Three FIRs have been registered against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in parts of Chhattisgarh for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of the Sikh community through his remarks made during the recent US visit, police said on Friday.
While two cases - one at the Civil Lines police station in capital Raipur and another at the Bilaspur Civil Lines police station in Bilaspur district - were registered on Thursday, an FIR was filed at the Kotwali police station in Durg district on Friday, they said.
The cases were registered based on the complaints lodged by BJP leaders. Similar complaints have been submitted at police stations in other districts of the state too by ruling party leaders.
In all these cases, Gandhi was booked under sections 299 (deliberate and malicious acts that are intended to insult religious beliefs or outrage religious feelings of any class) and 302 (intentionally hurting someone's religious feelings by words, sounds, gestures, or objects) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, they said.
State BJP spokesperson Amarjeet Singh Chhabra, in his complaint lodged in Raipur, stated that Gandhi made the remark whether Sikhs would be allowed to wear a turban or a 'kada' and go to Gurdwara in India.
Gandhi's statement has hurt the religious sentiments of the Sikh community in India, Chhabra said in the complaint.
"In the entire world and even in India, the Sikh community is not prohibited from wearing a turban, a kada and visiting Gurdwaras. Even the Prime Minister visits Gurdwara wearing a turban. Gandhi's statement is intended to hurt the sentiments of the peace-loving Sikh community, which may create discrimination and animosity with other religions of the society," he claimed.
The case in Durg Kotwali police station was lodged by BJP's Durg district unit chief Jitendra Verma.
BJP leaders have lodged complaints on the same issue in other police stations of Durg, Surguja and some other districts.
Gandhi had made the comment while addressing a gathering of several hundred Indian Americans in Herndon, a Virginia suburb of Washington DC, on September 9.
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