Writer KR Indira booked for hate Facebook post

Kochi: Writer KR Indira, who wrote a hate Facebook post, has been charged for 'promoting enmity between religions' and 'spreading hatred through social media'.

Indira, who is also a programme producer at All India Radio, wrote on Facebook on September 1 that those who have been left out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam should be sterilised and put in detention camps.

When a person criticised her post, Indira issued a highly provocative statement that contraceptive drugs will have to be mixed in drinking water for controlling birth among a particular community so that the world could be saved from them.

Her post was aimed at those who criticised the final NRC list, which found 19,06,657 people are ineligible for Indian citizenship.

The post is not visible on her Facebook wall now.

Indira has been charged under 153 A of the Indian Penal Code and 120 O of the Kerala Police Act.

Section 153 A is charged for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony. Section 120 O is charged for causing, through any means of communication, a nuisance of himself to any person by repeated or undesirable or anonymous call, letter, writing, message, e-mail or through a messenger.

Kodungalloor police registered the case based on a complaint filed by human rights activist M R Vipindas.

Activist-writer Rekha Raj, lawyer Sreejith Perumana, and Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) state general secretary Banas T have also filed police complaints seeking action against Indira.

Rekha told Onmanorama that she filed the complaint due to her moral compulsion. “Proponents of Hindutva have been peddling such views in public space for quite sometime now. Earlier, even people who had such views were reluctant to do so,” she said.

She said the act of complaining against Indira sends out a message that people who believe in a democratic civil society will condemn such remarks. “It's not a complaint against an individual, but against a dangerous line of thought. Nowadays Muslims are being pushed into a sense of insecurity unlike never before. At such a juncture, it's not only the Muslims' responsibility to be vigilant against such vicious campaigns,” she said.

Prominent personalities, including Lathika Subash, V P Suhra, J Devika, C S Chandrika, C K Janu, K K Rema, Saradakutty, K S Hariharan and Ashraf Kadakkal have issued an online statement recently condeming Indira's Facebook post. “She has no right to continue at the All India Radio,” the statement read.

Indira is the author of 'Sthraina Kamasuthram' and 'Malayali Laingikatha'.