Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh police invoked NSA against Mohammad Salim and Satyendra Kushwaha. Both are leaders of Samajwadi Party. Now, they are facing detainment of one year for burning the copy of the holy Hindu scripture Ramcharitmanas. The NSA permits the police to detain the accused without any charge.
“In connection with case no. 75/23 in relation to burning copies of Shri Ramcharitmanas on January 29, 2023, the Lucknow Police has ordered detention of two accused–Salim and Satyendra Kushwaha– at Lucknow district jail, under section 3, sub-section 2 of the National Security Act (NSA) for preventing them from taking part in such actions which are contrary to the maintenance of public order,” police said.
Police has presently lodged the criminals in Lucknow district jail since their arrest on January 30. Apart from the duo, the Lucknow police has arrested three more accused. They were all booked under IPC sections 120-B, 142, 143, 153-A, 295, 295-A, 298, 504, 505(2), and 506.
Earlier the UP police had booked 10 known and several unidentified people. The accused include Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya also. Police booked them for promoting enmity after they burnt photocopies of the pages of Ramcharitmanas on January 29.
The 10 accused, belonging to an outfit OBC Mahasabha, had burnt a copy of the Hindu holy scripture to show their support to Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya, who recently stirred a hornet’s nest by seeking ban on Ramcharitmanas. Interestingly, Samajwadi Party rewarded Maurya by appointing him general secretary for his intemperate remarks on Ramcharitmanas.
Maurya rewarded for burning Ramcharitmanas
“Swami Prasad Maurya got his award for insulting Shri Ramcharitmanas. The Samajwadi Party (SP) wants communal harmony to deteriorate in Uttar Pradesh and wants to create caste conflict. They will not succeed in their plan. Akhilesh Yadav’s anti-Hindu and casteist face is out in the open,” BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said.
Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav faced protest during his visit to Pitambara Devi Temple on January 28 in Lucknow. Various Hindu organisations held a demonstration against Maurya’s statement. Maurya had sought removal of some verses from Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas which he described as disrespectful to backwards, Dalits, tribals and women.
On February 2, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) Working President Alok Kumar had sought an appointment with Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar to draw his attention to the issue and urge him to deregister the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the outfit said in a statement.
“Both the SP and RJD have violated the basic conditions upon which the parties were registered and have become liable for the withdrawal of their registration,” he contended and added: “The VHP wishes to draw attention of the CEC to Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.”
Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, requires each registered political party to have a specific provision in their memorandum that the party shall bear true faith and allegiance including to the principles of secularism and democracy.