Image Courtesy:india.com
Delhi University students, teachers, and activists gathered at midnight at the Maurice Nagar police station to protest the late night arrest of historian Rattan Lal (50) who works as an associate professor at Delhi University’s Hindu College. Lal was arrested by Delhi Police allegedly for posting objectionable remarks referring to the claims of a “Shivling” being unearthed at the Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque.
Police told the media that Professor Ratan Lal “allegedly posted a photo of the structure and made objectionable comments on Tuesday.” Since then, university circles were abuzz with news of impending police action against him. Late on Friday, May 20th he was “summoned for questioning”, and then arrested. According to Indian Express, DCP (North) Sagar Singh Kalsi confirmed the arrest on Friday night. Police told the media that a case was registered against Lal under IPC sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and 295-A (malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings). The case was reportedly “based on a complaint by a social worker”, stated news reports citing the police. The FIR was registered at Cyber Police Station late Tuesday night, reported IE.
Prof Lal, before his arrest, had shared in a video that he had been getting multiple threats online, and had asked police for “security” and help. According to IE, he said, “I was not expecting threats and abuses for this statement. There is a long tradition of critique in Hinduism from Phule, Ravidas and Ambedkar. Here, I haven’t even critiqued it, it is just an observation. In our country, religious feelings get hurt over anything. What will people do, just put patti (bandage) on their mouths?”
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