The police in Raipur on Monday registered a first information report against Bharatiya Janata Party national spokesperson Sambit Patra for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups and hurting religious sentiments, PTI reported.
On May 10, Patra blamed Jawaharlal Nehru for the Kashmir conflict and alleged that Rajiv Gandhi committed the Bofors scam and got 3,000 Sikhs killed. “The Congress workers have complained about me calling Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi corrupt,” he said in tweet. “They will be insulted even more.” He then tweeted a poster that says there would have been at least four scams if the coronavirus pandemic had happened during the Congress regime.
The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint from Chhattisgarh Youth Congress chief Poornachand Padhi. Padhi accused the BJP leader of making allegations against former prime ministers Rajiv Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru in relation to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Bofors scam and the Jammu and Kashmir matter.
In his complaint, Padhi said the two former prime ministers had not been convicted in a corruption case or for the riots. He added that making such remarks during a pandemic not only affects harmony between religious groups but also disturbs a peaceful atmosphere.
“There is also likelihood that the tweet may cause fear in the Sikh community and induce any person of the community to commit an offence against the state or against the public tranquility,” the FIR read, according to the Hindustan Times. Padhi alleged Patra had used derogatory language against Nehru and Gandhi that could provoke any community or a group of people to commit an offence.
The case was registered under sections 505(2) (public mischief), 153A(promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc) and 298 (uttering, words...with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person) of the Indian Penal Code.
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh’s BJP spokesperson Sanjay Shrivastava claimed the Congress was misusing the state machinery to lodge FIRs against his party’s leaders.
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