Bengaluru: The Karnataka police on Wednesday filed a complaint of hate speech and other serious allegations against Yashpal Suvarna, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Udupi, for his provocative remarks against Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and his family at a public meeting.
Yashpal Suvarna, a first-time Member of the Legislative Assembly, who gained notoriety in the hijab row of late 2021 and early 2022 that became a flashpoint for minority rights in India, was accused of trying to provoke crowds and incite violence, according to the district police.
“How in 1992, when our sentiments were hurt, our workers stormed and demolished Babri Masjid… the same way, our workers will destroy Rahul Gandhi’s family. On this occasion, I would like to warn Rahul Gandhi and his entire team,” Suvarna said allegedly at a public protest against the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement and related developments.
The district police said the complaint was made by Congress district president Ashok Kumar Kodavoor on Wednesday over the remarks which have since gone viral on social media. “They had permission for the protest against the developments in Delhi. He has been booked for hate speech, trying to incite violence and enmity,” a police officer from the district told ThePrint.
Based on a complaint, the Udupi Town police registered an FIR under Sections 57 (abetment of public offences), 192 (provocation to riot), 196(1) (promoting group enmity), 352 ( intentional insult), 353(2) (public mischief) and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Suvarna courted controversy several times during his address to the crowds. He also alleged that Rahul did not speak about the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) issue earlier since he “was high” on some drugs. He added that only when Rahul returned to India did he raise the issue.
Udupi is considered a holy place of education, Suvarna went on, but a few faculty members from states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala were giving drugs to students drugs and brainwashing them against the nation.
Suvarna also said the police should probe the identity of the protesters and that the BJP workers can use lathis to deliver justice “in our own way”. “Don’t test our patience, this is a warning,” he said.
He also said that actor-activist Prakash Raj was from the region but was poisoning the minds of other artistes against the country. Suvarna warned allegedly that if Raj continued on his path, then he would become “fish food” in the Arabian Sea. Suvarna also said that foreign forces and funds were influencing protests in India.
This is not a first for Suvarna. He was the former vice-chairman of the college development committee of the government girls PU college in Udupi and a catalyst in forcing the ban on the hijab.
While he was just a BJP functionary at the time, Suvarna had propelled himself as the face of the row, opposing students who were fighting for the hijab. He was often heard referring to the protesting students, mostly teenage girls, as ‘Taliban’ and ‘terrorists’.
He had earlier criticised the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government for withholding an award to a teacher from Kundapura, whose action of closing the gates on hijab-clad students became the flashpoint of minority rights in early 2022.
B.G. Ramakrishna, the principal of the government pre-university college in Kundapura, a coastal town in Udupi district, was all set to receive the award as ‘best teacher’ on ‘Teachers Day’ from the Siddaramaiah-led government.
The Congress organised protests in Bengaluru on Wednesday against Suvarna’s remarks.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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