a fourth-year BBA LLB (Hons) student at Symbiosis Law School, Pune.
After Panoli’s posts began attracting criticism from Muslim community leaders across the country, she deleted the offensive Instagram content and issued an apology on X (formerly Twitter).
In her post, Panoli wrote, “I do hereby tender my UNCONDITIONAL APOLOGY. Whatever was posted reflected my personal feelings, and I never intentionally intended to hurt anybody. So, if anybody is hurt, I’m sorry for the same. I expect cooperation and understanding. Henceforth, I will be cautious in my public posts. Again, please accept my apologies.”
According to police sources, a case was registered against Panoli at the Garden Reach Police Station in Kolkata on May 15, following a complaint by the Garden Reachbased Rashidi Foundation.
A member of the Rashidi Foundation told The Sunday Guardian, “After Operation Sindoor, this girl was continuously posting antiPakistani comments on Instagram, which were gaining significant traction on social media. We had no problem with that. However, she suddenly posted deeply offensive messages against our Prophet. It was brought to our attention, and we decided that this could not go unchallenged.”
The FIR was lodged under sections 196(1)(a) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste, or community), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 353(1)(c) (statements inciting public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Following the FIR, the police attempted to serve notice as per legal procedure. However, police sources alleged that Panoli and her family had absconded. A warrant of arrest was then issued, based on which she was apprehended in Gurgaon. Reacting to Panoli’s arrest, West Bengal Leader of the Opposition and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said, “This is another example of Mamata Banerjee and her police pandering to her Muslim vote bank. This is nothing but Muslim appeasement. Everyone across the world saw Sharmishta’s videos. There were protests, but only Mamata Banerjee went to the extent of sending police to Gurugram to arrest this young girl.”
He added, “Mamata and her police only become active if Muslims complain. She does nothing even when Hinduism is insulted. This is all politics. Multiple FIRs were filed against Mahua Moitra for derogatory comments about Goddess Kali. Was any action taken? What did their MP, Saayoni Ghosh, post about Mahadev? Was any action taken? There have been numerous FIRs against Firhad Hakim, but no action has been taken. Action is only taken against Sanatanis. Everyone has a licence to abuse Sanatana Dharma. This is appeasement politics.”
In response, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh stated, “Our stand is clear— we are not in favour of any division or discrimination on the basis of religion. The Trinamool Congress does not post or support such content. If any legal action is required, it will be taken.”
Meanwhile, the case continues to trend on social media platform X, with hashtags like #ReleaseSharmishta and #ArrestSharmishta reflecting the divided public sentiment.
