AAP leaders booked over Santa Claus skit for 'outraging religious feelings of Christians'

New Delhi: A police case was lodged on Thursday against AAP's Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bhardwaj, and two other party leaders over a skit related to air pollution that had a man dressed as Santa Claus, an official said on Thursday.

The complainant alleged that the skit outrages the religious feelings of the Christian community as Santa Claus was "revered religious and cultural icon".

Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha and AAP leader Adil Ahmad Khan were also booked in the case.

Bharadwaj later took to X, alleging that the BJP was on the back foot over issue of pollution and the Aravallis so its workers were posing as Christians and saying their "religious sentiments are hurt". He dismissed the case as intimidatory tactics of the government.

The complaint, submitted by an advocate Khushboo George, alleges that the three leaders uploaded videos on their official social media handles on December 17 and 18 depicting a ‘political skit’ performed publicly at Connaught Place.

On November 17, Bharadwaj posted a video on X in which he is heard announcing that the Air Quality Index (AQI) at Connaught Place had touched 376. Moments after the remark, the clip shows a man dressed as Santa Claus dramatically collapsing to the ground as passers-by look on.

Reacting to the scene, Bharadwaj is heard quipping in Hindi, “Oh my God, 376 sunke Santa behosh ho gaye (Santa fainted hearing that the AQI has hit 376).” The complainant claimed that according to the video, people dressed as Santa Claus are allegedly shown fainting and collapsing on the road and being used as props for political messaging.

She said that Santa Claus, described as a revered religious and cultural icon for Christians worldwide and associated with the legacy of Saint Nicholas and the Christmas festival, was mocked and portrayed "derogatorily".

The complainant alleged that the visuals showed mock CPR being performed on man dressed as Santa Claus, which she claimed "amounted to ridicule of a religious symbol during the final days of (month of) Advent, just ahead of Christmas celebrations".

A case under sections 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 302 (uttering words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings of any person) and 3 (5) (joint liability) of the BNS has been registered on December 25.

“The contents of the complaint and the material submitted are being verified. Further action will be taken as per law,” a senior police officer said.

Hitting back at the BJP, Bharadwaj said the FIR was the result of the power of social media that has cornered the BJP government on several issues.

In a post on X in hindi, he said, “An FIR has been filed against Santa Claus's skit. Thanks to social media and your collective strength, the BJP is quite worried today. This is the power of social media—that the BJP government is being forced to respond on pollution, and there's discussion happening on AQI.”

“Through Santa Claus's skit, we've taken the pollution issue to every single person, which has caused considerable trouble for both the Delhi and central governments. This is the power of social media—that the government has been put on the back foot over the Aravalli mountain range,” he wrote.

The AAP leader added that the Kuldeep Singh Sengar case and the Ankita Bhandari case from Uttarakhand are also backfiring.

“Now, there's a round of intimidation, threats, ED, CBI, and Delhi Police FIRs underway. The sanghis' propaganda is now being exposed, so they're scared. We still need to expose them more and scare them even further,” he said.

“Even BJP workers are now donning the mask of Christians and saying their religious sentiments have been hurt, and the police are registering FIRs. When Santa Claus's caps were yanked off in Lajpat Nagar, Delhi, they were threatened and chased away with abuses, but then no BJP Christian worker's religious sentiments were hurt,” he said.

Referring to the complainant, Bharadwaj said people whose religious sentiments are hurt are the same people who are frequently clicked with BJP leaders. "...we shouldn't give these folks free publicity."