Lakshadweep BJP Leaders Resign Over Sedition FIR Against Filmmaker

Aisha Sultana’s comments on a regional channel’s news debate irked the Union territory’s BJP chief.

Lakshadweep BJP chief filed a sedition charge against filmmaker Aisha Sultana.

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Aisha Sultana)

15 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and party workers submitted their resignations after Lakshadweep filmmaker Aisha Sultana was named in a case of sedition and hate speech for her comments criticising Administrator Praful Khoda Patel's COVID-19 handling. The FIR was filed on the complaint of Lakshadweep BJP chief Abdul Khader Haji, as per a report by NDTV.

They submitted their resignations and wrote a letter to the party's chief, saying, "The BJP in Lakshadweep is fully aware of how the present Administrator Patel's actions are anti-people, anti-democracy, and causing extreme suffering among people."

The BJP workers reminded Haji of a previous meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah where they discussed the issue. "You also know that several BJP leaders of Lakshadweep have already spoken on the various wrongdoings of the administrator and the district collector," their letter said.

Backing Aisha Sultana, the leaders elaborated: "It's just in the same manner, that Chetlat resident Aisha Sultana also shared her opinion in the media. Based on your complaint to the police, there has been a case registered against Aisha Sultana who, during a discussion, talked about from not having any Covid cases to rampant cases with the arrival of the present Administrator in Lakshadweep and his unscientific, irresponsible decisions", the report added.

“You have filed a false and unjustified complaint against Chetlath sister, and ruining her family and her future. We convey our strong objection and submit our primary membership from BJP (sic),” they said.

The letter has been signed by BJP state secretary Abdul Hameed Mullipuzha among others.

Aisha Sultana had blamed COVID cases on the island on Praful Khoda Patel's decisions and remarked that the Centre had used "bioweapon" against Lakshadweep on a regional channel's news debate. The administrator was previously accused by protesters, as well as Lakshadweep Parliamentarian Mohammed Faizal, of doing away with quarantine protocols that were mandatory for people to enter the Union territory.

According to the report, a sedition case was then filed against Sultana by Lakshadweep's BJP chief at Kavaratti, under Sections 124 A (sedition) and 153 B (hate speech) of the Indian Penal code. Haji complained that the filmmaker's "anti-national" comments were "tarnishing the patriotic image of the central government".

"Lakshadweep had zero cases of COVID-19. Now it is reporting a daily spike of 100 cases. What the Centre has deployed is a bioweapon. I can say this clearly that the central government has deployed bioweapon," she had said on a Malayalam TV debate earlier this week.

(With inputs from NDTV)