BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar faces charges from Kerala Police for allegedly promoting religious hatred
A noteworthy event in Kerala is the emergence of a legal dispute involving Union Minister of State and leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rajeev Chandrasekhar. He is now being sued for allegedly inciting animosity on social media amongst different religious groups. This development follows the horrific explosions at a Christian religious gathering on October 29th that left three people dead and over fifty injured.
Chandrasekhar has been charged under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Section 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause a riot), Section 153A (promoting enmity between different religious groups), and Section 120 (o) of the Kerala Police Act (causing nuisance and violation of public order), according to an official at the Ernakulam Central police station, where the First Information Report (FIR) was filed. Notably, according to Hindustan Times, Section 153A of the IPC is an infraction for which there is no bail.
Following Chandrasekhar’s accusation that he was spreading dissension among various religious sects and upsetting communal peace in the state, Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan filed this lawsuit. The political atmosphere was heightened by the BJP leader’s contentious social media statement that followed the explosions at a Jehovah’s Witness gathering. He questioned Chief Minister Vijayan’s goals and lambasted him in the article, making references to what seemed to be appeasement politics. The text of Chandrasekhar’s tweet said, “A discredited Chief Minister under attack for corruption engages in dirty, shameless appeasement politics.” While in Kerala, terrorist Hamas is openly calling for jihad, triggering assaults and bomb explosions on innocent Christians, while we sit in Delhi and demonstrate against Israel.”
In response to the FIR that was filed against him, Chandrasekhar said that the CPI(M) and Congress, two significant opposition parties in Kerala, had banded together to oppose him. He charged them of being sympathizers of violent and extreme groups like the SDPI, PFI, and Hamas, whose policies he claims have fueled radicalization and bloodshed over the years in a number of areas, including Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and Kerala. He went on to denounce their efforts to stifle him by suing, saying that he was just revealing their purported support for Hamas. Sarin P, the convenor of the Kerala Congress unit’s digital media department, filed the complaint against Chandrasekhar.
