Jailed Manipur Scribe’s Wife: ‘Seems Like He is Being Silenced’
Ranjita, wife of Manipur journo, charged under NSA tells The Quint, ‘it seems like her husband is being silenced’.
Video Editor: Mohd Irshad
In an interview to The Quint, Ranjita Elangbam, wife of Manipur journalist charged under NSA said, ‘Don’t know whether we are living in a democratic country’. For Elangbam, the last two months have been difficult. With her husband in jail for a Facebook post critical of the state’s chief minister, Elangbam says ‘it’s like time is stuck somewhere’.
On the issue of whether the state went overboard with slapping NSA, Elangbam said:
Ranjita Elangbam, wife of jailed Manipur journalist Kishorchandra Wangkhem, addressed a press conference in Delhi’s Press Club on Tuesday, 29 January. Elangbam has appealed for Wangkhem’s immediate release via the media in Delhi.
The media address was steered by former Justice Markandey Katju and senior Supreme Court advocate and Founder of Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) Colin Gonsalves.
Wangkhem, a former anchor with a local news channel, was taken into custody in December 2018 after he was arrested for allegedly calling Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh ‘a BJP puppet’ in a video posted online.
In November 2018, Wangkhem posted on Facebook a video in which he could be heard lashing out at the state government for its decision to celebrate the birth anniversary of Rani Lakshmibai.
Though the journalist was released after a judicial magistrate ruled in his favour, the Manipur government ordered his detention for one year under the National Security Act (NSA).
In January this year, Congress President Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to Wangkhem saying, “this is another attempt to use the state machinery to silence dissent".
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