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The Vidhana Soudha Police in Bengaluru have registered a zero FIR against Uttarakhand BJP members and others over an alleged "purification ritual" conducted at Ramlila Ground in Haldwani after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a rally there.
The FIR was registered on August 31 following a complaint filed by T R Ramappa, former vice-chairman of the ST Department of the Indian National Congress. According to the complaint, Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, addressed a public rally at Ramlila Ground in Haldwani, Nainital district, on August 8. The complainant described the gathering as a peaceful and lawful democratic assembly. It was alleged that on August 10, BJP members and functionaries conducted a purification ritual or Shuddhikkaran at the same venue. The complainant alleged that the ritual was intended to convey that Kharge's presence had rendered the venue "impure" because he belongs to a Scheduled Caste community. The complaint termed the act an insult and an offence under laws dealing with untouchability. The complaint also named Uttarakhand BJP president Mahendra Bhatt for allegedly defending and justifying the ritual after it came under criticism. Police have registered the case under Sections 7(1)(c), 7(1)(d) and 7(1)(e) of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, Section 3(1)(u) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and Section 196(1)(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which deals with promoting enmity between different groups. As the case has been registered as a zero FIR, it can be lodged at any police station irrespective of jurisdiction. The Vidhana Soudha Police said the FIR will be transferred to the jurisdictional police station in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, for further investigation. The Bengaluru Police will not investigate the case, the officer said, adding that similar FIRs have been registered in at least eight places across the country in connection with the incident. The development has triggered a political confrontation between the Congress and the BJP. Kharge had raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha on August 13 and later wrote to the Leader of the House, JP Nadda, questioning the delay in registering an FIR over the incident. In his letter, Kharge said the "purification" at the venue where he had addressed the rally was contrary to the spirit of the Constitution and human values, and linked the practice to untouchability. He also drew a parallel with Dr B R Ambedkar's Mahad Satyagraha of 1927, to secure the right of untouchables to access drinking water from the public Chawdar Tank in Mahad, Maharashtra. Meanwhile, Haldwani Police had earlier registered an FIR against Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi based on a complaint alleging that he had given a casteist interpretation to what the organisers described as a routine religious ritual. The Congress has termed the FIR against Rahul Gandhi an attempt to divert attention from the issue of the alleged purification ritual. (ANI)
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