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Kolkata police summon Paresh Rawal over ‘cook for Bengalis’ comment
The Kolkata police have asked Paresh Rawal to appear before the investigating officer at the Taltala police station in central Kolkata on December 12
KOLKATA: Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha MP and actor Paresh Rawal has been summoned by the Kolkata police for his recent remark on Bengalis, city police officials said on Tuesday.
A first information report (FIR) was filed against Paresh Rawal on the basis of a complaint lodged on December 2 by the CPI(M)’s West Bengal unit secretary Md Salim at Taltala police station in central Kolkata.
“Rawal has been asked to appear before the investigating officer at Taltala police station by 2 pm on December 12. The summon notice has been sent under Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC),” an officer said on condition of anonymity. The provision empowers the police officer to summon a person against whom credible information has been received or a reasonable suspicion exists that he has committed a cognizable offence.
The order was issued on the day the Gujarat police arrested TMC’s national spokesperson, Saket Gokhale, for his tweet on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Morbi after the bridge collapse tragedy in which 135 persons had died.
Rawal’s recent remarks during his campaign for the BJP in Gujarat triggered an outcry in Bengal.
“Gas cylinders are expensive but the prices will come down. People will get employment as well. But what will happen if Rohingya migrants and Bangladeshis start living around you, like in Delhi? What will you do with gas cylinders? Cook fish for the Bengalis?” Rawal said in Gujarati.
Rawal later clarified that he meant to refer to illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, not the people of Bengal and apologised to people from the state for his comments.
In his police complaint, Md Salim said he will move court if the police do not act on his complaint.
“Such a speech on public domain has been made to provoke riots and destroy the harmony between the Bengali community and other communities across the country and cause public mischief,” the complaint stated.
Reacting to the summon notice sent to Rawal on Tuesday, Salim said: “It does not matter whether Paresh Rawal or someone else made the comment. The BJP’s basic intention is to disrupt harmony.”
