Terms like ‘jihadis’, ‘Rohingyas’ not disparaging toward Indian Muslims: Mumbai Police tells HC
The police were justifying why they hadn’t booked BJP leader Nitesh Rane and others under the IPC section 295A, which deals with outraging religious sentiments.
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The use of terms like “jihadis”, “Rohingyas” and “Bangladeshis” is not disparaging towards Muslims living in India, the Mumbai Police told the Bombay High Court on Tuesday, reported Live Law.
The police were justifying their reasons for refusing to file a first information report against Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Nitesh Rane, T Raja and Geeta Jain under section 295A of the Indian Penal Code, for allegedly outraging religious sentiments with speeches they made in January.
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Shyam Chandak was hearing a batch of petitions seeking action against the Hindutva party leaders for propagating hate speech against Muslims during public addresses in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar, Mankhurd, Malwani areas, and Mira-Bhayandar’s Kashimira locality, in January.
The petitioners highlighted parts of a speech that Rane had made in Ghatkopar, in which he used words like “Rohingyas”, “Bangladeshis” and “jihadis”, among other derogatory expressions, against the Muslim community.
Rohingyas are a Muslim-majority ethnic group from Myanmar. The Rohingya are the victims of a state-sponsored ethnic-cleansing campaign in their home country. Several thousands of them have fled to India and Bangladesh to escape death and violence.
The speeches were made against the backdrop of communal violence in Mira Road near Mumbai.
When the matter reached the High Court, the commissioners of police for Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar and Vasai-Virar...
