A Mumbai-based doctor who was arrested for allegedly posting “anti-Hindu” comments on Facebook was granted bail on Thursday, The Indian Express reported. Sunilkumar Nishad claimed his posts did not criticise any religion.
According to ANI, a resident had complained that Nishad had made derogatory remarks about the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Pragya Singh Thakur as well as anti-Hindu and anti-Brahminical comments. Nishad was arrested on Wednesday.
“I don’t even know who the complainant is,” Nishad told The Indian Express. “There was no intention of hurting anyone’s religious beliefs. Whatever I said was based on facts and, in some cases, High Court orders which I have read. If anyone had any problem, they should have countered me on facts or spoken to me.”
The police had registered a First Information Report against the doctor on May 11 on the basis of a complaint filed by a person identified as Ravindra Tiwari, who claims to be a social activist. Nishad’s lawyer, Shiv Pasi, said they would approach the Bombay High Court to get the FIR quashed.
Nishad was produced in the magistrate court in Vikhroli on Thursday. The prosecutor sought two-day police custody, but the magistrate remanded him to judicial custody and then granted bail.
The complainant, Tiwari, said Nishad’s post on Facebook had hurt his religious feelings. “Through others, I had told him to stop putting up such posts but he continued doing so for the past two years,” he said. “Recently, when someone I knew went to him for treatment, he again started telling him these things. That is when I decided to lodge a complaint. It doesn’t matter that he secured bail. It will ensure he does not post such things in future.”
Sunil Yadav, who is a member of the Indian Medical Professional Association, said Nishad had not targeted any religion. “He has opposed ‘Brahmanwad’, which is a discriminatory practice,” Yadav said. Yadav was present in the court.
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