PL Bharti lodged an FIR against Munawwar Rana and claiming that it hurts the Dalit Samaj and it feels insulting for Hinduism.
The Hazratganj Kotwali police in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, registered an FIR against the famous poet Munawvar Rana for inciting religious sentiment. The famous poet compared the Taliban to Maharishi Valmiki, the author of the Ramayana, after which the FIR was registered against him.
Munawwar Rana insulted Dalit sentiments
According to The Wire, The lawsuit alleges that Rana insulted Dalit sentiments in her statement by comparing the Taliban to Valmiki and injured Rana by making those comments when he refused to recognize the Taliban as a terrorist organization and instead referred to them as an aggressive group.
PL Bharti alleged that it hurts the sentiments and religious feelings by comparing the Taliban with Maharishi Valmiki.
General Secretary Amarnath Prajapati of Ambedkar Mahasabha also filed a lawsuit against Munavvar Rana and demanded action. Rana appeared in a discussion on the TV channel, where he made comparisons between the Taliban and Maharishi Valmiki.
Munawwar Rana, while talking to the channel, said: “Valmiki became a god after writing the Ramayana before he became a thief. A person’s personality can change. Likewise, the current Taliban are terrorists, but people and characters change. ” When you talk about Valmiki, you have to talk about his past. In your religion, you make anyone a god. But he is a writer and he wrote the Ramayana, but we are not competing here, ”Rana said.
Inciting religious sentiments
Shyam Shukla, the in-charge of Hazratganj Kotwali, stated that a case has been registered against Munawwar Rana for inciting religious sentiments along with other sections after a complaint by Valmiki Samaj leader PL Bharti. He said that PL Bharti lodged a complaint claiming that Munawwar has hurt Dalits after comparing Taliban with Maharishi and insulting them and at the same time it has hurt the faith of Hinduism.
The FIR was registered at Hazratganj police station under Sections 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, etc.), 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class), 505(1)(B) (with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public) and the SC/ST atrocities prevention act.
In November last year, the Hazratganj police station registered an FIR against the poet on a similar charge of allegedly defending murders in France over a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad.
