Human rights activist Harsh Mander on Tuesday filed a police complaint against Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam for hate speech and making allegedly “threatening statements” against Muslims during a press conference on April 4.

Nirupam, a former MP, is the spokesperson of the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction.

At the press conference in Mumbai on April 4, Nirupam was talking about the 2024 Waqf Amendment Bill, which was being considered by Parliament at the time.

A waqf is a property dedicated to a religious, educational or charitable cause under Islamic law. Each state has a waqf board led by a legal entity vested with the power to acquire, hold and transfer property.

The 2024 Waqf Amendment Bill proposed amendments to 44 sections of the 1995 Waqf Act, including allowing non-Muslims on waqf boards, restricting property donations and changing how waqf tribunals function.

The amendments were opposed by Opposition parties and Muslim groups.

The bill was cleared by Parliament on April 4. It received presidential assent on April 5 and took effect on April 8.

On Tuesday, Mander alleged that the remarks by Nirupam incited hatred and hostility against a particular community and had delegitimised peaceful protest, which is a “constitutionally protected right”.

The usage of “historically and emotionally-charged” references such as Shaheen Bagh and Jallianwala Bagh are “viewed as veiled threats aimed at intimidating minority groups”, the complaint said.

Shaheen Bagh is a locality in Delhi that emerged as the epicentre of nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in late 2019 and early 2020.

“Jallianwala Bagh” was a reference to the massacre that took place on April 13, 1919. A crowd of thousands had gathered at the venue in Amritsar to peacefully protest against the arrest of two nationalist leaders. Hundreds of Indians were killed that day when British soldiers blocked all exits and started firing on them. General Reginald Dyer had ordered the soldiers not to stop firing until all their ammunition was exhausted.

Mander invoked sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that criminalise speech and actions that promote communal enmity, threaten public harmony and question the constitutional allegiance of a group based on religion, caste or language.

The complaint said that Nirupam had previously made inflammatory speeches and argued that the repeated comments were a troubling pattern of normalised hate speech.

The former bureaucrat cited an April 2023 directive by the Supreme Court to urge the police to take suo motu cognisance of hate speech cases. The court had ruled that such speeches must be acted upon immediately without waiting for a formal complaint.

Mander demanded the registration of a first information report against Nirupam in the matter and prompt legal action, including arrest.