Veteran Congress leader and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday (January 29) strongly condemned the FIR that was registered earlier in the day in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, several senior journalists, and others over the Republic Day farmers' tractor parade violence.
Notably, the FIR was registered by a local farmer on this day against the individuals for allegedly making defamatory and instigating posts on their Twitter handles regarding the Republic Day violence in the national capital.
Gehlot said that these FIRs are "clearly an attempt to intimidate and harass opposition as well as the media". He also pointed out that such "systematic targeting" goes against "every norm of democracy."
"Condemn strongly the FIRs registered against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor ji & other senior editors & journalists. These FIRs are clearly an attempt to intimidate & harass opposition as well as media. Systematic targeting of opposition & media goes against every norm of democracy," Gehlot tweeted from his official handle on the microblogging website.
"An FIR has been filed by Sanjay Raghuvansi, a farmer against Shashi Tharoor, senior journalists and others for disrupting the peace and social harmony by posting defamatory and instigating tweets on their Twitter handles and falsely accusing Delhi Police of the murder of a person on January 26," confirmed Rajesh Singh Bhadoriya, Assistant Superintendent of Police (Zone II), Bhopal, while speaking to news agency ANI earlier in the day.
The senior police official said the FIR has been registered under sections 153A (1B) and 505 (2) of Indian Penal Code and an investigation would be done regarding the matter.
Violence erupted on January 26 during the 'Kisan Tractor Rally' in several areas of the national capital in which a total of 394 police personnel sustained injuries and several public and private properties were damaged in acts of vandalism by the protestors.
A total of 22 FIRs have been filed by the Delhi Police with one of them mentioning the incident at ITO where a farmer died after his tractor overturned.
Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 last year against the three newly enacted farm laws - Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
(With inputs from ANI)
