Mallikarjun Kharge ‘purification’ row: Day after he calls for FIR, Rahul Gandhi booked in Haldwani

An FIR was lodged against Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani town on Sunday under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the SC/ST Act.

The FIR was lodged a day after Gandhi, in a press conference in New Delhi, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order an FIR over a “shuddhikaran havan” (purification ritual) held at Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani, days after a rally there by Congress president and Dalit leader Mallikarjun Kharge.

Calling the act a “crime,” Gandhi said that it illustrated the “untouchability” Dalits face across India and exposed the “BJP-RSS mindset.” Gandhi had reiterated that the Congress wants an FIR filed under the SC/ST Act against those responsible for the Haldwani ceremony.

Superintendent of Police, City, Haldwani, Manoj Kumar Katyal told The Indian Express that the FIR against Gandhi was lodged based on a complaint by Amit Kumar, a resident of Jawahar Nagar Colony in Haldwani.

In his complaint, filed on Sunday, Kumar, 26, claimed that he is a member of the Valmiki community, and that he, along with other Scheduled Caste community members, participated in the “cleanliness drive and religious ritual” held at Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani on August 11. He claimed the act had no connection with any individual or caste.

“Despite that, Rahul Gandhi, in a press conference on August 29, without any verification, called it an act related to ‘chuwachhoot’ (untouchability) and a crime against Scheduled Castes, and demanded an FIR against those who participated in that ritual,” Kumar stated in the complaint.

He said that he himself belongs to the Valmiki community, but has been portrayed as someone who indulges in untouchability and is anti-Dalit. Kumar claimed enmity and tensions had increased between communities after Gandhi’s allegations.

On the basis of his complaint, the police lodged the FIR against Gandhi under BNS section 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), section 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and section 3 (1) (Q) of the SC/ST Act, which pertains to giving false or frivolous information to a public servant, causing that public servant to use their power to harm or annoy a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe.

On Saturday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami had responded to Gandhi, saying the Congress was a “mudda viheen” (issue-less) party and that those who conducted the havan were not BJP workers.

Lalmani is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, and is based in New Delhi. He covers politics of the Hindi Heartland, tracking BJP, Samajwadi Party, BSP, RLD and other parties based in UP, Bihar and Uttarakhand. Covered the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, 2019 and 2024; Assembly polls of 2012, 2017 and 2022 in UP along with government affairs in UP and Uttarakhand. ... Read More