Is Chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' Hate Speech? High Court Clears Karnataka Police

Bangalore: In a controversial case in Karnataka, the state police had registered an FIR against five people, adding the slogan "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" under sections of spreading hatred. The matter reached the Karnataka High Court, where the court did not consider this slogan to be spreading hatred and quashed the FIR.

 

It’s a shame that the High Court of Karnataka had to remind the Congress govt that chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' is not a hate speech! The Congress govt in Karnataka had even arrested people for raising slogans of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai.' pic.twitter.com/X8DX4kKuk8

— Anoop Antony Joseph (@AnoopKaippalli) September 28, 2024

The High Court said that saying "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" only promotes harmony, not animosity. Single judge Justice M Nagaprasanna said that this slogan is not going to promote enmity between religions. While quashing the FIR, he said that not a single element of Section 153A of the IPC is fulfilled in the case and called it a misuse of the section. The story of this case is that the petitioners were shouting slogans of Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Jai Hind while celebrating the day of the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 9, 2024. When they reached Boliyar village in Ullal taluka, they were attacked by 25 people and asked them why they were chanting "Bharat Mata Ki Jai". The attackers also attacked them with knives. The petitioners filed an FIR against 23 people the same night.

Subsequently, a Muslim man PK Abdullah filed a counter FIR against the petitioners, alleging that the petitioners had threatened him. Abdullah claimed to be the president of a local mosque and several sections of the IPC were slapped against him, including 153A, which punishes promoting enmity on religious or racial grounds. The High Court said that the FIR was a counter attack to the complaint filed by the petitioners and clarified that the slogan was not a crime of any kind but a symbol of the unity and integrity of India.

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