The father of influencer Sharmishta Panoli, who was granted interim bail by the Calcutta High Court, has spoken out following her arrest over controversial social media comments related to Operation Sindoor.
The 22-year-old was arrested by Kolkata Police from Gurugram and accused of hurting religious sentiments with allegedly communal remarks made in a video posted online. Days after she was granted bail, her father, Prithviraj Panoli, shared a post on X, quoting Urdu poet Allama Iqbal's song 'Saare Jahan Se Accha'. Referencing a verse which calls for no religious animosity, Panoli said, "He preached this to the secular Hindustan and then became one of the founding voices for Islamic Pakistan."
Defending his daughter, Panoli urged others to follow in her footsteps. After a social media user urged him to discourage his daughter from using "inappropriate or offensive language", he hit back, saying he was "ok" with his daughter abusing “Pakistani terrorists.”
"I am OK with my daughter abusing Pakistani terrorists who killed innocents in the name of religion. She only used some words what many maulanas preach openly. Are you OK for her getting rape threats for that despite apologising? Did you raise your voice against that? If yes, I am with you," he wrote.
Sharmishta Panoli's controversial post
{{/usCountry}}"I am OK with my daughter abusing Pakistani terrorists who killed innocents in the name of religion. She only used some words what many maulanas preach openly. Are you OK for her getting rape threats for that despite apologising? Did you raise your voice against that? If yes, I am with you," he wrote.
Sharmishta Panoli's controversial post
{{/usCountry}}A 22-year-old law student from Pune, Sharmishta Panoli, found herself at the centre of controversy after she allegedly made remarks about Bollywood celebrities’ silence on “Operation Sindoor.” The video quickly went viral, drawing sharp backlash online, with many accusing her of spreading hate speech. Panoli also received threats in the comments section of her post.
Following the uproar, she deleted the video from Instagram and issued a public apology. In her statement, she expressed regret and stated that she never intended to hurt anyone’s religious sentiments. She also deleted her previous posts.
Panoli’s arrest by Kolkata Police triggered a political storm in West Bengal, with the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slamming the move as “selective enforcement” of the law.