The media has badly misjudged the statement of actor-turned-politician Ramya, and that has prompted the BJP and a few other groups to take political advantage of the situation by filing a case of sedition against her, alleged Youth and Mahila Congress leaders.
Members of Mandya District Mahila Congress and Mandya District Youth Congress told reporters here on Wednesday that media had failed to understand the “feelings and right of expressions” of Ms. Ramya.
Her statement “Pakistan is not hell” came only after media persons sought her opinion on Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s opinion on Pakistan. She had been to Pakistan for the SAARC Youth Summit and had shared her opinion only after it was sought by the media, they maintained.
Stating that everyone had the right to express their opinions and thoughts, the leaders pointed out that even senior BJP leaders like L.K. Advani and Jaswant Singh had described the founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, as a ‘great man.’
“Did the BJP and its group use the sedition law against them?” they asked.
According to them, the former MP had never insulted India or praised the “enemy country,” she had just expressed her opinions.
Counter protests
They also threatened to hold counter-protests against the BJP and its supporting groups if they did not stop propaganda against Ms. Ramya.
Mahila Congress president Lalitha Bhaskar, former member of Mandya City Municipal Council Hansiya Banu, Sureshkumar, Aravind kumar, Zabiulla, K.S. Raju, Sundahalli Manjunath and others were present.
