In light of the widespread anger against suspended BJP Spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s recent hate during a Times Now debate, Maharashtra police filed an FIR against senior TV journalist Navika Kumar.
According to a syndicated newsfeed, the Parbhani district police named Kumar and Sharma; the latter made objectionable remarks about Prophet Mohammad and Islam during a prime-time debate hosted by the former. At the time, the anchor Kumar had failed to put an end to Sharma’s anti-Islam slurs.
Therefore, a complaint filed by a Muslim cleric on June 13 said both Sharma and Kumar should be accused of intending to outrage religious feelings. Kumar is also Times Now Navbharat’s Editor-in-Chief and Times Network Group Editor.
“Kumar and Sharma are booked under section 295-A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” the police official told media persons.
While this FIR includes Kumar, already many complaints have been filed against Sharma with regards to this case. Earlier, Mumbai police had also registered an FIR against Sharma on May 28. However, no arrests have been reported since. Although the mass outrage from Gulf countries garnered Sharma’s suspension from the primary membership of the Bharaiya Jantata Party (BJP) on June 5, Indian Muslims on Friday gathered to demand her immediate arrest as well as that of recently-expelled BJP leader Naveen Kumar Jindal.
Huge protests by Muslims took place in multiple cities such as: Delhi, Srinagar, Lucknow, Prayagraj (Allahabad), Sahranpur, Firozabad, Hyderabad, Ranchi, Kolkata, Howrah, Panvel, Rudrapur, Jaspur, Haridwar, Ahmedabad, Surat, Kalupur, Khadia, Shahpur and Mirzapur.
People unequivocally condemned the BJP leaders for targeting the Muslim community. In many places, the protest ended peacefully within a short span of time. However, in regions like Prayagraj and Ranchi, police resorted to lathi-charge and tear-gassing to disperse the crowd. Overall, there have been over 417 arrests across India since Friday. Of these as many as 92 arrests were reported in Prayagraj.
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