Bengaluru, Karnataka
The controversy over an alleged ‘purification’ ritual following Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s rally in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, has intensified. A Zero FIR has been registered in Bengaluru against some members of the Uttarakhand BJP and others in connection with alleged derogatory and caste-based conduct involving a member of the Scheduled Caste community.
According to an official, the case was registered on August 31 at the Vidhana Soudha Police Station based on a complaint filed by TR Ramappa, former vice-president of the Congress Scheduled Tribes Department. The FIR invokes provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
According to the police, the complaint states that Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a large public rally at the Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani on August 8. Two days later, on August 10, some BJP members and office-bearers allegedly conducted a ‘purification ritual’ at the same venue.
The complainant has alleged that the ritual conveyed the notion that the venue had become ‘impure’ because Kharge, who belongs to a Scheduled Caste community, had been present there and that it needed to be purified through a religious ceremony.
Officials said a complaint was subsequently filed and registered as a Zero FIR. A Zero FIR allows a case to be registered at any police station, regardless of whether the alleged offence occurred within that station’s jurisdiction.
Further legal action will be taken after the allegations are investigated. The incident has also sparked political and social debate over alleged caste-based discrimination and the treatment of members of Scheduled Caste communities.
