Controversial poet Munawwar Rana has been booked by the Uttar Pradesh Police for his derogatory comments against Hindus by drawing false equivalence with radical Islamic organisation Taliban that has captured Afghanistan.
According to the reports, a complaint has been registered against Munawwar Rana at the Hazratganj police station in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow for inciting religious feelings by comparing Maharshi Valmiki, the author of Ramayana, with the Taliban.
The FIR was registered against Rana on the complaint filed by PL Bharti, a leader of the Valmiki community, who accused Rana of hurting religious feelings by comparing Valmiki with the Taliban. In his complaint, Bharti said that Rana made obnoxious comments against Dalits.
#NewsAlert | Poet Munnawar Rana booked following his remarks comparing Valmiki community with Taliban that sparked controversy. pic.twitter.com/SIAYxSrT2j
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) August 21, 2021
The FIR has been registered under Sections 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth etc.), 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class), 505(1)(B) (with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public) and the SC/ST atrocities prevention act, said the police.
A few days ago, Urdu poet Munawwar Rana, who has a history of making such Hinduphobic statements, had compared the Taliban with the Maharshi Valmiki as he defended the action of the radical Islamic organisation that has taken over Afghanistan.
In an interview with TV anchor Deepak Chaurasia, Munawwar Rana had claimed, “Valmiki became a God after he wrote the Ramayan, before that he was a dacoit. A person’s character can change. Similarly, the Taliban, for now, are terrorists but people and characters change”.
He further said, “When you speak about Valmiki, you will have to talk about his past. In your religion, you make anyone the God. But he was a writer. Okay, so he wrote the Ramayan, but we are not in competition here.”
Rana went ahead to make a dastardly metaphorical statement to defend the Taliban. “Valmiki became a God after he wrote the Ramayan, before that he was a dacoit. A person’s character can change. Similarly, the Taliban, for now, are terrorists but people and characters change,” exclaimed Rana. He further said, “When you speak about Valmiki you will have to talk about his past. In your religion, you make anyone the God. But he was a writer. Okay, so he wrote the Ramayan, but we are not in competition here.”
Glorifying the Taliban, Munawwar Rana referred to the Islamist fighters as “aggressive fighters” and not “terrorists”. The infamous poet claimed that the Taliban are also Afghanis, and they have simply freed their nation from foreign occupation.
According to legend, Ratnakar, supposed to be born in a so-called low-caste, was renamed as Valmiki and given the status of Maharishi (great sage) and a great Brahmin by Narada Muni after Ratnakar performed tapasya (deep meditation). However, the Valmiki community, especially those living in Punjab, don’t like that part of the story that says that Maharishi Valmiki was any dacoit at any point in his earlier life. Repeating this portion can attract legal action. Earlier, a case was registered against Bollywood actor Rakhi Sawant for hurting the sentiments of the community under IPC 295 in 2017.
An FIR was registered against Munawwar Rana in November last year at Hazratganj police station on similar charges for allegedly defending the killings in France over a caricature of Prophet Muhammad.
