Major Ravi served legal notice over remarks against Jantar Mantar protesters

New Delhi: Filmmaker Major Ravi has been served a legal notice over his allegedly derogatory remarks against the protesters at Delhi's Jantar Mantar. The notice was sent by Plus Two student Malavika, demanding that he withdraw his remarks, issue a public apology within seven days of receiving the notice, and remove the video from social media.

The notice comes after actor Mohanlal's daughter, actor Vismaya, expressed support for the student protest being held under the banner of the Cockroach Janata Party. Following her statement, she faced intense online abuse from Sangh Parivar supporters. Major Ravi subsequently criticised Vismaya, saying that, having been born and raised in Vietnam, she lacked adequate political understanding. He also said her social media post was prompted by seeing students being assaulted and was made from a humanitarian perspective.

In his remarks, Major Ravi said Vismaya had spent her childhood in Vietnam and cited her adoption of a stray dog after witnessing it being abused there as an example of her compassionate nature. According to him, her post reflected an emotional reaction to seeing a child being beaten and was later interpreted as support for the Cockroach Janata Party, adding that she was unaware of what he described as the larger conspiracy behind the protests.

Major Ravi also alleged that the Jantar Mantar agitation was backed by a foreign conspiracy. He said that when he first saw visuals of students being beaten, he, like many others, felt sympathy. However, after examining the situation more closely, he claimed there were fewer students and more adults participating in the protest.

Drawing a comparison with activist Sonam Wangchuk, Ravi said that Wangchuk's activities had initially appeared neutral and focused on environmental issues but later underwent a change, which he alleged coincided with the flow of foreign funding. He claimed that the current protest, which began with demands for the resignation of the Union Education Minister over the NEET examination paper leak, had been initiated by a person based in the United States.

According to Ravi, the individual had studied engineering in the US and launched what he called the "Cockroach campaign" on social media before travelling to Delhi. He alleged that several frustrated young people joined the movement through social media and claimed that some artists from Kerala had also travelled to Delhi to participate, accusing them of seeking publicity.

He further argued that question paper leaks were not unique to the present government, claiming similar incidents had occurred in 2004 and 2014 when the Congress was in power. Ravi alleged that many participants at the protest did not even know what NEET was or the full form of CBSE. He also claimed, without presenting evidence, that the movement was linked to funding from George Soros and alleged that similar protests had taken place in countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Ravi said that any attempt to protest near the Prime Minister's residence would inevitably invite police action because of the area's high security. He also alleged that some protesters damaged police vehicles and used pepper spray against police personnel, adding that such actions would invite retaliation.

Describing the agitation as a foreign-funded protest, Ravi claimed that its slogan had now shifted to "Modi Ko Hatao". He alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had visited the protest site for political mileage and accused some artists of participating in order to gain publicity and secure opportunities such as appearing on the reality television show Bigg Boss.

He further argued that the implementation of India's National Education Policy would raise the country's educational standards to global levels, thereby reducing the revenue earned by foreign countries from Indian students studying abroad. Ravi alleged that this was the reason behind attempts to undermine the policy through foreign funding and claimed that the ultimate objective was to remove the Narendra Modi government from power.

Referring to slogans raised during the protest, Ravi questioned what demands such as "Free Umar Khalid", "Restore Article 370" and "Ban the Great Nicobar Project" had to do with NEET. He also alleged that the protest had been joined by participants from the farmers' movement, claimed that food packages and other logistical support were funded from abroad, and alleged that many people had attended only for free food and alcohol. He concluded by referring to an incident in which a journalist was allegedly attacked at the protest site.