BENGALURU: Karnataka chief minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday criticised the FIR registered against Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on the alleged ‘purification’ ritual at Haldwani’s Ramlila Ground, saying the action was an attempt to curb his right to raise his voice for Dalits and other sections of society.Shivakumar told news agency ANI that Rahul Gandhi had every right to speak on issues concerning different sections of society in a democracy and questioned the registration of an FIR over his remarks.“This is a great democratic country. In democracy, there are a lot of issues on caste, religion, how to protect humanity, everything is there. Rahul Gandhi has been pressurising that what has been done wrong has to be rectified through an FIR,” he said.“Since he (Rahul Gandhi) is opening his voice for the Dalits of this country and their self-respect, and the BJP is filing an FIR here. The message you are sending is a letter of the opposition. He has every right to speak, every right to raise his voice, every right to stand by all sections of the society,” CM Shivakumar added.“So you are trying to cut it. With this attitude, I think democracy is not alive in this country. It is very unfortunate,” he said.Earlier, Nainital police said an investigation was underway into the FIR registered against Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on the alleged ‘purification’ ritual conducted at Haldwani’s Ramlila Ground after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s rally on August 8.Speaking to ANI, police said the documents and facts available in the FIR are being examined and verified as part of the investigation.“At present, the documents and facts available in the FIR are being examined and verified as part of the investigation,” police said.The controversy began after a Congress rally at Ramlila Ground in Haldwani, ahead of the 2027 Uttarakhand Assembly elections. Members of a right-wing group later conducted a ‘shuddhikaran’ (purification) ritual at the venue, triggering criticism from Congress leaders, who alleged that the act amounted to ‘untouchability’.Kharge raised the matter in the Rajya Sabha, alleging that the ritual was linked to his identity as a Dalit leader and questioned whether such practices were acceptable in a democracy.The FIR was registered on August 30 against Rahul Gandhi over his statements regarding the ‘shuddhikaran yajna’ conducted at the Haldwvenue.The FIR was lodged following a complaint by Amit Kumar, a member of the Valmiki community, who alleged that Rahul Gandhi’s remarks hurt the sentiments of the Scheduled Caste (SC) community.Police invoked provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, including Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(u), along with Section 196 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.(With agency inputs)
