New Delhi: A special cell of the Delhi police on Wednesday, June 8, registered first information reports (FIR) against a number of individuals citing social media posts which could hurt religious sentiments and cause divisions between communities.
Two FIRs were registered in this regard. In the first, eight people were named, including former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) media head Naveen Kumar Jindal, whose primary membership to the party was recently cancelled; journalist Saba Naqvi; Pooja Shakun Pandey, an office bearer of the Hindu Mahasabha; Maulana Mufti Nadeem from Rajasthan; and Shadam Chauhan, chief spokesperson of the Peace Party.
In a statement, Saba Naqvi told The Wire, “I am shocked to learn that my name has been included in an FIR registered by Delhi Police under various sections of the IPC. I am a journalist and tasked with speaking truth to power. Social media and news sites suggest the FIR has been filed because of a WhatsApp forward that I shared only to delete it a few hours later. Many others also shared the same image yet I have been selectively targeted in the FIR.”
“I am committed to the secular and liberal ethos of India and stand against any fundamentalism, hate speech and injustice. I am currently out of India and will comply with due process on my return in mid-July,” she added.
The second FIR, registered under similar charges, named Nupur Sharma, the recently-suspended spokesperson of the BJP, and other social media users.
Jindal and Sharma have been in the headlines of late for their comments on Islam and Prophet Mohammad. Sharma made the remarks during an appearance on a national TV news channel, following which Jindal tweeted in support of Sharma’s comments.
The remarks drew widespread condemnation both within and beyond the country, with opposition politicians, journalists and activists lambasting the ruling party for its response and a host of Islamic nations condemning the remarks and threatening boycotts of Indian goods.
Also read: In the Nupur Sharma Episode, Religiosity Wins Over Humanity
The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit of the Delhi police has reportedly been monitoring the posts of all these individuals and allegedly found objectionable remarks related to religion.
“We have lodged an FIR under several IPC sections against those who were spreading messages of hate, inciting various groups and creating situations which are detrimental to the maintenance of public tranquillity,” the Indian Express quoted DCP of the IFSO, K.P.S Malhotra, as saying.
Malhotra also explicitly mentioned to the newspaper that the FIRs against the concerned individuals “cut across religions” and that the police is investigating the role of those named, whose posts he claimed are intended to “compromise the social fabric of the country”.
It should be noted that the FIR has been filed by the Delhi Police, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Union home ministry of the BJP-led Union government. Sharma is facing charges and FIRs in other states as well, such as Maharashtra, and thus it remains to be seen what becomes of those charges now that Sharma has been charged in Delhi.
The Delhi Police had provided Sharma and her family with security after she registered a complaint with them claiming that she had been receiving threats to her life in response to her remarks on the Prophet.
Other prominent individuals mentioned in the FIRs include All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi. Owaisi had been vocal in his condemnation of Sharma’s remarks on social media.
Moreover, the AIMIM chief had filed a complaint on the basis of which the Hyderabad police, too, registered an FIR against Sharma. Owaisi had posted a copy of the complaint on Twitter thereafter.
Another person named by the police was controversial Hindutva priest Yati Narsinghanand, who has been in the news in the recent past for several instances of hate speech against Muslims.
The militant Hindutva leader had held up Sharma’s remarks on the prophet and was seen, in a video circulated on social media, defending the BJP spokesperson’s comments.
Narsinghanand also made headlines for being one of the speakers at the Haridwar Dharma Sansad in December last year where calls for the genocide of Muslims were made and where another individual named in the recent FIRs, Pooja Shakun Pandey, also known by the alias, ‘Annapurna Maa’, was present.
Pandey, too, has been in the headlines on several occasions for making hate speeches against the Muslim community.
Most recently, Pandey wrote a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind on June 5 in which she called Muslims’ Friday prayers an “anti-Hindu congregation” and asked him to take action against them.
Her remarks came two days after violence broke out in Kanpur’s Becongunj area after a group of people belonging to the Muslim community launched a protest against Sharma’s objectionable comments.
The Uttar Pradesh police took suo motu cognisance of the matter and registered an FIR against the Hindu Mahasabha national secretary after which she appeared on a TV panel discussion on Aaj Tak. During the discussion, she elucidated on the contents of the letter and even defended Sharma’s comments on the Prophet.
Also read: Pooja Shakun Pandey, Who Called For Namaz Ban, Has a History of Anti-Muslim Hate Speech
Another individual named in the Delhi Police FIR was Maulana Mufti Nadeem from Rajasthan who reportedly featured in a viral social media video where he can allegedly be heard threatening violence against anyone who makes derogatory remarks against the prophet.
Abdur Rehman, Gulzar Ansari and Anil Kumar Meena are some of the other names which feature in the Delhi Police’s FIRs.