After Row Over 'The Kerala Story', NCP's Awhad Lands In Fresh Trouble For Remark On Sindhi Community

According to a spokesperson from the Thane police, a First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against the 59-year-old politician at Hill Line police station.

New Delhi: Days after NCP leader Jitendra Awhad was booked on defamation charges over his remarks on ‘The Kerala Story,' the Thane Police on Thursday registered an FIR against Awhad for allegedly making offensive remarks against the Sindhi community at an event in the Ulhasnagar area last month, reported news agency PTI.

According to a spokesperson from the Thane police, a First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against the 59-year-old politician at Hill Line police station. The complaint was lodged by Jamnadas Puruswani, the president of the Ulhasnagar unit of the BJP.

The FIR stated that the sitting MLA from Mumbra-Kalwa in Thane district made the alleged offensive remarks while addressing NCP activists and leaders at a meeting in Ulhasnagar town on May 27, according to PTI.

Ahwad's derogatory comments, which went viral on social media, have hurt the sentiments of Sindhi community members, it said.

However, the NCP Thane unit president Anand Paranjpe claimed that the video carrying the former minister's remarks was morphed.

He was booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 295A (deliberate and malicious intention of outraging religious feelings of any class of citizens) and 298 (deliberate intention of wounding religious feelings of any person), the police spokesman said.

Last month, Ahwad was booked based on a complaint filed by an activist, a non-cognisable offence was registered against Awhad under Indian Penal Code Section 500 (punishment for defamation) at the Vartak Nagar police station, according to the Indian Express.

The activist in his complaint alleged that “Awhad had defamed the movie, claiming that it was based on fake incidents”. 

Notably, the Thane Police has registered four FIRs against Awhad in the past nine months, including two FIRs registered in November last year - one on charges of molestation and the other for halting the screening of a movie.