When entire India is fighting against deadly virus Corona , Gujarat police, upon the complaint of retired army jawan Jaydev Joshi in Rajkot, have filed an FIR against lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan ‘hurting religious sentiments’
“As crores starve & walk hundreds of miles home due to forced lockdown, our heartless ministers celebrate consuming & feeding the opium of Ramayana & Mahabharata to the people,” reads Bhushan’s tweet.
It is to be noted Bhushan tagged and was referring to the tweet of BJP Senior leader and Cabinet Minister Javadekar who put his picture of watching Ramayana and later deleted it owe to the huge outcry against him in social media . It is not known whether Gujarat police has made aware of Bhushan tweet was a resultant of BJP minister act . But Local Sources confirmed that with out any notice / inquiry / summons to Bhushan Bhaktinagar police station in Gujarat’s Rajkot registered an FIR on Sunday evening.
Following this, on war foot basics the investigation was transferred to the special operations group (SOG).
“In his complaint, Joshi accused Bhushan of using word opium with Ramayana and Mahabharata in a tweet made on March 28 which has hurt the sentiments of many Hindu people,” said Rohit Rawal, SOG’s investigating offer in the case.
[splco_quote]“On the basis of the complaint, we have registered a case against the offender under section 34 (criminal act done by several persons), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or the religious beliefs), 505(1) (publishing or circulating any statement, rumour or report which can cause fear and alarm amongst people) and section 120 -B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. We are verifying the tweet. Further investigation is on,” added Rohit. [/splco_quote]
FIR Against Prashant Bhushan in the middle of a pandemic, only reveals the Modi government’s priorities laments social media micro bloggers
Read Also : Country wise Live updates on Corona virus
This Controversy over Ramayana kindles the memories of a controversy surrounding Ramayana and it should noted during 2007 the tenure of UPA 1 when DMK is also part of the government the Centre government led by congress party has decided to withdraw its controversial affidavits on the existence of Ram, expressing regret for hurting religious sentiments, the ruling then DMK in Tamil Nadu has come down hard on “communal forces” for using the “myth” of Ram Sethu to stall the Sethusamudram project.
Warning the Centre against succumbing to communal forces, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, at a function in Erode said: “Who is this Raman (as Lord Ram is referred to in Tamil)? In which engineering college did he study and become a civil engineer? When did he build this so-called bridge? Is there any evidence for this?”
“The withdrawal of the affidavits does not mean that the project is being withdrawn,” Karunanidhi told reporters at Yercaud near Salem. “If it amounts to the project itself being shelved, then the DMK, which adheres to scientific, rational and progressive ideals, will not accept it.”
On whether there was any difference of opinion between the DMK and Congress party on the issue, he retorted: “The conflict is between us and communal elements. It is between us and dominant forces that are using superstitions of the people to stall the project and achieve their ends. It is not a conflict between us and the Union Government. Our stand is that the Centre should not succumb to these communal elements.”
[splco_quote]At Erode, Karunanidhi added : “The latest attempt to stall the Sethusamudram project is by a group of jackals, conspirators and dangerous elements. Their objective is to subvert a major project that would usher in development in the southern parts of our state.”[/splco_quote]
During November 2018 Indain PM Modi has visited then DMK leader home to inquire about the health . it is widely circulated by media that BJP is inching towards forming alliances with DMK . But M.K.Stalin post demise of his father Karunanidhi has formed alliance with congress in 2019 election and DMK congress alliance swept 39 out of 40 seats
In a resolution which he read out at the function, Karunanidhi warned the Government against giving up the project in the name of Ram Sethu. The Ramayana, he said, was only “a piece of fiction that allegorically represented the conflict between Aryans and Dravidians”.
[splco_quote]Even after BJP leader LK Advani insisted that Mr Karunanidhi withdraw his statements, the latter just refused to oblige, adding: “I have not said anything more than Valmiki, who authored the Ramayana. Valmiki had even stated that Ram was drunkard. Have I said so?”[/splco_quote]
This had led then BJP’s leader Ravi Shankar Prasad to retort: “We would like to know from Karunanidhi if he would make a similar statement against religious head of any other religion; chance are he may not.”He even went on to claim Ram was a drunkard and he was quoting Valmiki’s Ramayana.
Reacting to Ravi Shankar remarks DMK Leader Karunanidi stick to his stand and said that the Constitution didn’t bar his remarks, and he added “I have not hurt anyone by my remarks. Expressing the views which are already in writing cannot be termed as wounding the sentiments of somebody else.
