Sedition charges filed against Mani Shankar after his KLF session

Former Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has been indicted with sedition and defamation by a BJP leader after he reportedly praised Pakistan and insulted India.

At the ninth Karachi Literature Festival held last week, Indian diplomat Mani Shankar had stated during a session placed around India-Pakistan relationship that he values Pakistan’s policy of seeking to reconcile through dialogue, an approach that he believed India had not yet espoused.

The statement has caused enormous backlash in Shankar’s home country, with one BJP leader going as far as filing a case of sedition and offense against the eliminated leader.

The case filed by BJP’s head of Kota district OBC wing, Ashok Choudhary, has been admitted by the additional chief judicial magistrate court in Kota, with the hearing scheduled for Tuesday.

The case has been filed under sections 124(A), 500 and 504 of the Indian Penal Code, with Shankar’s statements described as an expression of love for Pakistan and pride for Islamabad not instigating talks with New Delhi.

In the petition filed against Shankar, Chaudhary states, “the statements in favor of Pakistan have deeply hurt my patriotism and passionate sentiments for my country.”