FIR Registered Against Rahul Gandhi Over Uttarakhand Purification Row
3 sources · India
Who reported this
- Scroll.in
- The Hindu
- Hindustan Times
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
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Every source for this story reports from India.
Uttarakhand police have registered a first information report (FIR) against Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi following his remarks regarding a purification ritual performed at a rally venue in Haldwani. The case was filed on Sunday after a member of the Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas alleged that Gandhi's comments promoted enmity between classes and outraged religious feelings. The FIR invokes sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The legal action follows a press conference held by Gandhi on Saturday. In that address, Gandhi demanded an FIR against those who performed a shuddhikaran, or purification, ceremony at the Ramlila ground where Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge had addressed a public meeting on August 11. Gandhi described the ritual as an act of untouchability and an atrocity against the Scheduled Caste community.
In response, the Congress party announced nationwide protest marches for Monday evening. Party leaders, including K.C. Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh, characterized the FIR as a weaponization of state machinery and a vendetta against the Leader of the Opposition. They questioned why no action had been taken against those who performed the ritual, which they described as a casteist act.
Conversely, the BJP has defended the legal proceedings. Spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia called Gandhi irresponsible and anti Dalit, suggesting that the leader did not take the alleged insult to Kharge seriously for three weeks. The complainant from the Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas stated that the event was a cleanliness drive with no connection to Kharge's caste and that Gandhi's portrayal of the event was inaccurate.
While the Congress Uttarakhand unit alleges that the group performing the ritual is associated with the BJP, the BJP has denied these links. Union minister JP Nadda previously stated that the BJP does not subscribe to such activities and promised an investigation into the matter.
How each side framed it
- Left
- Highlighted the role of a Hindutva group in filing the complaint and emphasized the contradiction between the ritual and the subsequent legal action against Gandhi.
- Centre-left
- Framed the event as a fight for social justice and a defense of the Constitution against a casteist BJP mindset.
- Centre-right
- Focused on the legal specifics of the FIR and the BJP's accusations of political irresponsibility against Rahul Gandhi.
Sources
- Centre-right Hindustan Times: Congress to hold massive protests over FIR against Rahul Gandhi: KC Venugopal
- Left Scroll.in: Rahul Gandhi booked after he demanded FIR over ‘purification’ ritual in Uttarakhand
- Centre-left The Hindu: Congress steps up attack on BJP after FIR against Rahul Gandhi over ‘purification’ row
100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.