Assam: Silchar college lecturer sent to jail for abusing Sanatan dharma, calling PM Modi 'mass murderer'

A Silchar court on Saturday rejected the bail application filed by the counsel of Souradeep Sengupta, guest lecturer at the town's Gurucharan College, and sent him to two-day judicial custody till Monday.

Sengupta was arrested on Friday night for abusing the Hindu Sanatan dharma on social media and calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a 'mass murderer' in a post.

Souradeep, who is a resident of Silchar's Itkhola and works as a guest lecturer in the Department of Physics at the town's GC College, made a controversial post from his Facebook profile on Friday, in the wake of communal clashes in northeast Delhi that claimed the lives of several dozens and injured hundreds more.

The post read, "The BJP and RSS are trying to recreate Godhra in Delhi right now. People on the street are getting their IDs checked to see if they are Muslim - if they are, they are getting beaten mercilessly. Hindu houses are being marked by saffron flags, while Muslim houses and mosques are being petrol-bombed. All while these terrorists shout Jai shree ram. Sanatan dharma my foot."

The post further stated, "We elected a mass murderer twice as PM - this is what we get. Everyone who voted for BJP should know they sold the country off for a few bucks."

Soon after he made this post, a controversy erupted around it in the town. Notably, students of his own college immediately took an issue with it and filed an FIR on Saturday at the Silchar Sadar Police station against the guest lecturer for 'hurting the sentiments of people belonging to a particular religious community'.

Rohit Chanda, a student of GC College filed the FIR on behalf of the protesting students.

"We have submitted a written complaint to the principal of the college and the teacher's council, urging them to ensure that this does not happen again, at least in our institution," local media Barak Bulletin quoted Subhasish Choudhury, a student of GC College.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), also took up the issue and protested against the alleged defamation of their organisation in Sengupta's post, which had accused RSS of conducting riots in the national capital.

Karanjit Deb, a member of the ABVP, told local media that such slander from a university professor is unbefitting of his post and serious action should be taken in this regard.

Getting an idea of the potential controversy, Sengupta deleted his posts and also issued an apology. "I apologise for any religious sentiments I may have hurt by my posts. I made some irresponsible comments about a communally sensitive issue. It was a lapse of judgment. My intention was not to insult any religion at large," Sengupta wrote as apology on Facebook.

However, the wheels were already in motion by then. On the basis of the FIR, Silchar Sadar police detained Sengupta from his residence and produced him before a court.

It was also found out that Souradeep Sengupta, an alumnus of Kolkata's Presidency College, had earlier, too, posted several inflammatory statements on Facebook, such as "Hindutva is Cancer. Wake up, people".

Another hearing pertaining to Souradeep's bail is likely to take place on Monday. However, until then, the guest lecturer remains locked up with 15 more jailbirds implicated in serious crimes. He might also be admitted to a nearby medical college depending on his physical conditions.