Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi’s attempt to have the FIR against him dismissed was denied by the Gujarat High Court. The FIR claimed that Pratapgarhi had posted a video clip along with a provocative poem on his social media account, thereby inciting communal discord. The 46-second film, which featured Pratapgarhi during a mass marriage ceremony in Jamnagar on December 29, had the poem “ae khoon ke pyase baat suno…” (Listen, those thirsty for blood).
After sharing a 46-second video footage of a mass wedding he had attended in Jamnagar on December 29 on social media, Pratapgarhi was charged. In the video, he was seen waving his hand to a crowd while being showered with flowers, the media reported.
In its ruling, the court noted that the poem’s substance and the comments had been posted in a way that would have affected social harmony.
“Looking at the tenor of the poem, it certainly indicates something about the throne. The responses received to the said post by other persons also indicate that the message was posted in a manner which certainly creates disturbance in social harmony…
“…the petitioner, who is a Member of Parliament, is expected to behave in some more restricted manner as he is expected to know more about the repercussions of such a post,” the order published by a section of the media stated.
The judge further underlined that Pratapgarhi was supposed to exercise greater caution in his activities as a Member of Parliament since he was aware of the implications of such posts on public opinion and social decorum.
Pratapgarhi petitioned the High Court to quash the FIR through his attorney, I H Syed. The Congress politician defended the poem saying it spread non-violence and was a message of love and peace. In response, the court requested that he either affirm whether he was the poem’s creator or provide an affidavit outlining the poem’s origin.
Pratapgarhi, the national chairperson of the Congress minority cell, is accused in the FIR by Kishan Nanda, a resident of Jamnagar, of using a song that was “provocative, detrimental to national integrity, and hurtful to religious sentiments.”
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