The Tamil Nadu police, on Wednesday, September 6, booked the Ayodhya seer who announced a bounty for TN Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s head for his remarks against Sanatana Dharma. The Madurai Cyber Crime Police has registered an FIR against Ayodhya’s Tapasvi Chhawani Temple’s seer Ramchandra Das Paramhans Acharya. Strangely however, in an act of shooting the messenger, the police have also filed a case against journalist Piyush Rai. Piyush, an Uttar Pradesh based journalist with The Quint first reported on what the seer said and tweeted his video.
According to a press release from the police, a complaint was filed against the seer for announcing a bounty for beheading Udhayanidhi. The complaint filed by the convener of DMK Madurai Legal Wing J Devasenan has also named Piyush Rai as the person who “spread the video” in social media. Stating that the video caused fear and incited riots, the complainant sought action against them.
Based on this complaint filed with the Commissioner of Police, Madurai city, the cyber crime police have registered an FIR under sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation, with intent to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 504 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 505(1)(b) (statements conducing to public mischief) and 506(2) (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Speaking to TNM, the police said that Piyush’s name has been added to the FIR because it was in the complaint and legal opinion will be sought before proceeding further.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cell in-charge Amit Malviya has been booked by the Trichy police for distorting Udhayanidhi’s speech on Sanatana Dharma and spreading misinformation. Based on a complaint filed by Tiruchirapalli South DMK Legal wing convener KAV Dhinakaran, Amit Malviya has been booked under sections 153, 153A, 504, and 505(1)(b) of the IPC. Amit Malviya alleged that Udhayanidhi was calling for “genocide of 80% population of Bharat, who follow Sanatan Dharma’’, while in the speech Udhayandhi had said that Sanatana Dharma has to be eradicated.
Udhayanidhi Stalin, speaking at the Sanatanam (Sanatana Dharma) Abolition Conclave organised by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Forum on September 2, said that Sanatana Dharma must be eradicated. "I congratulate the organisers for calling the conference as 'eradication of Santana dharma' instead of 'opposing Sanatana Dharma'... There are certain things which we have to eradicate and we cannot merely oppose. Mosquitoes, dengue, corona and malaria are things which we cannot oppose, we have to eradicate them. Sanatanam is also like this. Eradication and not opposing Sanatanam has to be our first task,” he said. He has been booked by the police for his comment.