Prashant Bhushan files plaint against Madhu Kishwar for ‘hate speech’

NEW DELHI: Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Monday filed a criminal complaint with the police against Madhu Kishwar, a professor at Indian Council of Social Science Research for allegedly giving a hate speech and misleading information on social media.

The complaint, citing Kishwar’s tweets on the Rohingya community, was filed with the Station House Officer, Tilak Marg Police Station in New Delhi. Bhushan accused Kishwar of publishing “misleading and false information” through her Twitter handle.

Deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi) Madhur Verma confirmed the receipt of the complaint but said that no FIR was registered till late Monday evening.

“We are currently analysing the contents of the complaint and if a case is being made out, we will proceed accordingly. The police are also seeking legal opinion on the complaint,” said Verma.

Reacting to the complaint, Madhu Kishwar said “It’s no surprise. Prashant Bhushan’s own track record of peddling hate against all those who differ with his divisive agendas is unmatched.” Calls and text messages to Prashant Bhushan went unanswered.

The complaint filed by Bhushan, a copy of which he posted on his Twitter handle, states that Kishwar has two million followers on Twitter and her tweets hence have far reaching impact. “For the last several months, Ms Kishwar has been using her Twitter handle to publish misleading and false information. Her tweets are intended to incite communal hatred and create a disturbance to public peace and tranquillity,” reads the complaint.

Prashant has sought registration of FIR against Kishwar under provisions of the Indian Penal Code. He also shared a screenshot of one of Kishwar’s tweets, alleging that the information in the tweet was false and intended to provoke hate against the Rohingya community.