Posters in Lucknow question Akhilesh's 'silence' over remarks on Dimple's attire removed later

    Lucknow, Jul 29 (PTI) Posters were put up in Lucknow on Tuesday attacking Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav for his "silence" on a Muslim cleric's inappropriate remarks targeting his wife, Dimple Yadav, and asking him how would he provide security to women in Uttar Pradesh.
    However, the posters that initially came up in various parts of the city were removed subsequently.
    "Patni ke apman par chup rahne wale pradesh ke behen-betiyon ki suraksha kya karenge (How will those who remain silent on the insult of their wives protect the sisters and daughters of the state)?" asked the posters put up by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLC and the party's state general secretary, Subhash Yaduvansh.
    The posters had a photograph of Akhilesh Yadav on one side and another of Maulana Sajid Rashidi, who has made the remarks targeting Dimple Yadav, on the other side.
    The objectionable statement made by Rashidi was also written on the top of the posters.
    Yaduvansh denied that the removal of the posters indicate any change in the BJP's stance on the issue.
    "Our stance is the same. There is no question of any revision. As for the removal of the posters, I have no idea about it. Maybe, the decision was taken by the local administration for reasons best known to it," the BJP leader told PTI.
    In a recent television debate, Rashidi allegedly made inappropriate comments on Dimple Yadav's attire when she visited a mosque in Delhi.
    An FIR was registered against Rashidi on Sunday.
    SP's Mahila Sabha president Juhie Singh alleged that Rashidi is a BJP-sponsored person and the saffron party has got the objectionable and humiliating statement from him.
    "We gave a complaint to the Gomti Nagar police station on Monday evening, demanding the registration of an FIR against the cleric," she said.
    The BJP has been attacking Akhilesh Yadav over his "silence" on the issue.
    Uttar Pradesh minister Baby Rani Maurya questioned the SP chief's "silence" on the issue on Monday and termed it "shameful".
    "This was not only an attack on the dignity of a woman MP, but also on an Indian woman and her culture.
    "Akhilesh Yadav's silence on the indecent comment made on Dimple Yadavji is not only condemnable but also shameful. Is the SP's silence on the maulana's statement an agreement with the thinking that now, maulvis will decide on the dignity of women in the SP?" Maurya asked.
    The FIR against the cleric was registered at the Vibhuti Khand police station on Sunday on the basis of a complaint from one Pravesh Yadav.
    The FIR was lodged under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including section 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race etc.) and 197 (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration).
    Provisions under the Information Technology Act have also been invoked for the circulation of the content on digital platforms.
    In his complaint, Pravesh Yadav has alleged that Rashidi's language and tone indicated an "anti-national mindset" and linked him to a group "working to disturb social harmony in India".

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)