Digvijaya Singh booked for sharing controversial post on former RSS chief MS Golwalkar
The Congress MP had shared a post quoting Golwalkar as saying that he would rather accept British slavery than have equal rights given to Dalits and Muslims.
The Madhya Pradesh Police on Sunday registered a case against Congress MP Digvijaya Singh for sharing a controversial post on former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief MS Golwalkar on social media, PTI reported.
Singh on Saturday had tweeted a picture of a page carrying several comments attributed to Golwalkar. In one of the comments, the former RSS chief was quoted as saying that he would rather accept British slavery than have equal rights given to Dalits, backward classes and Muslims.
Indore Police Commissioner Makarand Deuskar said that a complaint was filed against Singh by lawyer and RSS worker Rajesh Joshi, who claimed that Golwalkar had never made such a comment, according to PTI.
In his complaint, Joshi alleged that Singh had shared the post on social media to create conflicts among Dalits, backward classes, Muslims and Hindus. He also claimed that the post hurt the religious beliefs of RSS workers and the entire Hindu community.
Based on the complaint, Singh was booked under Sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence), 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation), 500 (defamation) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code.
“Further steps would be taken after a probe,” Deuskar said, reported PTI.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan alleged that it was a “habit” of Congress leaders to spread misinformation and hatred.
“This kind of “false propaganda” about Guruji [Golwalkar] shows the frustration of Congress leaders,” he said. “The attempt to create social hatred by putting a false picture of Guruji is condemnable.”
Senior RSS functionary Sunil Ambekar alleged that the image shared by Singh was “photoshopped”. “It is baseless and is meant to cause social disharmony,” he said.
However, Madhya Pradesh Congress media department chairman KK Mishra told PTI that Singh had shared the facts on the basis of an English book, without elaborating further.
He added that Singh writes everything after verifying the facts and that the case will not stand in court.
“The BJP can’t silence the voice of Congress,” he said. “I had given a complaint to the police about a video on beef shared by a state BJP spokesman, but four months have passed and the police have not taken any action despite submission of all proofs,” Mishra said.