'Hasty' action against rights group stumps Cong

Police could have adopted a cautious approach, leaders opine

The Congress appeared stumped at the Karnataka police “hastily” booking Amnesty International India for sedition over an event on Kashmir organised in Bengaluru. A section of Congress leaders said the state police could have adopted a cautious approach, instead of filing a First Information Report (FIR) on the charge of sedition against the advocay group.

“An FIR has been registered by the police. Obviously this has been brought to the full support and information of the state government,” Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh told reporters here on Tuesday. He said that investigation was under way to ascertain whether incidents that took place in Bengaluru constituted any violation of law.

Police had registered an FIR against Amnesty under IPC sections 142 (being member of an unlawful assembly), 143 (whoever is a member of an unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc. and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony).

“It is very premature to say what happened, what did not happen. But the fact is that an FIR has been filed and investigations are under way and whatever has to be done will be done according to the laws of the land,” Ramesh said.

Will Rahul come?
“He cannot rush to Amnesty International,” Ramesh shot back, to questions whether Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi would be going to Bengaluru to express solidarity with the organisers as he had done when the Delhi police had filed sedition charges against students at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Congress leader and senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi said an institution cannot be accused of sedition.

“We have to look at the facts of the case. I can understand an FIR against an individual who has tried to fan anti-India sentiment. But I doubt if any institution can be accused of sedition charges in these circumstances,” said the Congress leader.