The Special Cell of Delhi Police has booked controversial activist cum politician Shehla Rashid for sedition. An FIR against Shehla has been lodged by Delhi Police special cell under sections 124-A, 153A, 153, 504, 505 of the Indian Penal Code.
The case has been registered on a complaint by Supreme Court lawyer Alakh Alok Srivastav, in which he sought arrest of Rashid for spreading fake news to defame Indian Army. “The FIR was registered on Tuesday. Investigation is underway,” said Special Cell DCP Manishi Chandra.
“FIR has been registered under IPC Section 124-A (sedition), 153-A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 153 (wantedly giving provocation with intent to cause riot),” said a police officer.
With unverified claims, Shehla Rashid, whose nascent political career ended up in tatters after Article 370 abrogation, had alleged in a tweet that Indian Security forces have been ‘torturing’ Kashmiris and had also alleged that the security forces have been mistreating Kashmiri families. However, the Indian Army refuted her allegations and replied, “Allegations levelled by Shehla Rashid are baseless and rejected. Such unverified & fake news are spread by inimical elements and organisations to incite unsuspecting population.”
Indian Army: Allegations levelled by Shehla Rashid are baseless and rejected. Such unverified & fake news are spread by inimical elements and organisations to incite unsuspecting population. pic.twitter.com/m6CPzSXZmJ
— ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2019
Shehla Rashid had tweeted, “In Shopian, 4 men were called into the Army camp and “interrogated” (tortured). A mic was kept close to them so that the entire area could hear them scream, and be terrorised. This created an environment of fear in the entire area.”
Shehla also alleged, “Armed forces are entering houses at night, picking up boys, ransacking houses, deliberately spilling rations on the floor, mixing oil with rice, etc.”
For Shehla Rashid this is not the first time she has been called out for spreading fake news, earlier in February 2019 Dehradun Police filed a FIR against Rashid for a tweet she posted on 16 February 2019 where she had written, “15-20 Kashmiri girls trapped in a hostel in Dehradun for hours now. Mobs outside are baying for their blood. Police is present but unable to disperse the mob.” The FIR was filed under sections 504, 505 and 153b of the Indian Penal Code.
Shehla Rashid in the past has also been called out for her highly divisive and objectively poor views on several issues, with most of the opinions amounting to just blatant fear-mongering and clear disconnect with ground realities. Nonetheless, looking at the trend it is not surprising that enemies of the nation have been picking up similar vacuous comments to justify and propagate their anti-India agenda.
In dearth of any locus standi on the legislative developments, Pakistan, along with politicians like Shehla Rashid has also been largely been relying on Indian media including Wire, Quint and other such left-liberal outlets for its anti-India campaign. At this time while the nation is praying for the safety of people in Jammu and Kashmir and the Lakhs of security personnel in the region, these misleading attempts need not only firm condemnation but also calls for legal action against those undermining India’s national security.