Police case against actor Paresh Rawal after dispute over remarks about Bengalis

Kolkata: When Paresh Rawal was campaigning for office in Gujarat, he made some remarks about Bengalis that quickly went viral.

While Paresh Rawal, an actor, has come under fire from the Trinamool Congress, which is in power in Bengal, for his offensive remarks, former MP and CPI(M) leader Md Salim has reported the actor to the police.

Paresh Rawal invoked a "cooking fish" stereotype during a rally in which he claimed that the people of Gujarat will bear inflation but not the "Bangladeshis and Rohingya" living next door, angering Bengalis.

Mr Salim wrote to the Taltala Police Station in Kolkata to request that they file an FIR for his complaint and bring charges against the actor because of the actor's remarks that are causing people to have negative feelings toward Bengalis.

"A large number of Bengalis reside outside the limits of the state. I apprehend many of them will be prejudicially targeted and affected because of the vicious remarks made by Paresh Rawal," Md. Salim said in his letter to the police, NDTV reported.

"So once again the politics of violence, hate, and division is out in the open. Renowned actor Mr Paresh Rawal who is a member of the BJP remarked about cooking fish for the Bengalis. I think this was utterly distasteful and a very insensitive remark. The BJP and the union government are unable to tackle the rising prices of gas cylinders, and also inflation. But they turn around the problem and directed it this time to the Bengalis and their habit of eating fish," Shashi Panja, who holds the portfolios of Industries, Commerce & Enterprises and Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare in West Bengal, said.

"Very unfortunate. So now you are targeting Bengal because as everybody remembers, you could not win in the 2021 assembly elections. You are yet to digest the defeat. You are unable to assimilate the mandate of the people. So now you are attacking Bengali food habits. People in Bengal, who live together with everybody will not take this lying down. The All-India Trinamool Congress once again condemns such kinds of statements, the statements of Paresh Rawal." Dr Shashi Panja added.

Md Salim wants Paresh Rawal to be charged with offences related to inciting hatred, malicious insult, public mischief, and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

Paresh Rawal's remarks on Bengalis have stirred up an uproar in West Bengal, where the Trinamool Congress, which is in power, has voiced strong disapproval of his outburst.

Even while the seasoned actor tried to clarify his remarks with a qualified apology, he ended up escalating the conflict by saying that when he used the term "Bengalis," he actually meant "illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingya."

Many interpreted it as "hate speech" directed at Bengalis. Others called it "xenophobic dog-whistling" toward the Rohingya and Bangladeshi populations.