The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to reopen a case relating to the circulation of a CD in Gujarat in 2005 that suggested that Christians who converted tribal people be attacked.
A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice R.M. Lodha and Justices Kurian Joseph and Rohinton Nariman disposed the petition filed by ANHAD after recording a statement from Gujarat’s counsel Hemantika Wahi that if any such thing were to happen in future, the State would take preventive, corrective and punitive action.
Counsel drew the court’s attention to the fact that the CD produced by the Shabri Kumbh Samorah Aayojan Samiti had been banned and no untoward incident happened during the Shri Shabri Kumbh Mela in February 2006.
Senior counsel for the petitioner Colin Gonsalves submitted that the CD, titled Shri Shabri Kumbh 2006: spirituality along with the wave of patriotism , purportedly suggested that “Christians be attacked and beheaded.” It was widely circulated and openly sold in Gujarat, Maharashtra and the northeastern States and had the potential to spoil young minds.
“In this CD, the narrator, while talking about Hindu tradition and culture, makes constant references to the evil forces and foreign powers that are out to destroy the Hindu religion whilst simultaneously flashing pictures of churches and the Cross. Further, certain visual clips and imagery contained in the CD suggest that the viewer adopt aggressive and militant methods in order to combat these forces for the defence of the Hindu religion,” counsel said.
The Chief Justice told counsel that when the CD had no visible impact, it should be ignored and thrown as trash. “Our democracy is mature enough and people understand the value of life and how to co-exist and live together in harmony,” he said.
