Associate professor of Delhi University's Hindu College Ratan Lal was arrested on Friday night for his simple observation on claims by hardline Hinduva forces about an alleged 'Shivling' inside Varanasi's Gyanvapi mosque complex, police said.
They said Lal was arrested under Indian Penal Code sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295A (deliberate act to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion) by the Cyber Police Station, North.
An FIR was lodged against Lal on Tuesday night based on a complaint filed by a Delhi-based lawyer. In his complaint, advocate Vineet Jindal said Lal had recently shared a "derogatory, inciting and provocating tweet on the Shivling".
The statement made by Lal on his Twitter account is "instigating and provoking", he said in the complaint.
The statement was posted on the issue of a 'Shivling' found in the Gyanvapi mosque complex which is very sensitive in nature and the matter is pending before the court, the lawyer said in his complaint.
After his social media post went viral, Lal had posted a video saying he had received several threats online, and asked police for “security” and help.
Defending his post earlier, Lal had said, "In India, if you speak about anything, someone or the other's sentiment will be hurt. So this is nothing new. I am a historian and have made several observations. As I wrote them down, I have used very guarded language in my post and still this. I will defend myself."
On Wednesday, Lal had told a news paper: “I was not expecting threats and abuses for this statement. There is a long tradition of critique in Hinduism from Phule, Ravidas and Ambedkar. Here, I haven’t even critiqued it, it is just an observation. In our country, religious feelings get hurt over anything. What will people do, just put patti (bandage) on their mouths?”
According to police, a case was registered against Lal under IPC sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and 295-A (malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) based on a complaint by a “social worker”. An FIR was registered at Cyber Police Station late Tuesday night.
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