The BJP filed several complaints against Sreelekha Mitra.
The party accused her of brandishing objectionable posters of PM Modi at Kolkata's NEET protests.
Mitra has countered that she wasn't aware of the exact image on the poster she was holding.
The BJP on Sunday hurled police complaints against Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra seeking her arrest on grounds that she publicly displayed an obscene and offensive image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a students’ protest rally in Kolkata two days ago. .
According to the complaint submitted by Ghosh, Mitra actively participated in a student rally marching from Sealdah to Dharmatala on July 24 and publicly displayed a poster featuring an “objectionable and disrespectful” caricature of PM Modi. Complaints have been lodged under Sections 352 (provocation with intent to cause a breach of peace), 353 (public support for provocative conduct), and 356 (defamation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
While a complaint against Mitra was lodged at the Anandapur Police Station by BJP leader and party spokesperson Keya Ghosh, reports of complaints having been filed against her at the Bidhannagar Cyber Crime Police Station and several other police stations were also received. Ghosh added, “We saw attacks on journalists during the demonstration. Even women journalists were not spared and were molested. Such actions cannot be accepted. Showing the Prime Minister in this manner is also unacceptable, which is why the FIR has been filed.”
Responding to the complaints, Mitra dropped a video on her social media timeline on Sunday.
Sreelekha Mitra's Clarifications
“I have heard that several complaints have been lodged against me. First of all, let me clarify that there was such a huge crowd at the protest venue that I hardly got a chance to look at the poster carefully. Most women hardly look at a man below the belt. I saw Modi ji’s caricature with his hands spread and found it funny. I didn’t notice anything else,” she said.
The actor clarified that she was wearing sunglasses and not her spectacles.
“The posters were made by others. I merely happened to see one and pose with it. If they want to arrest me for this, they can. They can even hang me for it. And if they do, I am sure there will be another massive protest. The government should be prepared for that,” she said.
