Lucknow, 30 Jan: More than ten persons have been charged with “promoting enmity” by Lucknow Police after they reportedly burned photocopies of Ramcharitmanas pages in the city’s Vrindavan neighbourhood on January 29.
On Monday morning, police detained five people while searching for others. According to the police, the FIR was filed late on Sunday night in response to a complaint filed by BJP leader Satnam Singh Lavi. The complaint was registered at the PGI police station under various Indian Penal Code sections. Among those booked were Yashpal Singh Lodhi, Devendra Yadav, Mahendra Pratap Yadav, Naresh Singh, SS Yadav, Sujit, Santosh Verma, and Salim.
ADCP East Syed Ali Abbas said that five accused, including Devendra Singh and Salim, have been arrested in the case. The search for others continues. Others will also be arrested soon.
Swami Prasad Maurya, OBC politician in Uttar Pradesh, has called for a ban on Ramcharitmanas, the holy book written by the 16th-century poet-saint Tulsidas, claiming that Dalits and women were “insulted” in it.
“I don’t have any issue with Ramcharitramanas, but sections of it involve disparaging words and mockery directed at specific classes and groups,” the SP leader remarked”. Those should be eliminated.”
Speaking on the issue before, Maurya remarked, “Those who threatened to slice my throat and tongue were seers or were from a certain caste. If the same threat had been made by someone of another religion, he would have been labelled a terrorist. Are the seers who threaten to sever my tongue and neck not terrorists, demons, and executioners? They couldn’t have uttered such things if they truly believed in the faith they claim to follow.”
