On Friday, protestors gathered outside Aaj Tak’s Bengaluru office demanding the arrest of TV Journalist Rohit Sardana for a tweet that the Muslim community considered derogatory to Islam, reported The News Minute.
On November 16, Sardana had tweeted on Malayalam movie S Durga, questioning why the title “sexy” is not used for goddesses of other religions.
This tweet created such an uproar that Muslim groups started demanding action against Sardana, saying that his tweet was aimed at creating disharmony. Anjuman-e-Imamia group organised a march on Friday from Masjid-e-Askari in Bengaluru’s Richmond Town locality to India Today office.
A large group of people, mostly from Shia, Sunni and Christian communities, also staged a protest in front of the Old City police commissioner’s office at Purani Haveli in Hyderabad.
Some people also lodged a complaint under section 295(A) against Sardana at the Dabeerpura police station in Hyderabad. Police complaints were also filed against him in Mumbai.
Sardana tweeted out a clarification saying he did not wish to hurt sentiments with his tweet. The journalist has also been getting a number of threatening calls and messages from anonymous numbers. He has been contacting Uttar Pradesh police for assistance in the matter.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju responded to Sardana and extended support for him on Twitter. Rijiju also lashed out at the ‘free speech’ liberals who, as per him, decided to choose this incident to not stand by the ideals of ‘freedom of expression’.
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