By ALIZA NOOR / The Quint
In Kurara, Hamirpur district of Uttar Pradesh, four Dalit men have been booked by the police for raising “anti-Hindu remarks against Hindu Gods” on 17 September — the birth anniversary of Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy or ‘Thanthai’ Periyar, a revered social reformer and writer.
The FIR was filed on 19 September against four men — Amar Singh, Dr Suresh, Avdhesh and Ashok Vidhyarti. A video that has been accessed by The Quint showed Amar stating, “One who has created God is a fool and the one who propagates God is ‘dusht‘ (wicked) and He who worships God is even a bigger fool. This is the truth.”
An official from Kurara police station who wishes to be anonymous told The Quint, “We got the complaint on behalf of VHP and they are charged under section 295 and 153A of Indian Penal Code.”
They Were Only Reciting Periyar’s Lines’: Accused’s Brother
While section 295 related to “making destruction of a place of worship/object held sacred, with intent to insult the religion of a class of person,” section 153A is “promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, language, etc.”
This story was originally published in thequint.com. Read the full story here