Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been booked by Uttarakhand Police over his remarks about a purification ritual conducted at a Haldwani venue where Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had addressed a rally.
The FIR was registered at Haldwani’s Kotwali police station following a complaint by Amit Kumar, a member of the Valmiki community. The complaint accused Gandhi of giving a caste-based interpretation to the ritual and allegedly hurting the sentiments of members of the Scheduled Caste community.
The development came a day after Gandhi demanded that an FIR be registered against those who conducted the purification ceremony. He had described the incident as a form of untouchability and called for action under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The dispute relates to an event at Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani. Kharge addressed a Congress rally at the venue on August 8. A purification ceremony, or ‘shuddhikaran’, was conducted at the site two days later. The ceremony subsequently became the centre of a political dispute between the Congress and the BJP.
Congress leaders alleged that the ritual was carried out because Kharge, a Dalit leader, had addressed the gathering. They said the act was insulting and reflected caste discrimination.
Gandhi strongly criticised the incident during a press conference in New Delhi on August 29. He said the alleged purification amounted to untouchability and was against the principles of the Constitution. He also accused the BJP-RSS of having a mindset that prevented Dalits from progressing and living with dignity.
Gandhi demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi direct the registration of a case under the SC/ST Act against those responsible for the ceremony. He also questioned why no FIR had been registered despite several days having passed since the incident.
The latest FIR, however, turns the legal action towards Gandhi himself. According to the complaint, the purification ceremony had nothing to do with Kharge’s caste. The complainant alleged that Gandhi wrongly linked the religious activity to untouchability and caste discrimination.
Police have invoked Sections 196 and 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in the case. Section 196 deals with acts that promote enmity between different groups or disturb communal harmony, while Section 299 relates to deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.
A provision under the SC/ST Act has also been included in the FIR. The case will now be investigated by the police based on the allegations made in the complaint.
The organisers of the purification ceremony have rejected the Congress’s interpretation of the incident. They have said the ritual was conducted because the venue had been left dirty after the political rally.
According to the organisers, the ground had to be cleaned after the Congress event and a religious ceremony was subsequently held to restore the sanctity of the premises. They have denied that the ritual was aimed at Kharge or was connected to his caste.
The organisers have also pointed out that members of the Dalit community participated in the ceremony. They argue that this shows that the event was not intended as an act of caste discrimination.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has also rejected the caste-based allegations. He said the people who conducted the havan were not BJP office-bearers or party workers and accused the Congress of giving a caste angle to the issue.
The BJP has similarly denied involvement in the purification ceremony. Party leaders have maintained that the Congress is attempting to turn a local religious and cleanliness-related activity into a political controversy.
The Congress, on the other hand, has continued to demand action against those responsible for the ceremony. Party leaders say the issue is bigger than the incident involving Kharge and relates to the dignity and constitutional rights of Dalits.
The controversy has also drawn reactions from other Congress leaders. The party has criticised the FIR against Gandhi and described it as politically motivated. Congress leaders have questioned why action was not first taken against those who conducted the purification ritual.
The dispute has therefore developed into two separate but connected legal and political questions. The first concerns whether the purification ceremony amounted to caste discrimination or was simply a religious ritual conducted after a political event. The second concerns whether Gandhi’s remarks crossed legal boundaries by allegedly giving the ceremony a caste-based interpretation.
With the FIR now registered against Gandhi, the matter has moved from political statements into the legal process. The police investigation is expected to examine the complaint, Gandhi’s remarks and the circumstances surrounding the purification ceremony.
