Govt takes refuge in ‘sentiments of all Arunachalis’
Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 29 Mar: Yupia’s judicial magistrate has granted bail to Ebo Mili and Nilim Nayan Mahanta, who were arrested for defacing the mural of a hydropower dam with a ‘no dam’ message in Itanagar.
Famous graffiti artist from Assam, Mahanta and lawyer-activist Mili were released on a bail bond of Rs 3,000 each and on the condition that Mahanta will repaint the portion of the wall and bring it back to its earlier form.
Mili will provide the required assistance within a period of 10 days from Tuesday, the judge stated in her order on Monday.
Judge Tenzin Metho in her order stated that it is “constitutionally accepted principle that fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression comes with certain reasonable restrictions. And even if both the accused wanted to convey their protest regarding the issue of construction of dams, there are several other modes of conveying their message, but such defacement upon a carefully curated painting at the state’s expense was certainly not the right forum.”
While granting bail, she said: “However, as the IO of the case has himself produced the accused persons before this court today – one day prior to the expiry of police remand – as sought by them, this in itself implies that the procedural aspect of the investigation pertaining to both the accused persons is complete.”
The judge further said that “they shall not commit an offence similar to the offence of which he is accused, or suspected, of the commission of which he is suspected.”
Lawyers from the Human Rights Law Network represented the two.
Meanwhile, the government, which has been severely criticised for the arrest, issued a statement, saying that, “while the government of Arunachal Pradesh has no issues with the ‘intent’ of the two individuals, it cannot be lenient to any act that borders around ‘crime’ that also goes against the popular sentiments of its people.”
Naming Mahanta and Mili, it said that the arrest by the Itanagar police and the resulting reactions on social as well as the mainstream media “can be attributed mostly to misinformation.”
It further said that the “government of Arunachal Pradesh seeks to put on record that the arrests made do not pertain to any kind of anti-dam or any other protest. We firmly believe on freedom of expression and the right to dissent or protest by any citizen according to their rightful conscience within the framework of law.”
“The ‘Wall of Harmony’ not only became a centre of attraction but also a proud depiction of the glorious history of Arunachal Pradesh since its formation to till date. The aforementioned two individuals by their act of defacing the ‘Wall of Harmony’ have not only encroached into public property but also hurt the sentiments of all Arunachalis, who take much pride in their glorious past,” the statement read.
It may be added that Mahanta and Mili defaced the hydropower dam mural with the ‘no more dam’ protest message, without touching the rest of the wall.
