Dr Farhat Khan, the author of a controversial book, was arrested from Pune in Maharashtra on December 8, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said.
Khan was booked on Saturday for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups and hurting religious feelings.
The FIR was registered following a complaint filed by a student of the Government New Law College of Indore, a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), who alleged that the book Collective Violence and Criminal Justice System contained objectionable content against the Hindu community and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and encouraged religious fundamentalism.
“The controversial writer, Farhat Khan, was arrested in Pune when she was undergoing dialysis in a hospital there,” Mr. Mishra told reporters in Bhopal.
The issue erupted on December 1 when ABVP activists went on a rampage claiming some teachers of the institute were promoting religious fanaticism among the new students and propagating negative views about the Union Government and the Army.
ABVP’s college unit president Dipendra Singh Thakur said Farhat Khan’s book contains “very objectionable content against Hindu community, RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, and Durga Vahini”.
The ABVP further objected to keeping the book — authored by Dr. Farhat Khan and published by Amar Law Publication — in the college library, forcing heavy deployment in the campus.
The book was removed from the library by the college management. Soon after the controversy, the college’s principal Dr. Inam Ur Rahman said that he had removed six professors from academic work for five days and decided to take the help of a retired district court judge to investigate the allegations.
(With inputs from PTI)
Published - December 08, 2022 12:40 pm IST
