Delhi polls: Kiran Bedi, 4 others booked for NE ‘immigrant’ tag

GUWAHATI/AIZAWL: A case was registered in Assam yesterday against five BJP functionaries, including Delhi chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi, for describing people from the northeast as immigrants in the party's vision document.

It was registered under the Indian Penal Code's Section 153 A for promoting "enmity between different groups on the grounds of race, residence, language'' on Guwahati businessman Arun Pathak complaint.

The FIR in the case names BJP's Delhi president Satish Upadhyay, the vision document chairman Harsh Vardhan, spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor and the party's state in-charge Prabhat Jha besides Bedi.

"The word immigrant cannot be a spelling mistake. The document was surely printed after being proofed. This is a racial offence," Pathak said.

The FIR alleges the accused used the offensive word in the document and intentionally promoted or tried to "promote racial disharmony and ill-will between the northeast and the rest of the country''.

Pathak claimed the corrected version of the document is discriminatory as well. "The BJP's Delhi unit issued a clarification and termed us 'people from the northeast in Delhi'. This is equally offensive as the northeast does not only belong to people of northeastern origin. By using the phrase, the accused have further alienated the people of the region on the basis of their racial and geographical origin.''

The BJP had apologized for the "immigrant" reference and called it a "clerical mistake" following protests in the region.

The controversy comes ahead of the civic polls in Assam on February 2. BJP spokesperson Shiladitya Dev put up a brave face claiming the party was not worried about the protests.

"The immigrant reference was a printing mistake that was promptly corrected. We are honest. What is more important is the sentiment expressed in the vision document. The party will work for the welfare of the people from the region in Delhi, unlike Congress or other political outfits."

Dev's statement came even as protests continued. Asom Gana Parishad activists removed their shirts and shaved their heads as a mark of protest against the reference. Activists of All Assam Minority Students' Union burnt posters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.

The Congress has planned protests across the state from Friday to Sunday at block and booth levels.

Activists of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti too plan to torch effigies of BJP leaders across Assam on Friday.

In Aizawl, Congress slammed Modi for falsely stating he had visited Mizoram and criticized the BJP for calling people from the northeast "immigrants".

"He may have visited Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura after he became Prime Minister of India, but he has never visited Mizoram before or after becoming Prime Minister," Congress media cell secretary David M Thangliana said in a statement.

"The glaring mistake in PM Narendra Modi's Delhi campaign speech was an affront to the people of Mizoram who have never seen the present Prime Minister in person.''

The statement called the "immigrant" reference unacceptable. "These mistakes only show how ignorant the BJP leadership is about India's northeast region ...''