SP MP Dimple Yadav during a public appearance amid controversy over a cleric’s remarks following her visit to a mosque in Delhi.
A negative political and legal blow has been struck by an FIR registered with the Maulana Sajid Rashidi, a reputed Muslim cleric of highly objectionable, misogynistic comments against Dimple Yadav, the wife of Akhilesh Yadav and Member of Parliament from the Samajwadi Party.
The complaint was lodged in Lucknow by former SP chief Pravesh Yadav after Rashidi's comments spread through all sorts of TV debates and social media where he targeted Dimple Yadav's dress on a recent occasion when she visited a mosque. The FIR incorporates charges under Sections 79, 196 and 197 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita along with relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, due to the online dissemination of the said remarks.
According to the FIR, Rashidi was charged with uttering remarks that were "highly provocative and aimed at inciting religious disharmony and communal tension," in addition to being disparaging and sexist.
"He made extremely offensive, inflammatory, and anti-women remarks against honourable MP Mrs Dimple Yadav, wife of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, following her presence at a mosque on July 26," Pravesh Yadav wrote in his complaint.
On July 28, MPs of NDA protested inside Parliament with placards declaring "Nari garima par prahar, nahi karenge kabhi sweekar" a stern reaction from Maulana Rashidi's comment was the NDA's noise inside Parliament. Such remarks resulted in an uproar within the BJP and its allies demanding accountability and questioning the silence of SP leaders. Accusing Akhilesh Yadav for appeasement politics, the BJP said that Shabnam should take some lessons from her husband regarding dignity, while criticizing the husband for not speaking in favor of his wife. Some leaders framed the cleric's remarks as personal and also threatened women's safety and religious tolerance in public life.
The visit was made by Dimple with fellow SP leaders on July 24, to the mosque on Parliament Street in Delhi. The visit called by the party a social and non-political gesture invited some backlash from a certain section of religious leaders who felt strongly about her not wearing a headscarf. Public apology and allegations of disrespect to Islamic customs have been demanded from Maulana Mufti Shahabuddin Razvi among others. Disclaiming the criticism, the Yadavs said that the visit was totally respectful and politicizing it, therefore would be uncalled for.
It would very likely raise a bigger question of the intersection of religion, gender and politics in India. The FIR against Sajid Rashidi is highly indicative of advancing demands for legal redress against public figures who make derogatory or inflammatory statements and raises very pertinent questions about personal freedom and religious sensitivity in the evolving public discourse on political accountability.
