DU Professor Arrested Following FIR Over Social Media Post On 'Shivling' At Gyanvapi Mosque

Lal had earlier written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking two bodyguards carrying AK-56 rifles as he claimed that he is confronting death threats and is being attacked on social media.

New Delhi: An associate professor at Delhi University was arrested on Friday night over a social media post referring to claims about a 'Shivling' found inside Varanasi's Gyanvapi mosque complex. Ratan Lal, who works with Hindu College, was arrested by officers of north Delhi's Cyber Police Station under Indian Penal Code sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295A (deliberate act to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion), news agency PTI reported police as saying.

The FIR against Ratan Lal was registered Tuesday night following a police complaint by a Delhi-based lawyer. In his complaint, advocate Vineet Jindal said that the professor had recently shared a "derogatory, inciting and provocative tweet on the Shivling".

The statement made by the professor on his Twitter account is "instigating and provoking", he stated in the complaint, as quoted by PTI.

The issue is very sensitive in nature and is pending before the court, the lawyer added in the complaint.

Defending his post earlier, Ratan Lal had said, "In India, if you speak about anything, someone or the other's sentiment will be hurt. So this is nothing new. I am a historian and have made several observations. As I wrote them down, I have used very guarded language in my post, and still this. I will defend myself."

Lal had earlier written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking two bodyguards carrying AK-56 rifles as he claimed that he is confronting death threats and is being attacked on social media.

"If this is not possible, then instruct the appropriate authority to issue a license of AK-56 rifle to him," Lal said in his letter.

Meanwhile, The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the transfer of the Gyanvapi Mosque case to the district judge in Varanasi. The SC bench's interim order of May 17 for protection of the Shivling area and free access to the Muslims to offer namaz will continue.

The apex court directed the District Magistrate of Varanasi to ensure an adequate arrangement of ‘wazu’ for the Muslims offering namaz in the Gyanvapi Mosque.