Chandigarh: The Ludhiana Police has registered an FIR against Aaj Tak journalist Anjana Om Kashyap for allegedly insulting Lord Valmiki during a TV debate. The FIR registered Thursday also names India Today group chairman and editor-in-chief Aroon Purie as well as Living Media India Ltd as accused.
The FIR has been registered on the complaint of Chaudhary Yashpal, the national coordinator of the Bhartiya Valmiki Dharam Samaj Bhavadas, which is headed by Vijay Danav.
According to the FIR, a copy of which is with ThePrint, Kashyap used “inappropriate” language while talking about Valmiki during a TV show which was relayed through the channel’s official social media pages Tuesday.
“The statements have caused grievous hurt to the sentiments of the entire Balmiki community and before the matter becomes a law and order issue, an FIR be registered,” states the complaint quoted in the FIR. The complaint also carries a reference to a Supreme Court judgement, claiming that it upheld the purity and goodness of Lord Valmiki.
When contacted, Chaudhry Yashpal told ThePrint the community wants Kashyap’s arrest. “We will not rest till the accused are behind bars. We have asked our community to unite for the cause.”
The FIR has been registered under section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 (penalising deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of a class of citizens by insulting their religion or religious beliefs, through spoken or written words, signs, visible representations, or electronic means).
This entails punishments including imprisonment for up to three years, a fine, or both.
The FIR has also invoked section 3 (1)(V) of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, which deals with the land rights of these communities.
Valmiki was a legendary poet who penned the Ramayana. He is also referred to as the ‘Adi Kavi‘, the first poet. His followers are called “balmikis”, and they are counted among the prominent Dalit community.
The complaint relates to Kashyap’s Black and White show aired Tuesday that held a discussion on the recent incident of a lawyer hurling a shoe towards Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai. In her show, still available on YouTube, Kashyap also refers to Valmiki, saying his real name was Ratnakar and that early in his life he earned money by looting people. She also says he had a change of heart on meeting Narad Muni and became a Lord Ram devotee.
She says the story taught an important lesson that even a single moment of realisation and introspection can change the life of even the worst of beings.
Yashpal, however, says stories surrounding Valmiki’s life are not historically true. “There are so many stories which become part of folklore attached to the lives of great men. There is no evidence that these were true. Where was the need for the anchor to relay an unsubstantiated story about someone whom we revere as our God,” he said.
In July 2022, the Jalandhar police had arrested 65-year-old city resident, Bahadur, for referring to Valmiki as a “dacoit” in early life.
In August last year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the FIR against him, observing that “worshiped Gods were born as humans and owing to their contributions to the society and the strength of their character, they attained divinity”.
The HC noted that the journey from ‘Nar to Narayan’ is not only embedded in the ethos of India but is also true to the religions born outside India.
“The Court does not wish to go into the veracity of the aforesaid fact. Whichever religion it may be, the worshiped Gods were born as humans. Owing to their contributions to the society and the strength of their character, they attained divinity. Inspired by them and believing in numina, people started worshiping them,” the HC’s bench of Justice Pankaj Jain noted.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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