The Tamil Nadu Police, on Wednesday, registered a first information report (FIR) against Union Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje on charges of promoting enmity among the people of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Her statement that people from Tamil Nadu plant bombs in Karnataka has kicked up a huge controversy. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had condemned her statement, calling it “reckless.” Following the backlash, Shobha apologised for the statement.
The FIR has been registered by Madurai city cybercrime police based on a complaint by an individual named C. Thiagarajan. The Union minister has been booked on charges of promoting enmity under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 153 (Wantonly giving provocation, with intent to cause riot), 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language), 505 (1)(b) and 505 (2) (Statements conducing to public mischief).
Thiagarajan, in his complaint, said he watched on television Shobha’s statement saying people of Tamil Nadu planted bombs in Karnataka even as the probe in the Rameshwaram cafe blast was underway and that she had said it without any basis.
On Tuesday, CM Stalin condemned Shobha's remarks and “urged for an appropriate legal action for causing threat to peace, harmony and national unity.” He urged the Election Commission of India to take note of her hate speech and intimate stringent action.
Shobha had apologised for her statement saying, “My remarks were solely directed towards those trained in the Krishnagiri forest, linked to the Rameshwaram cafe blast. To anyone from Tamil Nadu affected, from the depths of my heart, I ask your forgiveness. Furthermore, I retract my previous comments.”
