New Delhi: Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar Police has registered an FIR (first information report) against militant Hindutva leader Yati Narsinghanand for his March 2021 remarks against former president late A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and the Muslim community, National Herald has reported.
Narsinghanand has been booked under Sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 153 B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 295 A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 505 ( Statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code.
The move came after an Ahmednagar district court instructed the local police to register a case against him under Section 156 (3) (police officer’s power to investigate cognisable case) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
This comes after three petitioners – Arshid Shaikh, Bahirnath Wakale and Anand Lokhande – moved the court on July 23, 2021 for a criminal case to be filed against the Hindutva rabblerouser.
In March last year, Narsinghanand accused former president Kalam of “selling formulae for atom bombs to Pakistan”, and called him “Jihadi number one”.
He also linked Afzal Guru to Kalam, accusing the latter of commissioning a special cell to the former at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Guru was secretly hanged in 2013 over claims that he was involved in the 2001 parliament bombing case.
Continuing further with his tirade against Kalam, Narsinghanand had said several Hindu scientists were assassinated when Kalam headed the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) – India’s premier agency for military research and development.
He also said Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millai Islamia and Darul Uloom Deoband were transforming India into Afghanistan. In 2029, India will have a Muslim prime minister, who will lead the country into darkness, he added. Narsignhanand’s remarks at that time had gone viral on social media.
The petitioners after the FIR was lodged said Narsinghanand had been attacking the unity of India and must be put behind the bars.
“Rabid communalist elements like Narsinghanand are attacking the unity of the nation and must be sent behind the bars. Hardcore terrorists like him give inhuman calls like the genocide of Muslims during the Dharma Sansad held recently. Such violent extremists must be arrested and sent into long-term imprisonment to maintain peace and communal harmony in society. We appreciate the strong step taken by Ahmednagar Police to book the enemy of the nation under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” a statement issued by petitioners said.
The Dasna temple head priest was recently released from jail after having been arrested in connection with the Haridwar Dharma Sansad hate speech against Muslims and other cases on February 18.
His release follows a bail he secured on February 15 in a case where he was accused of making objectionable remarks against women and abusing a journalist.
This article first appeared on thewire.in