India: CRPP-WB – Withdraw the cases imposed on the leaders and activists of APCLC
We hereby share a press release issued by the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners – West Bengal (CRPP-WB).
Release Kranthi Chaitanya and Mohan Krishna immediately
It is alarming to note that the leader of the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC) Kranthi Chaitanya and an activist Mohan Krishna have been arrested by the AP police on 9 th January, 2026 for erecting a banner commemorating the organisation’s 20th State Conference. The arrest was made based on a complaint lodged by the President of the Sanatan Dharma Protection Committee, alleging the erection of a “provocative banner”. In reality, the banner contained the call for punishing the Hindu extremists responsible for killing rationalists and democrats and featured photographs of Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, M M Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh who were, in reality, assassinated by members of Hindutva organisations as investigate findings revealed. As a brazen show of trampling all democratic and secular values, the Hindutva forces openly felicitated the persons accused in the murder of Gauri Lankesh and M M Kalburgi after their bail.
The banner erected APCLC also contained an emblem similar to Ashok Stambh with the lion face of the Lion Capital being replaced by bull face and in place of ‘Satyameva jayate’, ‘Satyameva parajayate’ was written. This satirical emblem was used to criticise the Hindutva State power which is constantly eroding the secular and democratic values upheld by the very Indian Constitution. But naming the banner as provocative, several charges including Sedition, act of endangering the sovereignty and integrity of India, breach of peace etc.. have been slapped on the activists of APCLC.
We, as members of CRPP (W.B), strongly condemn this act of high-handedness of the AP police. In this context we would also like to remind that in a similar case filed against cartoonist Asim Trivedi in 2012, the Bombay High Court ruled, that if cartoons or other visual depictions do not incite violence or are not intended to create public disorder, then those cannot be used for curtailing freedom of expression simply because those depictions do not contain any humorous element.
In light of the above-mentioned ruling, we demand the immediate and unconditional release of senior civil liberties leaders and activists Kranthi Chaitanya and Mohan Krishna. We also urge all democratic minded citizens of the country to raise their voices against such incidents of brazen use of State power to curtail the freedom of speech and expression of the citizens of our country.
