Guwahati, May 30: National Award-winning filmmaker Luit Kumar Barman has filed a police complaint against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his controversial comments on Mahatma Gandhi.

Barman filed the complaint on Wednesday night at Hatigaon police station in Guwahati, alleging that Modi made a "highly derogatory statement" about the Father of the Nation.

The police said a preliminary investigation is on and no FIR was registered yet in this connection.

Prime Minister Modi in a TV interview to a TV channel said, "...Across the world, Mahatma Gandhi was a great person. Was it not our responsibility in these 75 years to ensure that the entire world knows Mahatma Gandhi. I am sorry to say that no one knows about him. The first time when the film 'Gandhi' was made, it was then that there was curiosity across the world as to who this person was. We have not done so..."

In his complaint, Barman said, "This is a highly derogatory statement and cannot be acceptable by a citizen of India. As a citizen, we can not accept insult to Mahatma Gandhi."

No film is required to introduce him to the world, said Barman who produced the 2021 Assamese film 'Boomba Ride' which won the Rajat Kamal. 

"By comparing Mahatma Gandhi with a film, Narendra Modi has defamed Mahatma Gandhi along with the people of India. Therefore, I request you to take action against Narendra Modi under relevant section of law," Barman said.

When contacted, Hatigaon Police Station Officer-in-Charge Bijay Duwara told PTI that no FIR has been registered and a "preliminary investigation" is going on.

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Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Various Dalit organisations on Monday announced a state-wide hartal seeking justice in the death of Kannur Dental College student Nithin Raj.

The hartal will be observed on Tuesday from 6 am to 6 pm.

As many as 52 Dalit organisations, including Justice for Nithin Raj Action Council, have announced the strike.

Organisations requesting cooperation for the strike said that no vehicles will be forcibly stopped and that all essential services are exempted.

Raj, a first-year BDS student at a private dental college in Anjarakkandy in Kannur district, was found critically injured after falling from a building on April 10 and later succumbed to his injuries.

Police have registered a case against two faculty members on charges of abetment of suicide and under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, following allegations by the student’s family that he was subjected to caste- and complexion-based harassment.

Kerala Pinnokka Samudaya Munnani (KPSM), one of the organisations supporting the hartal, alleged in a statement that police had shown apathy in the investigation and were attempting to protect the accused in the case.

KPSM state president K V Padmanabhan and general secretary S Anwar alleged that the probe into Raj’s death was being deliberately misdirected and delayed.

While the family has firmly alleged that caste discrimination and mental harassment by faculty members led to the student’s death, police were attempting to divert the investigation towards loan app borrowings, they claimed.

The organisation alleged that this was a planned move to shield the real accused.

KPSM further alleged that by deliberately delaying the arrest of the accused teachers, police enabled them to secure anticipatory bail.

They said there was no confidence in the present police investigation and demanded that the case be handed over to an independent agency at the earliest.