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Case against Karunanidhi for `hurting Hindu feelings'

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI NOV. 14. The Chennai city police have registered the first information report against the former Chief Minister and DMK president, M. Karunanidhi, for his speech at an October 24 minorities' meeting here, which, a complainant said, wounded the religious feelings of Hindus.

The police acted on the complaint filed by, R. Premnath, an advocate of Chepauk, before XIV metropolitan magistrate.

The court forwarded the complaint to the Egmore police station. Accordingly, the police registered a case for offences under Section 295-A (Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 298 IPC (Uttering words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings) and taken up a probe.

The complainant said at the meeting held at St.Andrew Church, Egmore, to protest the legislation preventing forcible conversions, the former Chief Minister spoke with the ``deliberate intention to outrage the feelings of Hindus, to get applause and support from the gathering to undermine and wantonly insult the Hindus''. Mr. Karunanidhi had said, ``Who is a Hindu? A good man would say the word `Hindu' means a thief''. The word used by him showed ``his deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of Hindus''. He did not tender any apology.

The complainant said the DMK chief ``identified himself as a rationalist, but changes his colours at public meetings to satisfy the gathering''. The Police Commissioner ought to have taken suo motu action against Mr.Karunanidhi for insulting the Hindu religion and feelings of Hindus. But neither the police nor the Government took action, Mr. Premnath said.

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