Protest against Raj Thackeray Grows; Cases Filed
Patna: February 1, 2008
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Protest against Raj Thackeray Grows
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Photo by Shashi Uttam |
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Incensed by the latest insensitive remarks by Raj Thackeray, the chief of the so-called Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, people in Bihar lodged two cases against the racist leader in the court of a Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in Patna on Friday on charges of trying to wedge a communal divide among the Hindus while hurting the religious sentiments of the people of Bihar.
Hearings will be held on February 4 and 5 respectively for the two cases.
While one of the cases were lodged by the Patna High Court senior advocate Shashi Kumar Pandey, the other case was filed by a Patna woman identified as Vidya Kumari.
Both cases were filed under Section 153 and 153-A (promotion of enmity between different groups of the country on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) in the court of CJM Raghavendra Kumar Singh.
If convicted, Thackeray faces up to three years in prison and a fine.
As reported before, the controversial separatist leader on Thursday debased the importance of Chhath, Bihar's most prominent and revered religious festival, by calling it a drama that had no religious importance.
His remarks spurred reactions by Nitish Kumar, Bihar Chief Minister, and the Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav who condemned Thackeray's utterance as 'irresponsible' and 'insensitive'.
In Patna on Friday, activists from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) burnt the effigies of Thackeray demanding his arrest and a public apology from the man who has made it a habit to hog the media limelight by making the most absurd statements intended to hurt one community or another.
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