The Assam Police have booked an assistant professor for allegedly hurting religious sentiments with his “derogatory” Facebook post against the deity Ram, The Indian Express reported on Sunday.
A case was filed against Anindya Sen on August 8 after a complaint from Rohit Chanda, who identified himself as a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad – the student wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“Yes, a case has been registered over the FB post,” Cachar Superintendent of Police BL Meena told The Indian Express. “The complaint is about the post hurting religious sentiments. We will investigate the matter.” Sen, a professor of English at Assam University in Silchar, has been booked under sections 294 (obscene acts or words in public), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts to outrage religious feelings) and 501 (printing or engraving matters known to be defamatory) of the Indian Penal Code.
On August 5, the day of the “bhoomi pujan” or foundation ceremony for the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Sen had posted a small imaginary conversation on Facebook. The post took a sarcastic swipe at the deity.
Chanda alleged that Sen had made derogatory remarks against Ram. “He also continuously posts such abusive posts defaming Hindu dharma and also abuses constitutional posts like Prime Minister and Home Minister of the country,” the FIR read.
However, Sen defended himself. “The Ramayana is an epic,” he said. “It has many versions. At different points, Ram has been criticised. I am not the first one to point out the criticism. It has been done before as well.”
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