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Congress MP Imran Masood on Monday questioned the grounds for registering an FIR against Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on a 'shuddhikaran yajna' in Uttarakhand's Haldwani, alleging that the SC/ST Act was being treated "like a joke".
Speaking to ANI here, Masood referred to the controversy involving Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and questioned why an FIR had not been registered in that matter. "You perceived impurity upon Mallikarjun Kharge's arrival, so you performed a purification ritual... Mallikarjun Kharge spoke in Parliament about the treatment he received. J.P. Nadda even apologised, yet no FIR was filed," Masood said. "On what grounds has an FIR been filed against Rahul Gandhi? They have invoked the SC/ST Act. They are treating this like a joke. Whoever is filing the FIR should realise that even this Chief Minister won't be able to save himself," he added. The remarks came a day after Haldwani City Kotwali Police registered an FIR against Rahul Gandhi following a complaint by Amit Kumar, a 26-year-old resident of Jawahar Nagar Colony and a member of the Valmiki community. The FIR, registered on August 30, invokes provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, along with provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). According to the complaint, Rahul Gandhi had on August 29 described a 'shuddhikaran yajna' conducted at Haldwani's Ramlila Ground as an act of untouchability and anti-Dalit discrimination. The purification ritual was reportedly held after a Congress rally at the ground on August 8, which was attended by Kharge and other Congress leaders. Members of a local organisation later conducted a cleanliness drive and a havan at the site. The complainant alleged that members of the Scheduled Caste community had themselves participated in cleaning the ground and conducting the ritual, and claimed that Gandhi's remarks mischaracterised their actions. The organisers have denied that the ritual had any caste-based motive. Vinod Arya, a member of Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas, said the ritual was conducted to clean the site and restore its sanctity. "People are saying that we have performed a purification ritual for a specific person, which is not true... That is Lord Ram's court, and we only carried out cleaning," Arya told ANI. He added that the organisation had submitted a written complaint regarding the allegations and denied using any casteist slur or hurting anyone's sentiments. (ANI)
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