The Voice of the People Party (VPP) has filed an FIR against Cabinet Minister Rakkam A Sangma over a viral video.
The VPP alleged that in the viral online video, the Education Minister during an election campaign made statements that were a direct imputation against the party.
“Allegations were made that the said party will destroy, kill, oppress and annihilate other communities which is totally false, concocted and outright incorrect,” VPP finance secretary, Danny Langstieh said in the FIR to the East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police.
He said that delivering such reckless, communal and hate spewed speech is not only wrong and illegal but also dangerous as it contributes to an atmosphere of causing communal disharmony and the likelihood of communal tension, riots and violence.
The VPP referred to the Supreme Court of India order that made sharp strictures with regards to hate speech in the case of Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay vs Union of India & ORS which said that as and when any hate speech or any action takes place it attracts offences such as Sections 153A, 1538 and 295A and 505 of the IPC etc.
The party pointed out that as per the Supreme Court ruling, suo motu action will be taken to register cases even if no complaint is forthcoming and proceed against the offenders in accordance with law.
“…but however since no such action was made from your end from the date the speech was made, I as a concerned citizen and a member of the Voice of the People Party strongly urge you to take necessary action against the said Minister forthwith and I would like to further mention that in the same case, the Supreme Court opined that any hesitation to act in accordance with this direction will be viewed as contempt of Court and appropriate action will be taken against the erring officers,” Langstieh said in his FIR.
The VPP said that it is very much evident that the speech made by the Education Minister are incendiary made to promote, foster, incite, foment and instigate enmity, hatred and ill will between the different regional groups and communities within the State, which is outright prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different groups and is likely to disturb the public tranquility.
