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Kamal Haasan booked for Godse remark, his party says comment taken out of context

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Kamal Haasan booked for Godse remark, his party says comment taken out of context

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A day after actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan was booked by Tamil Nadu police for hurting religious sentiments, the Delhi High Court today (Wednesday, May 15) dismissed a petition against him for his remarks on Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse saying he was free India’s first terrorist and he was Hindu.

The High Court told the petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay should approach the appropriate forum as the incident took place in Tamil Nadu. Post-dismissal, the court asked the Tamil Nadu Election Commission to consider the petitioner’s representation.

A BJP leader, Upadhyay had moved a PIL before the bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice AJ Bhambhani of the Delhi High Courtseeking directions to the EC to “restrict” misuse of religion for poll gains.

Upadhyay, also a lawyer, alleged Haasan “deliberately” made the statement in the presence of a Muslim majority crowd for electoral gains.The petition contended this was “clearly a corrupt practice under Representation of the People Act (RPA) 1951.”

“As per Model Code of Conduct, no party or candidate can indulge in any activity which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic. Similarly, there shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes.

“Haasan has violated the Model Code of Conduct in addition to Section 123(3) of the RPA 1951.Kamal Haasan is deliberately promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony and brotherhood,which is an offence under section 153A of IPC. It is a deliberate and malicious act, intended to outrage religious feelings of millions of Hindus, which is an offence under section 295A IPC,” it claimed.

Also Read: Mamata meme row: SC raps Mamata govt for delay in releasing Priyanka Sharma

It also said that despite the alleged misuse of religion for electoral gain by Haasan, the EC has not done anything in this regard yet.

The High Court’s dismissal of this petition comes a day after Haasan’s party MakkalNeedhiMaiam (MNM) issued a statement claiming that the speech was being circulated with a view to promote enmity amongst people. MNM said the party chief’s speech had “been taken completely out of context with a malafide intent”.

The same day, two days afterHaasan’s statement on Sunday, the Aravakurichi police in Karur district of Tamil Nadu registered a case against him, based on a complaint lodged by Hindu Munnani district secretary KV Ramakrishnan. The case has been registered under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings).

A Hindu Sena activist has also moved the court in Delhi, seeking Haasan’s prosecution for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by terming Godse as a “Hindu extremist.” The matter is likely to be listed before a Metropolitan Magistrate tomorrow, May 16.

MNM issued a statement to say, “In the speech, Mr Kamal Haasan was calling for religious tolerance and co-existence amongst all religious groups and condemned extremism in whichever form and religion.”

“This has been taken absolutely out of context and the speech has been painted as anti-Hindu, with a malafied intent. This has created complete confusion and utmost anxiety among many common citizens who are not privy to this larger conspiracy,” the press release read.

Calling for a neutral and fair position on the controversy, the party urged media to play the entire speech in order to vindicate Haasan’s stand and to expose the malicious intent of certain groups.

Also Read: Nathuram Godse, a Hindu, was independent India’s first terrorist: Kamal Haasan

Haasan’s statement was also condemned by various political parties including BJP, AIADMK and AMMK. On Tuesday, MNM general secretary had also issued a notice calling for the dismissal of Milk and Dairy Development Minister KT RajenthraBhalaji for saying that Haasan’s tongue should be cut for his remarks. Curiously, that statement from the minister was not termed hate speech nor did it invite any legal action.

The party further clarified in the release that while it upheld the rule of law and the courts’ orders, it will continue to voice its opinion in this regard.

Yogendra Yadav of Swaraj India defended Haasan’s statement, pointing out that it was an apt reply to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement, also in an election rally, invoking religion.

Yadav tweeted: “PM asked in Wardha:”Is there a single instance in history when a Hindu committed an act of terror?” @ikamalhaasan has answered: Yes,his name is Nathuram Godse. What’s wrong here? Wasn’t it what we now call terror? Was he not Hindu? What’s the fuss about?”

The MNM chief also found support from AsaduddinOwaisi, the firebrand AIMIM leader. “The one who killed Mahatma Gandhi, whom we regard as Father of the Nation, what do we call him? We call him Mahatma or ”rakshas” (demon)? Call him terrorist or assassin?” he said.

“If not calling the person who killed Bapu as terrorist, what else will you call him?” he told reporters at Hyderabad.

Haasan had said on Sunday that “free India’s first extremist was a Hindu”, referring to Nathuram Godse who killed Mahatma Gandhi.

“I am not saying this because this is Muslim-dominated area, but I am saying this before a statue of Gandhi. Free India’s first extremist was a Hindu, his name is Nathuram Godse. There it (extremism, apparently) starts,” he said in bypoll-bound Aravakurichi.

BJP and AIADMK condemned him for his remarks, though Congress and rationalist outfit DravidarKazhagam backed him.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Amit Shah says there will be jungle raj in the country if INDIA Bloc is voted to power

The Union Home Minister asserted that, if INDIA Bloc alliance comes to power, there will be a complete jungle raj in the country as well as in Bihar.

