FIR filed against Alt-News co-founder Mohd Zubair in Ghaziabad over post on Narsinghanand: Police
Ghaziabad (UP), Oct 7: An FIR was filed here on Monday against Alt-News co-founder Mohammad Zubair for allegedly promoting enmity among religious groups and other offences following a complaint by an aide of controversial priest Yati Narsinghanand over his social media posts, according to police.
Narsinghanand is facing multiple FIRs and protests from Muslim groups against his alleged remarks against Prophet Muhammad.
In her complaint to Kavinagar police, Udita Tyagi, General Secretary of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Foundation, has alleged that Zubair posted a video clip of an old programme of Narsinghanand on October 3 to provoke violence by Muslims against him.
The FIR against Zubair was lodged around 2 pm under sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion..), 228 (giving or fabricating false evidence), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 356(3) (related to defamation) and 351 (2) (punishment for criminal intimidation) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the police said.
A large crowd had gathered outside the Dasna Devi temple in Ghaziabad, which Narsinghanand heads, to protest against him on Friday night after videos of his inflammatory remarks appeared online, following which security was stepped up around the premises.
Ten people have been arrested so far for allegedly pelting stones during the protest, according to police.
Earlier in the day, members of Hindu outfits submitted a memorandum to Police Commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra demanding action against the people who "attacked" the temple on Friday.
The protesters also demanded the release of the priest, alleging that he had been illegally detained by the police, but Mishra maintained that the police were not aware of his whereabouts.
They held a demonstration outside the office of the police commissioner at police lines in Harsaon and demanded action against Zubair, AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi, Islamic scholar Arshad Madani and others, alleging that they were instigating Muslims to target the Dasna temple.
Udita Tyagi said she filed a police complaint against Zubair for posting inflammatory content.
Police Commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra said that an FIR was registered on the complaint.
He said that an FIR has also been lodged against the around 150 people who entered the police premises on Monday and shouted slogans before handing over the memorandum.
They have been booked under Section 223 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
On October 3, an FIR was lodged by Sub-inspector Trivendra Singh against Narsinghanand stating that on September 19 he had made derogatory remarks against a community during an event at Hindi Bhavan in Lohiya Naga in a violation of Section 302 of BNS (deals with the offence of uttering words or making sounds to intentionally hurt someone’s religious feelings.)
Another FIR was lodged by Bhanu Prakash Singh, sub-inspector and area beat in-charge Dasna area of Wave City police station. In this complaint, the priest's disciples-- Anil Yadav Chota Narsimahanand, Yati Ran Singhanand, Yati Ram Swaroopanand and Yati Nirbhayanand of Dasna temple -- have been accused of making objectionable remarks, a video of which had appeared on social media.
They have been booked at Wave City Police Station under sections 302 and 351 of BNS.
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'Last rites' of INDIA bloc: BJP on Cong-DMK fallout in Tamil Nadu
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday took a swipe at the Congress for extending support to Vijay's TVK in forming the government in Tamil Nadu and breaking away from its long term ally DMK, saying the party has a history of "betraying" its allies.
The saffron party also attacked the opposition INDIA bloc, claiming the alliance is "falling apart like a pack of cards" and lacks any common ideology or vision.
The Tamil Nadu Congress has decided to support TVK leader Vijay in forming a secular government in the state, sources said.
The decision to support the TVK was taken at an urgent meeting of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of Tamil Nadu Congress late on Tuesday night.
Reacting to the development, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed the INDIA alliance had effectively come to an end after the declaration of assembly election results on May 4.
"There is nobody whom the Congress has not deceived. Imagine what they will do to the Samajwadi Party if they have done this to the DMK," he wrote in a post on X.
Calling it the "last rites" of the INDIA bloc, Poonawalla, in a video post, said, "It has become a Bharat free of the DMK, TMC and the Left, and now Congress has dumped the DMK for the TVK."
The BJP spokesperson alleged that the opposition bloc was formed solely out of political compulsions and personal ambitions.
"The INDI alliance never had any mission or vision. It was only about ambition for position, corruption, commission and obsession against Modi ji that they came together. But now it is all falling apart like a pack of cards," he said.
Questioning the unity of the opposition parties, Poonawalla said the alliance was absent in several states during the election.
"Where was the INDI alliance in Bengal, in Kerala, in Gujarat, in Punjab, in Delhi, in Haryana, in Karnataka? There is no INDI alliance," he said.
The DMK on Wednesday described the Congress move to extend support to TVK as a "backstab" by its long-time national ally.
Speaking to PTI videos, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Anadurai said, "The Congress party has decided to ally with the TVK, pledging their support to the party. I think they have backstabbed... They have backstabbed the people of Tamil Nadu. They've backstabbed the mandate given by the people of Tamil Nadu."
He said that the decision came even before the electoral process had fully concluded.
"Even before the ink on the returning officer's signature on the victory certificate dried up, they've chosen to go ahead with an alliance," he said.
Vijay's TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, falling short of the halfway mark. He needs the support of 10 MLAs to form a government with a simple majority. The results were declared only on Monday.
The Congress has won five seats, while the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has bagged four seats. The CPI and CPI-M have two seats each. The outgoing ruling party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has won 59 seats while the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has won 47 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won only one seat, and so have the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and the Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK), while the VCK has won two seats.
The Congress had fought the assembly polls in a pre-poll alliance with the DMK, while the BJP had a tie-up with the AIADMK.
