Skit on Babri Masjid demolition; SDPI leader booked

Mangaluru: Ullal Police have booked a case against Attaullah Jokatte, Dakshina Kannada district president of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), for allegedly inciting communal hatred by staging a skit on the demolition of Babri Masjid.

The skit had been staged as part of   the Babri Masjid Expo, a month-long campaign of SDPI demanding restoration of the masjid. It was organised near the Ullal Sayyid Madani Dargah.

The Ullal Police Inspector took suo motu cognisance of the play and booked Jokatte, as he was the one who had sought permission for the expo, said police commissioner T R Suresh.

The action was taken as the 10-minute-long skit had the potential to incite communal hatred, by enacting the sequence of events leading to the demolition of the Babri Masjid, he added.

Attaullah Jokatte has been booked under Section 153 (Wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) of the Indian Penal Code.

A demonstration was staged in front of Ullal Police station by SDPI activists on Tuesday Feb 5^th. Earlier in the day, SDPI State general secretary Riyaz Farangipet spoke at a press meet and accused the police of foisting a case against Jokatte at the behest of district in-charge Minister U.T. Khader and that the SDPI will now launch legal action.