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday that there will be jungle raj in the country if INDIA bloc partners – Congress and RJD – are voted to power. He was addressing an election rally in favour of senior BJP leader and Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, in Bihar’s Samastipur district where he said that the latest recovery of Rs 30 crore and more from the house of a minister in Jharkhand proves INDIA bloc alliance leaders are corrupt.

The Union Home Minister asserted that, if INDIA Bloc alliance comes to power, there will be a complete jungle raj in the country as well as in Bihar. Earlier the Enforcement Directorate on Monday recovered a huge amount of unaccounted cash during searches at the premises of a domestic help who was allegedly linked to the secretary of Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam.

Shah asked the people at the rally that who will be the prime minister of the INDIA bloc? He asked if Sharad Pawar  would become the prime minister? Or Will Mamata Banerjee will become the PM of the country or MK Stalin or Uddhav Thackeray? He jokingly took at dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and said that he would like to take another name. He asked the people not to laugh and said can Rahul baba become the PM?

Shah accused the leaders of the RJD and the Congress of not attending the Ayodhya Ram temple Pran Pratishtha because of vote bank politics.  He further added that RJD’s Lalu Prasad and Congress always opposed the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya. Shah pointed out that Congress has always opposed reservation for the backward classes. Sarairanjan block comes under the Ujiarpur Lok Sabha constituency where Rai is seeking a reelection. Rai, who is the NDA nominee, is up against RJD’s Alok Mehta.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Union Minister Anurag Thakur lashes out at Congress, accuses party of receiving support from Pakistan

Anurag Thakur was speaking to the media during an event in Himachal Pradesh’s Una district

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Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday alleged the influence of foreign powers in the Congress manifesto and accused the grand old party of receiving support from Pakistan. He said the BJP never believes in politics in times of disaster and emergencies, but the Congress has stooped so low that it is doing politics in such matters as well.

Anurag Thakur was speaking to the media during an event in Himachal Pradesh’s Una district on Monday. He also applauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for its proactive role during disastrous floods and rains in Himachal Pradesh. The Union Minister said that the Modi government has distributed crores of rupees in Himachal Pradesh during the disaster.

Thakur took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and said that the Wayanad MP forgot to follow his own slogan of daro mat. He said that Gandhi is running from one seat to another while fearing defeat in the ongoing Loksabha elections. Thakur further added that Rahul Gandhi first ran from Amethi to Wayanad and now he is contesting from Rae Bareli and the Congress will be wiped out from Rae Bareli as well.

Anurag Thakur targeted the Congress and said the grand old party is living in fool’s paradise of winning the elections on false promises. The Union Minister claimed that the Congress’s dreams will be shattered on June 4 after the election result announcement.

Anurag Thakur is contesting Lok Sabha elections 2024 from Hamirpur seat. He said he was confident that BJP will win the election this time as well. He claimed of having support of the people of the constituency. He also said that his victory margin this time would be more than the previous margin of about 4 lakh votes. Thakur who is a 4 time MP also expressed optimism that the BJP-led NDA will win more than 400 seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Rahul Gandhi challenges PM Modi to lift 50% cap on reservation

Rahul Gandhi today addressed a rally at Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh, where he said this election is being fought to save the Constitution.

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi announced today that the party would raise quota benefits for members of Dalit, backward, and tribal communities and lift the 50% restriction on caste-based quotas imposed by the Supreme Court.

Speaking at a election campaign in Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi said, the Constitution is being defended in this election. “BJP and RSS wish to bring this to a close and alter it. And this is being saved by the Congress and the INDIA bloc. You have rights on jal (water), jangal (forest), and zameen (land) under this Constitution. With a copy of the Constitution in his hand, he declared, “Narendra Modi wants to get rid of them and have total power.

He claimed that if the BJP won, its leaders would change the Constitution. They used the slogan 400 seats for this reason. However, they won’t be getting 150 seats; forget about 400, he added. They promise to eliminate reservations. He would like to inform that going forward, they will surpass the 50% reservation cap. Congress will reserve as much space as is necessary for the underprivileged, the backward, Dalits, and Adivasis, he said.

Gandhi’s comments come with a heated campaign for the Lok Sabha elections and contentious discussions about reservations between the NDA and the INDIA alliance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP has claimed that the Congress intends to modify the backward class reservation in order to benefit Muslims. The claims have been refuted by the Congress. At a rally in Gujarat, Banaskantha, the PM said, he challenges the shehzada of the Congress as well as his party and its supporters to announce they will never misuse reservation in the name of religion, nor will they play with the Constitution or grant reservation in the name of religion.

Gandhi claimed during the Ratlam rally that stories about crimes against Adivasis are not covered by the media. The media does not report on the rape of your children or the seizure of your land. These media companies do not employ Adivasis, he said.

Meanwhile, Ratlam will vote in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha election on May 13. Former MP and former Union Minister Kantilal Bhuria has been named by the Congress for Ratlam seat. The BJP’s choice from the seat they won in the 2019 election is Anita Nagar Singh Chauhan.

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