Haveri district police on Friday filed a primary info report (FIR) in opposition to Tejasvi Surya, Member of Parliament (MP) from the Bharatiya Janata Social gathering (BJP) representing Bengaluru South, and editors of two Kannada on-line information portals, accusing them of “circulating misinformation”.
Surya had just lately claimed on social media {that a} farmer in Haveri died by suicide as his land was being taken over by the Waqf Board, attributing the alleged incident to minority appeasement by the Karnataka authorities.
Surya’s now-deleted put up on X learn, “A farmer in Haveri commits suicide after discovering his land taken over by Waqf! Of their haste to appease minorities CM Siddaramaiah and minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan have unleashed catastrophic results in Karnataka which are changing into not possible to comprise with each passing day.” His put up additionally linked to a narrative from Kannada Duniya, a regional information portal, suggesting comparable info.
Additionally Learn | JPC Chairman Jagdambika Pal visits Karnataka’s Vijayapura will get petitions from farmers over Waqf land controversy
Nonetheless, hours after Surya’s put up, Haveri superintendent of police (SP) issued a clarification, stating that the farmer, a 24-year-old resident in Hangal taluk, had taken his personal life in January 2022 attributable to debt burdens and crop losses, not points involving land possession or Waqf. In response to the police, the deceased’s father had earlier reported that his son had collected round ₹7 lakh in loans and was coping with vital crop injury attributable to extreme rainfall.
On Friday, the FIR was filed by the Cybercrime, Financial, and Narcotic Offences (CEN) police of Haveri following a grievance from Sunil Huchannavar, a constable within the social media monitoring cell on the Haveri SP workplace. It accused Surya and the editors of Kannada Duniya and Kannada Information of spreading false info with intention to create spiritual enmity. Police additionally mentioned that the suicide case had been closed beneath Part 174 of the Prison Process Code (CrPC), a provision utilized in circumstances involving unnatural deaths.
The FIR has been filed beneath Part 353(2) of the BNS, which prohibits the publication or dissemination of knowledge more likely to foster enmity primarily based on faith, race, caste, or group. A conviction beneath this part may end in imprisonment for as much as three years, a fantastic, or each.
Additionally Learn | BJP begins stir on Waqf, CM brings up ‘double standards’
“The information shared is fake. No such incident reported. The …suicide case was reported on 06/01/2022, and it was reported to be attributable to mortgage and crop loss. Case was registered u/s 174 CrPC in Adur PS. Last report was already submitted,” the Haveri police mentioned in an announcement.
House minister G Parameshwara, whereas addressing the media in Bengaluru, commented on the incident, expressing concern over what he described as a sample of misinformation by BJP leaders. “This incident from two years in the past is now being posted as latest on social media. Some even put up incidents from overseas. In such circumstances, the regulation offers provisions to take motion,” he mentioned.
Following the FIR and the police clarification, Surya deleted the put up and mentioned, “Thanks for the data. The tweet stands deleted. I’ll henceforth not depend on the information company that reported it. Given the rampant quantity of Waqf conversion notices to 1000s of farmers throughout the state, one is definitely led to imagine such outcomes.”
Nonetheless, hours later, he once more mentioned in a put up: “Yesterday once I tweeted about Farmer’s suicide in Haveri attributable to Waqf land seize, he (Priyank Kharge) obtained the Haveri Police to register a false case, accusing me of spreading misinformation. He obtained the Police to not solely lie, however he even intimidated media to cover the truth.”
“Right this moment, the daddy of the deceased farmer himself has uncovered how modifications in Pahani by Waqf Board pushed his son to suicide…As a substitute of overlaying up the reality, CM and his Ministers should no less than now act to guard the farmers’ curiosity.,” he added.
This growth comes amid mounting considerations and political rigidity round Waqf land possession throughout Karnataka. Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) chairman Jagdambika Pal, accompanied by Surya, just lately visited districts throughout the state to debate Waqf land points with native farmers.
Pal has introduced {that a} fact-finding report can be introduced within the winter session of Parliament. In parallel, Siddaramaiah has instructed state officers to halt new Waqf notices.
