50-year-old Ratan Lal, an associate professor from Delhi University’s Hindu College, was arrested last night. An FIR was registered against him on Tuesday in connection to an alleged objectionable social media post where he referred to the claims about Shivling inside the Gyanvapi mosque.
Reportedly, history professor Ratan Lal allegedly shared the viral image that is claimed to be Shivling and made objectionable comments. CP (North) Sagar Singh Kalsi confirmed the arrest on Friday night.
He has been booked under Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and Section 295A (deliberate act to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion) of Indian Penal Code.
The FIR was filed by a Delhi-based lawyer Vineet Jindal on Tuesday. He stated that a Mr. Lal had recently shared a derogatory, inciting and provocative tweet on Shivling. The statement instigating and provoking, he added.
“In India, if you speak about anything, someone or the other’s sentiment will be hurt. So this is nothing new. I am a historian and have made several observations. As I wrote them down, I have used very guarded language in my post and still this. I will defend myself,” Mr. Ratan Lal said.
