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Zero FIR against Uttarakhand BJP men over alleged ‘purification’ ritual after Kharge rally

Bengaluru police have registered a zero FIR against Uttarakhand BJP members and others over an alleged “purification” ritual conducted at a venue in Haldwani after AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a rally there

Bengaluru police have registered a zero FIR against Uttarakhand BJP members and others over an alleged “purification” ritual conducted at a venue in Haldwani after AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a rally there, an act described in the complaint as casteist and insulting.

The case was registered on Friday, September 4, following a complaint filed on August 31 by T R Ramappa, former vice-chairman of the ST Department (Adivasi Congress) of the Indian National Congress, at Vidhana Soudha Police Station. A zero FIR can be filed at any police station irrespective of where the offence occurred or which station has jurisdiction, officials said.

According to the FIR, Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress national president, attended and addressed a large public rally at Ramlila Ground in Haldwani on August 8, an assembly described as peaceful and conducted in accordance with the law. The complaint alleges that on August 10, certain BJP members and functionaries orchestrated a “Shuddhikaran” or purification ritual at the same venue.

“The said ritual was purportedly intended to convey the deeply offensive, derogatory and casteist notion that the presence of Sri. Mallikarjun Kharge, a member of a Scheduled Caste community, had rendered the said place ‘impure’ and that the venue consequently required ritualistic cleansing,” the complainant alleged. The act, if established, constitutes a “deliberate” and “deeply insulting” affront to Kharge’s dignity and social status and is liable to attract legal consequences, the complaint said.

The FIR further alleges that Uttarakhand BJP president Mahendra Bhatt publicly defended and justified the ritual, thereby “reinforcing, legitimising and amplifying its inherently hateful, casteist and discriminatory message”. Based on the complaint and after seeking a legal opinion, police registered the case under relevant sections of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and Section 196(1)(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for promoting enmity between groups on grounds including religion, race, place of birth, residence and language, a senior officer said.

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