Lakshadweep: Sedition case against activist Aisha Sultana for calling administrator ‘bio-weapon’
The case was registered at Kavaratti police station, based on a complaint from BJP's Lakshadweep unit president C Abdul Khader Haji, under Section 124 A of IPC (sedition).
FollowLakshadweep police on Thursday charged filmmaker Aisha Sultana with sedition following a Bharatiya Janata Party leader’s complaint that she spread “false news” about Covid-19 in the union territory during a TV debate.
The complaint was filed by the BJP’s Lakshadweep unit president Abdul Khader. Sultana is from Chetiath island in Lakshadweep.
A case under Sections 124 A (sedition) and 153 B (hate speech) was registered against Ms Sultana, a native of Chetlat island, based on a petition filed by BJP’s Lakshadweep unit president, Abdul Khader, who alleged that she had said that the Centre was using Covid as a “bio-weapon” on the people of Lakshadweep.
“I had used the word bio-weapon in the TV channel debate,” Sultana wrote on Facebook, according to The Indian Express. “I have felt Patel as well as his policies [have acted] as a bio-weapon. It was through Patel and his entourage that Covid-19 spread in Lakshadweep. I have compared Patel as a bio-weapon, not the government or the country...You should understand. What else should I call him?”
A film professional, Aisha has been in the forefront of campaigns against the reforms and proposed legislation, which have taken Lakshadweep and Kerala by storm.
Lakshadweep was without a single case of Covid-19 for nearly a year thanks to the system of mandatory quarantine for Dweep-bound travellers in Kochi. The administrator of the union territory, Praful Patel, who took charge in December last year, changed the SOP despite protests, resulting in Covid reaching the island’s shores. The union territory has had over 9,000 cases since.
Lakshadweep has been witnessing protests by various political parties, residents and activists since the administration started implementing controversial new measures in the islands.
The Lakshadweep Sahitya Pravarthaka Sangam has expressed solidarity with Sultana. “It is not proper to depict her as anti-national. She had reacted against the inhumane approach of the administrator. It was Patel’s interventions that made Lakshadweep a Covid-affected area. The cultural community in Lakshadweep would stand with her,’’ spokesperson K Bahir said.
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