Minorities panel seeks report over complaint against Kiran Bedi for hurting religious sentiments
Bedi had reportedly cracked a joke against the Sikh community on Monday.
The National Commission for Minorities on Wednesday said it has received a complaint against former Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi for hurting the sentiments of the Sikh community, PTI reported.
Bedi had reportedly cracked a joke against the community during the launch of her book Fearless Governance in Chennai on Monday.
“As this has hurt the religious sentiment of the Sikhs in the country, Iqbal Singh Lalpura, Chairman, National Commission for Minorities, has sought a report in the matter from Chief Secretary of Delhi,” a statement by the National Commission for Minorities said.
The commission added that it will take action based on the report as deemed fit.
Meanwhile, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, an organisation that manages gurudwaras in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, said it was sending a legal notice to Bedi for her remarks.
“Kiran Bedi’s remarks on Sikhs are shocking and shameful and have hurt the sentiments of the entire community,” committee chief Harjinder Singh Dhami said, according to Hindustan Times.
On Tuesday, Bedi had apologised for her remarks.
“I seek forgiveness for this,” she wrote in a tweet. “I am the last person to cause any hurt. I believe in Seva and loving-kindness.”
She also said that she has been receiving abusive messages on social media despite apologising.
“Despite having regretted it [the incident], I’m receiving very obscene abuses on email, WhatsApp and Twitter,” the former lieutenant governor of Puducherry wrote. “I urge the abusers to refrain from doing so and not put me into a situation where I may have to place them in the public domain. It will be exceedingly embarrassing for the identity of abusers then.”