'Godse was a first Hindu extremist' remark: HC refuses to entertain PIL against Kamal Haasan

Agencies
May 15, 2019

New Delhi, May 15: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday declined to entertain a PIL which referred to actor-cum-politician Kamal Haasan's remark about Mahatma Gandhi's assassin being a Hindu terrorist and had sought directions to the Election Commission (EC) to "restrict" misuse of religion for poll gains. A bench of Justices G S Sistani and Jyoti Singh said the cause of action for the PIL by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay was the remarks by Haasan which was made outside the jurisdiction of the high court here and therefore, it cannot hear it.

The court, however, asked the EC to expeditiously decide Upadhyay's representation against Haasan's remark. The petition, filed by Upadhyay, has also sought debarring of candidates and deregistration of parties that "misuse" religion for electoral gains.

Upadhyay, also a lawyer, has alleged that Haasan "deliberately" made the statement in the presence of a Muslim majority crowd for electoral gain.

The petition contends that this was clearly a corrupt practice under the Representation of the People Act (RPA) 1951.

Haasan, the president of Makkal Needhi Maiam, had in an election rally speech for his party candidate on Sunday termed Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as independent India's first "Hindu terrorist". He had made the comment while speaking at an election rally on Sunday for his party candidate in Aravakurichi Assembly constituency, where by-polls will be held on May 19, the petition has said.

"As per Model Code of Conduct, no party or candidate can indulge in any activity which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic. Similarly, there shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes.

"Haasan has violated the Model Code of Conduct in addition to section 123(3) of the RPA 1951. Kamal Haasan is deliberately promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony and brotherhood, which is an offence under section 153A of the IPC. It is a deliberate and malicious act, intended to outrage religious feelings of millions of Hindus, which is an offence under section 295A IPC," the petition has claimed.

It has also said that despite the alleged misuse of religion for electoral gain by Haasan, the EC has not done any thing in this regard yet. In his plea, Upadhyay has also sought a direction to EC to refer to respective investigation agencies the complaints relating to misuse of religion, race, caste, community and language by contesting candidates and political office bearers for electoral gain.

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News Network
April 24,2020

Mumbai, Apr 24: A complaint has been filed with police against Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut for allegedly referring to members of a particular community as a terrorist in a video released in support of her sister Rangoli Chandel, an official said on Friday.

The complaint was filed by a lawyer, Ali Kashif Khan Deshmukh, at the suburban Amboli Police Station on Wednesday.

The Twitter account of Chandel, who is also the 33- year-old actor's manager, recently got suspended for alleged hate speech.

According to the complaint, while supporting her sister, Ranaut, in the video, allegedly referred to members of a particular community as "terrorist", the official said.

Ranaut had released the video some time back.

Following the release of the video, Deshmukh submitted an application to the Amboli police seeking registration of a case against the actor, the official said.

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News Network
May 20,2020

Mumbai, May 20: Doing his bit to help people in need during the ongoing coronavirus crisis, and the lockdown 4.0 phase, Bollywood actor Salman Khan has initiated ''Being Haangryy''- food truck facility to distribute, provide ration to needy.

To feed the affected people in Mumbai, the food truck with the words ''Being Haangryy'' written on it, was seen in Mumbai roads on Wednesday, where volunteers are providing huge bags of ration. A long queue of people was standing near the truck to get the essentials.

Many videos of the truck moving around the city providing ration kits to the people in need, surfaced on the internet from earlier this month.

However, the Bajrangi Bhaijaan actor has not announced this initiative himself on his personal social media accounts.

The Sultan actor is staying at his Panvel farmhouse with his nephew Nirvaan Khan and other family members ever since the lockdown was announced.

Earlier, the 54-year-old actor urged people to take up the ''Anna Daan'' challenge and donate to the underprivileged ones who are worst affected by the COVID-19 lockdown.

After urging people to take up the ''Anna Daan'' challenge, the actor posted a video on Twitter, that features him and Iulia Vantur, Jacqueline Fernandez among others loading the bags filled with ration on to a truck.

Khan actively posts videos on his social media handles to raise awareness about the importance of social distancing during COVID-19.

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

@jacquelinef143 @vanturiulia @rahulnarainkanal @imkamaalkhan @niketan_m @waluschaa @abhiraj88

A post shared by Salman Khan (@beingsalmankhan) on

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News Network
June 9,2020

Mumbai, Jun 9: Actor Sonu Sood, who has been arranging transport for migrant workers stranded in Mumbai and has faced criticism from the Shiv Sena for "enacting a political script written by BJP", was stopped outside the Bandra Terminus in Mumbai by police from meeting labourers.

A Mumbai Police official said the actor was stopped by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) when he reached the station on Monday night to meet some labourers, and added that they have not received any complaint so far in this connection.

The migrant labourers were supposed to take the Shramik Special train from Bandra Terminus to Uttar Pradesh.

Mumbai's Nirmal Nagar police station's senior inspector Shashikant Bhandare told news agency PTI that "The actor was stopped by the RPF, not by us. He wanted to meet labourers who were going to their native place. We have not received any complaint regarding this till now."

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday wondered whether the BJP propped up Sonu Sood to "offer help" to migrant workers from north India stranded in Maharashtra amidst the lockdown, with the political motive to show the Uddhav Thackeray government in poor light.

In his weekly column 'Rokhthok' in Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana', Sanjay Raut questioned the sudden rise of "Mahatma" Sood on the social scene of Maharashtra during the lockdown.

Mr Raut also referred to an alleged "sting operation" against Sonu Sood ahead of the 2019 general elections, saying he had agreed to promote the BJP-led government at various platforms through his official social media accounts.

However, later that day Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray lauded Sonu Sood's initiative to arrange buses for stranded migrant workers.

The actor met Uddhav Thackeray at the latter's residence 'Matoshree' in suburban Bandra on Sunday night.

On Monday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh backed Sonu Sood for his work for stranded migrant workers, and questioned the Maharashtra government's criticism of the actor.

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