Date: 10thApril, 2020
To
The Director General and Inspector General of Police, Karnataka
Bengaluru Respected Sir,
Subject: Seeking registration of FIR against the Member of Parliament from the Udupi, Chikmaglur constituency, Shobha Karandlaje for making statements in an interview on 04.04.2020 that spurs enmity between different groups on religious grounds by promoting violence and murder.
The Campaign against Hate is a groupofconcerned activists, parents, lawyers, academicians who are working towards making the media accountable to journalistic standards, ethics and principles.
We are filing this complaint against the Member of Parliament from the Udupi, Chikmaglur constituency, in Karnataka, Shobha Karandlaje, for the promotion and endorsement of communal disharmony and hatred on the basis of religion by statements in an interview covered by multiple TV channels across the state and nationally on 04.04.2020.
The video of this interview was aired by Suvarna TV on 05.04.2020, with the title, “MP Shobha Karandlaje Calls Delhi’s Tablighi Jamaat event ‘corona-jihad’ ”, which recorded her saying “It feels like they are doing a kind of corona jihad in the country. Today in Belgaum, some one who has been infected with coronavirus, if that person hugs a doctor, what is his psychological state? If they say, we’ll infect the nurse, the doctor, what terrorism, what jihad was there in this country, it is a continuation of that terrorism, we should state that simply. We should take action againstsuchpeople,theyshouldbeplacedinquarantineandoncethatisdone,they should be given life imprisonment and put in jail…Those who are doing politics, those who went to Tablighi institution, those who escaped from there and came, those who are still not apprehended by police, those who still haven’t gone to the doctor…” This video can be found on https://youtu.be/JMReOF2Vp3w and is annexed as Annexure –A.
The statements made by Shobha Karandlaje is clearly promoting and inciting hatred against the muslim community and is further stating that they are propagating the virus causing the entire pandemic linking it to the terrorist terminology of ‘jihad’.
The same is clearly an offence under Section 153-A, 153-B, 295, 295A, 298 and 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code.
Please note that the above-said statement has been widely reported. A news report by the Deccan Herald, titled “Tablighi incident: Karandlaje suspects ‘Corona Jihad’ on 05.04.2020, stated, “People who participated in Tablighi religious gathering should furnish their details voluntarily to the police and get themselves examined. In addition, they should remain in quarantine. The authorities should trace people who had failed to furnish their details voluntarily to the police and get themselves examined. In addition, they should remain in quarantine. The authorities should trace people who had failed to furnish details. They should be given life sentence. When they fail to adhere to the law of the land, I feel there is a hidden agenda behind it,’’ she said. She went ahead to allege “It is proved that members of one community are not cooperating with the government to contain the spread of coronavirus.”The aforementioned news report, is annexed as Annexure –B.
It is pertinent to note that significant coverage of this interview has been done by multiple news agencies such as, Times of India, in an article dated, 08.04.2020, titled “Despite warning from Karnataka CM and RSS, BJP legislators target Tablighi Jamaat attendees” annexed as Annexure – C reported that Udupi- Chikkamagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje was the first to pass inflammatory comments against minorities saying two days ago, “Tablighi Jamaat attendees are here to spread corona jihad in the country.In another news report titled “Tablighi event: Shobha smells ‘Corona Jihad’“, dated 04.04.2020 published by the Hindu is annexed as Annexure – D, states that “Speaking to presspersons here on Saturday, Ms. Karandlaje said, Those who attended the Nizamuddin event are engaged in spreading the infection across the country. Many of the participants are still missing. One can smell Corona Jihad behindallthis.” She said that the police had been trying to trace those who attended the event. Further, she said those who attended the Delhi event should undergo medical test and remain in quarantine. “Those who fail to follow the guidelines should be traced and the government should subject them to rigorous punishment of life imprisonment. We have already made this appeal to the Centre,” she said.”
The statements made by Shobha Karandlaje is clearly promoting and inciting hatred against the muslim community and is further asserting by stating that they be denied and deprived of their rights as citizens of India. The same is clearly an offence under Section 153-A, 153-B, 295, 295A, 298 and 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code.
In this regard, we seek that an FIR be registered against Shobha Karandlaje for making these illegal statements seen in the appended video, and for appropriate legal action to be taken against her.
Campaign Against Hate Speech 