FIR against BJP Karnataka for comparing Indira Gandhi to Hitler
What's the story
A First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Karnataka unit at the High Grounds Police Station in Bengaluru. The complaint was filed by S Manohar, general secretary of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), over a controversial social media post by the BJP Karnataka's official X handle comparing former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to German dictator Adolf Hitler.
Defamation claim
Post referred to India's national emergency
The post in question read, "INDIRA NOT EQUALS INDIA, INDIRA = HITLER," accompanied by a 38-second video. The video referred to India's National Emergency and featured graphics that Manohar described as derogatory toward Indira. The FIR notes that the content was not only disrespectful but also allegedly aimed at creating hatred among different religious and communal groups.
Legal demand
Manohar has demanded legal action against the BJP
Manohar has demanded legal action against the BJP's official social media handle. The police at High Grounds station have registered the FIR and initiated further investigation into the matter. In another post on X, the BJP Karnataka unit wrote, "The country can never forget this cruelty of Indira Gandhi," with #SamvidhanHatyaDiwas referring to the Emergency.
Criticism continues
Another post from the BJP Karnataka unit
Another post from the BJP Karnataka unit read, "The dark memory of 50 years ago when Indira Gandhi, pushing law, judiciary, and democracy into a dark room and locking it, marks her authoritarian rule." The official page of the BJP had also shared a 12-second video of Indira that shows her shadow slowly transforming to Hitler's. "Indira's Emergency was no accident — it was Hitlerian vestige of the past, dressed in a saree," the party captioned the video.