FIR against Magsaysay winner Pandey for 'inappropriate comments' against Vir Savarkar

Aligarh: Magsaysay Award winner and human rights activist Sandeep Pandey has been booked for allegedly making inappropriate comments against Hindutva ideologue Vir Savarkar.

On Tuesday, national vice president of Hindu Mahasabha Rajiv Kumar filed a complaint alleging that Pandey made the comments while addressing anti-citizenship law protestors at Aligarh Muslim University on Sunday, police said.

The FIR was lodged at the Civil Lines police station under sections 153 A (provocation with intent to cause riots) and 505 (1)b (inciting public or community to commit an offense).

In his address, Pandey had also said that the same people are “dividing Hindus and Muslims” who had done the same thing during British Raj.

He had claimed that “masked goons” hired by some right-wing organizations have disrupted peaceful protests in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Milia Islamia and AMU and they were the real culprits behind the violence in these varsities.

Meanwhile, noted historian Irfan Habib has accused Uttar Pradesh Police of using pressure tactics to crush the democratic rights of citizens to protest peacefully.

He said police were behaving in a partisan manner and deliberately trying to suppress dissent.