An activist from Jammu, Sukesh Khajuria filed a complaint against Actor Rishi Kapoor and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah. The complaint filed was due to the remarks the two made on Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Sukesh filed the complaint with the District Magistrate under Section 196 of the CrPC. Dr. Abdullah made a comment on Pakistan occupied Kashmir belonging to Pakistan.
He was quoted saying, “The (PoK) part which is with Pakistan belongs to the neighboring country and this side to India. If the Indian government wants peace it will have to talk to Pakistan and conclude that an autonomy be given to us as well as them.” The former Chief Minister addressed a gathering in Uri and said, “Till how long the innocent lives will be killed? For seventy years they have been trying to occupy PoK, but have failed and now they say that it’s our region.”
Actor Rishi Kapoor backed the minister for his sincere thoughts and said the solution to the ongoing Pakistan problem would be to accept PoK as a part of Pakistan. The actor said, “Farooq Abdhulla ji, Salaam! Totally agree with you, sir. J&K is ours, and PoK is theirs. This is the only way we can solve our problem. Accept it, I am 65 years old and I want to see Pakistan before I die. I want my children to see their roots. Bas karva Dijiye. Jai Mata Di!”
A Bihar Court ordered an FIR against Dr. Farooq for the same remark. The order was issued after a petition was filed by a Bettiah district lawyer in Bihar.
Ending this article with a friendly reminder that India has a Constitution which has multiple Articles. Among them, one in specific, Article 19 (1)(a) states every citizen of India has the Freedom of Speech and Expression.
