New Delhi, August 30: An FIR has been registered against Rahul Gandhi following a complaint by a member of the Valmiki community in Haldwani, who alleged that the Congress leader gave a casteist angle to a religious ritual held at the venue of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s programme, police said on Sunday.
According to PTI, the FIR has been registered under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to promoting enmity between groups and deliberate acts intended to outrage religious feelings. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, has also been invoked, police said.
Amit Kumar, a resident of Jawahar Nagar and a member of Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas, filed the complaint at the Haldwani police station. He said he was present during the “ritual and cleanliness drive” and alleged that remarks made by Gandhi at a press conference in Delhi on August 29 had hurt the sentiments of the community.
In his complaint, Kumar said he belongs to the Scheduled Caste community and claimed that people from different sections of society, including members of Scheduled Castes, participated in the ritual. He said the ritual had “no connection” with Congress President Kharge’s caste and accused Gandhi of portraying those associated with it as practising “untouchability” and being “anti-Dalit”.
The political controversy began after some individuals allegedly performed a “purification yajna” at the Ramlila Ground in Haldwani on August 11, following a public meeting held there by Kharge on August 8.
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