Communal remarks: Court directs police registration of FIR against Sadhvi Deva Thakur

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter

Srinagar: Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar on Thursday directed Jammu and Kashmir police to lodge a formal FIR against Hindu Mahasabha leader Sadhvi Deva Thakur for her communal remarks against the minorities in India.

Former leader of socio-religious organization Jamiat Ahle Hadees (JAH) in April this year had registered a criminal complaint in police station Saddar against Thakur for her communal and biased remarks against Indian Muslims.

Sadhvi Deva Thakur

The leader of Hindu Mahasabha Sadhvi Thakur during her speech in Haryana in April this year, had said that Muslims and Christians should be forcibly sterilized. She had said that the population of Muslims and Christians is growing day-by-day in India and to rein it, the Centre will have to impose emergency and Muslims and Christians will have to be forced to undergo sterilization so that they can't increase their numbers. She had also said that idols of Hindu gods and goddesses should be placed in mosques and churches.

Abdul Rehman Bhat, former general secretary JAH, according to CNS, had lodged the criminal complaint against these remarks and had asked police to register a case against Sadhvi Thakur under section 153A, 295A and 120B CrPc and prosecute and punish the accused without any delay.

However, the police did not register any case, prompting Bhat to approach the court. On Thursday, after hearing the arguments from the councils of petitioner Advocate Muhammad Ashraf Bhat and Advocate Muhammad Sultan, the Chief Judicial Magistrate stated that the remarks/comments by the Hindu leader, as alleged by the complainant, can have consequences across India.

The CJM directed the Station House Officer Saddar to lodge an FIR against the accused under relevant provisions and proceed further under the law. The court also directed the police to file a compliance report on or before June 15 this month.

(Inputs from CNS)