The police in Uttar Pradesh on Monday said that a first information report has been filed against renowned Urdu poet Munawwar Rana over his comments on the recent killings in France, PTI reported. Khan, in an interview to a news channel, purportedly defended the killings after outcry among Muslims worldwide over the caricatures of Prophet Muhammad.
On October 17, a school teacher in a Paris suburb was beheaded by an 18-year-old attacker after he showed a cartoon of the Prophet during a class on freedom of expression. Many Muslims, in France and abroad, interpret the cartoons as a deeply offensive provocation and see any depiction of the Prophet as blasphemous. France raised its security level to the highest after an assailant shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) beheaded a woman and killed two other people in a church in Nice city on October 29.
In a widely shared video clip of Rana’s interview, he can reportedly be heard saying: “If any person makes such a bad cartoon of my father or mother, then I will kill him.” When the 67-year-old poet was questioned if he supported the killings, he responded that he “will kill him”.
However, Rana on Monday told PTI that his comments were misconstrued and it was made in the context of India. “If anyone makes an indecent and vulgar picture of our gods and goddesses – Lord Ram, Goddess Sita and Saraswati, and the person making it is a Muslim or anyone else, I will kill such person as he is spreading hatred,” he said. “And it requires immense courage to kill a person hailing from your family or community.”
“The person who made the cartoon [in France] had done a wrong act and the person who murdered the cartoonist did an extremely wrong act,” the poet added.
Rana, who is a recipient of prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for Urdu literature, was charged with various Indian Penal Code Sections, including 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings). The poet has also been booked under IPC Section 505 (statements conducing public mischief) and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act.
A police officer said the case against Rana was filed at the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow on Sunday and investigation is underway. It was based on the complaint of Sub-Inspector Deepak Kumar Pandey, according to The Indian Express. “The statements are potentially promoting enmity between different communities, can have adverse effects on social harmony and disrupt peace,” the FIR said.
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