The Bhopal police on Saturday claimed the unapproved removal of portraits of President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the office of the chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Urdu Academy by an employee on Thursday night was “anti-national” and “could have incited communal violence”.
“The incident had the potential to incite violence between Hindus and Muslims. Moreover, it was anti-national,” Sanjeev Kumar Chauksey, in-charge at the TT Nagar police station in Bhopal, told The Hindu .
Based on a complaint by the Academy’s chairman Aziz Qureshi, police registered a case under Section 153B(1)(c) — imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration; assertions concerning the obligation of any class of persons likely to cause disharmony — of the IPC. “The accused is absconding,” said Mr. Chauksey.
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However, an Academy official, requesting anonymity, claimed the employee, after initial inquiry, was merely suspended and he was at his home. The Academy’s secretary, Hisamuddin Faruqui, refused to comment.
On Friday morning, former BJP MLA Surendra Nath Singh led scores of party workers to the Academy, managed by the State government. They raised slogans against the Congress government, and submitted portraits of Mr. Modi and Mr. Kovind to the Academy.
“Though run by the Congress government, the Academy succumbed to the BJP’s pressure to file a complaint against its own employee without a proper internal inquiry and got an FIR registered against him,” said an Academy official. He claimed the Academy had picked the accused as a “scapegoat”.
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While the watchman claimed to have seen the accused removing the portraits, the accused denied the charge. Since the controversy broke, he has gone incommunicado. “Mr. Qureshi recently took charge and we’re in the process of helping him settle down. Offices were moved too, and maybe the portraits were removed briefly for cleaning. It is part of the routine and is a non-issue,” said the official.
He denied claims in the local media that the employee was expressing his protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
In 2009, the Election Commission of India wrote to the Centre and the States that while the photographs of Prime Minister, Chief Ministers and Ministers should not be displayed in government offices, the instruction was not applicable to the President and Governor. It said displaying photographs of political leaders still active in public life may disturb the level playing field for politicians of other parties. However, it doesn’t prescribe action in case of violation of the order.