NEW DELHI: Ratan Lal, associate professor at the Hindu College of Delhi University, was arrested on Friday night for his offensive post on social media regarding claims of a “shivling” found at the Gyanvapi Mosque compound in Varanasi, shared by the the the police.
Police said Mr. Lal was arrested under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion, race, place of birth, place of residence, language, etc.
And committing harmful acts for the upkeep of harmony) and 295A (deliberate act to outrage religious sentiments of any kind by insulting their religion) by Cyber Police Station, North.
An FIR was declared against Mr.Lal on Tuesday night based on a complaint from a Delhi-based lawyer. In his complaint, Attorney Vineet Jindal said Mr. Lal recently shared a “derogatory, inflammatory and provocative tweet about Shivling”.
Mr. Lal’s statement on his Twitter account was “inflammatory and provocative,” he said in the complaint. The statement was released on the subject of a highly sensitive “shivling” found at the Gyanvapi Mosque compound and the matter is pending in court, the lawyer said in his complaint.
In defense of his post, Mr. Lal had previously said: “In India, talking about anything hurts someone’s feelings. So this is nothing new. I am a historian and have made several observations.
I used very careful language in my post while writing them, and still do. I will defend myself.”