Burning of pages from Ramcharitmanas: FIR against SP's Maurya, others; five arrested
Lucknow, Jan 30: Five people were arrested on Monday for burning copies of extracts from the Ramcharitmanas in the Vrindavan area here, police said.
Earlier, police said it has named 10 people, including Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya, in an FIR after an OBC group burnt copies of extracts from the Hindu epic.
The Akhil Bharatiya OBC Mahasabha organised a protest in the Vrindavan scheme sector here on Sunday, apparently in solidarity with Maurya, who had on January 22 claimed that the epic contained passages discriminatory of women and backward castes.
The group claimed that its members only burnt photocopies of pages allegedly carrying "objectionable comments on women and Dalits" in the Ramcharitmanas.
The case was registered at PGI police station here based on a complaint by Satnam Singh Lavi, who alleged that the act of burning the copies of the 'Ramcharitmanas' poses a threat to peace, police officials said.
The FIR was registered under IPC sections 142 (unlawful assembly), 143, 153A (wanton vilification or attacks upon the religion, race, place of birth, residence etc), 295 (injuring on defiling place of worship), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), and 298 (uttering words with deliberate intention to wound religious feelings) among others, they said.
Besides Maurya, those named in the FIR are Devendra Pratap Yadav, Yashpal Singh Lodhi, Satyendra Kushwaha, Mahendra Pratap Yadav, Sujit Yadav, Naresh Singh, S S Yadav, Santosh Verma and Mohd Saleem. The FIR also mentions unidentified people, referred to as "others".
Among the accused, five of them -- Satyendra Kushwaha, Yashpal Singh Lodhi, Devendra Pratap Yadav, Suresh Singh and Mohd Saleem -- have been arrested, police said.
Akhil Bharatiya OBC Mahasabha office bearer Devendra Pratap Yadav said, "It is incorrect to say, as reported in a section of the media, that we burnt copies of the Ramcharitmanas. We took out photocopies of the objectionable comments from the Ramcharitmanas that were against 'shudras' and women, and burned them in a symbolic protest."
Ramcharitmanas, an epic poem in Awadhi language, is based on the Ramayana and has been composed by 16th century Bhakti movement poet Tulsidas.
Maurya, a prominent OBC leader in Uttar Pradesh, had kicked up a controversy by alleging that certain verses of the Ramcharitmanas "insult" a large section of society on the basis of caste and demanded that these be "banned."
Maurya, who was a cabinet minister in the BJP government, had resigned and joined the Samajwadi Party before the 2022 UP assembly polls.
On January 24, an FIR was registered against Maurya at Hazratganj police station over his controversial remarks on the Ramcharitmanas, police said.
The case was registered following a complaint by Shivendra Mishra, a resident of Aishbagh locality in Bazar Khala area of Lucknow.
कल अखिलेश जी से "स्वामी प्रसाद" मिले फिर अखिलेश जी मंदिर गये, आज सपा नेता स्वामी प्रसाद के समर्थन में “पवित्र ग्रंथ” रामचरितमानस को वृंदावन योजना लखनऊ में फाड़कर जलाया गया?
— Vikas Singh (@INDVikasS) January 29, 2023
हम @Uppolice से दोषियों ख़िलाफ़ ‘FIR’ दर्ज करने की माँग करते हैं।https://t.co/28pr8NjWDi pic.twitter.com/lP1Yf7bzai
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
