Complaint against Somaiya for ‘Bangladeshi’ comment

The Govandi Citizens Forum’s complaint, signed by six residents of Govandi, stated that Somaiya’s tweet had caused “significant distress among the residents of Shivaji Nagar, creating an environment of fear and insecurity”

Mumbai: On Wednesday morning, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya, analysing the defeat of his party’s candidate Mihir Kotecha from Mumbai North East, ascribed it to the heavy voting in Mankhurd, which he described as a “Bangladeshi area”.

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya (Hindustan Times)

By the evening, the Govandi Citizens Welfare Forum had handed over a police complaint against Somaiya to the Senior Inspector, Shivaji Nagar Police Station, Govandi. The complaint urged the police to take action against Somaiya under Secs 153 A, (promoting communal enmity), 295 A (deliberately outraging religious feelings) and 505 (statements pertaining to public mischief).

Somaiya’s tweet in Marathi said: “Reality. The BJP’s Mihir Kotecha lost by 29,861 votes. He trailed in Mankhurd by 87,971 votes. He led from Mulund to Ghatkopar by 58,110 votes. In the Mankhurd Assembly segment (Bangladeshi area), Uddhav Thackeray Sena got 1,16,072 votes while the BJP got 28,101 votes. We lost in the Bangladeshi area.”

The Govandi Citizens Forum’s complaint, signed by six residents of Govandi, stated that Somaiya’s tweet had caused “significant distress among the residents of Shivaji Nagar, creating an environment of fear and insecurity.”

“Mankhurd is a part of Bharat,” said Ateeque Khan, a member of the forum and a signatory to the letter. “Residents here all have Aadhaar cards and some even have passports. The Maharashtra government runs three police stations here, there is a BMC office too. In short, Mankhurd is part of India.”

“For an ex-MP to describe a territory of India as a territory of Bangladesh shows disrespect to us, and to the armed forces. It is an anti-national act,” added Khan, who is a law student. “As an ex-MP, Kirit Somaiya is subject to the law as much as any citizen is, and action should be taken against him, so that no one dares to use such words against us again.”

This is not the first time such remarks have been made for the residents of Govandi and Mankhurd. In February, a group of citizens from Govandi had written to the Supreme Court asking it to take suo moto notice of remarks made by BJP Kankavli MLA Nitesh Rane wherein he had alleged that the police in Govandi and Mankhurd had allowed “Rohingyas to settle illegally” there. The letter was sent after the police had failed to take any action against Rane despite written complaints.

The Forum had finally approached the Bombay High Court which bunched their petition along with other similar petitions asking for action to be taken against Rane for hate speeches made in Mankhurd, Malwani and Ghatkopar. In April, the police finally had to file criminal cases against the MLA.

Khan said they would wait for a week for the police to act. If it didn’t, they would approach the court.