The FIR was registered at Vidhana Soudha police station following a complaint filed by TR Ramappa, former vice-chairman of the Scheduled Tribes Department cell of the Adivasi Congress.
According to the complaint, Kharge addressed a public gathering at Ramlila Ground in Nainital district on August 8. Ramappa alleged that local BJP functionaries subsequently organised a ritualistic cleansing, referred to as ‘Shuddhikaran’, at the same venue.
The complainant alleged that the ritual was intended to promote a casteist belief that the ground had become “impure” because of Kharge’s presence. Kharge, the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, belongs to a Scheduled Caste community.
Reacting to the registration of the Zero FIR by Bengaluru Police, BJP leader Ram Kadam criticised the Congress, accusing the party of trying to mislead the public.
“The Congress party should be renamed the ‘Party of leaders who lie’… it would suit them perfectly on moral grounds. They are trying to spread confusion among the public regarding a lie, an incident that never actually occurred and which no one supported. And since they are in power in Karnataka, they want the police to file a case so that the matter grabs headlines again… but the public cannot be fooled repeatedly by such fabrications. The Congress party and its leaders need to understand this…” he said.
Telangana BJP President Ramchander Rao said, “The Congress party appears to be having no issue. So, they are now trying to rake up the old issue, that is, the Haldwani issue, and trying to mislead the people of this country about the so-called purification ritual. The Karnataka police appears to have registered a zero FIR against Uttarakhand BJP leaders… this is divisive politics by the Congress Party.”
“There is no such purification issue, which has been clarified by many BJP leaders, but still the Congress party is making it an issue, a non-issue being blown out of proportion,” he added.
Mahendra Bhatt and other BJP members have also been named in the complaint for allegedly defending and endorsing the ritual publicly through media statements. Ramappa claimed that such statements amounted to providing official sanction to an act of discrimination.
The Zero FIR has been filed under provisions of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
A Zero FIR can be registered at any police station irrespective of the location where the alleged offence occurred. It is subsequently transferred to the police station having territorial jurisdiction for investigation. In this case, the complaint will be sent to Uttarakhand.
The Bengaluru Police said the complaint would be forwarded to the concerned authorities in Uttarakhand, where the matter will be investigated.
According to the police, the FIR was registered after the department sought legal opinion on the written complaint submitted on August 31.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Minister and Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge said the incident was against the Constitution and that filing an FIR was the police’s duty after receiving a complaint.
“What has happened in Uttarakhand is against the Constitution. When somebody has come and given a complaint, it is a duty to file an FIR. This should have been done by the Govt of Uttarakhand. Delhi Govt should have taken cognisance of it. The Home Minister should have spoken about it. Unfortunately, they can’t do anything because that is the RSS mindset and going against them is not good for them,” he said.
The development came a day after Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to Rajya Sabha Chairman J P Nadda, highlighting that no FIR had been registered over the “purification” ritual in Haldwani even 24 days after the incident, despite Nadda’s assurance.
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