Senior CPI(M) leader booked for selling book on Article 370 in Gwalior

The 74-year-old Ghani, who is a retired employee of BSNL, was booked for promoting enmity between different groups under non-bailable section 153-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Updated on: Sep 4, 2019, 23:24:05 IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | By Shruti Tomar

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Senior Communist Party of India (M) leader Sheikh Abdul Ghani was booked by the police in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior on Wednesday for allegedly selling a book on the abrogation of Article 370 a day earlier, officials said.

The media cell in-charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Madhya Pradesh unit Lokendra Parashar had on Tuesday written on social media that an objectionable book was being sold during a protest at Phoolbagh. (HT image)

The 74-year-old Ghani, who is a retired employee of BSNL, was booked for promoting enmity between different groups under non-bailable section 153-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He was detained on Tuesday evening but released later at night.

“Police got information on Tuesday evening that a person was selling a controversial book at Phoolbagh square and a heavy crowd had gathered in the area. A team from the Padaav police station reached there,” Gwalior’s superintendent of police, Navneet Bhasin, said.

“Police found that the book with contents that could promote enmity among people of different castes and religions was being sold by Sheikh Abdul Ghani,” Bhasin said.

The chief of CPI(M)’s Madhya Pradesh unit Jaswinder Singh has written the book ‘Dhara 370: Setu Ya Surang’ and the protest during which it was being sold was organised by Muslim Adhikar Manch, according to police. They said the Manch was protesting to press its demand for cleaning Sagartal, a local water body.

“The book is being sold across the state and it has nothing objectionable in it. The police took action without even reading the contents of the book with a malafide intention,” Jaswinder Singh said.

The media cell in-charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Madhya Pradesh unit Lokendra Parashar had on Tuesday written on social media that an objectionable book was being sold during a protest at Phoolbagh.

“As per the information that we received, the book has objectionable contents against the merger of J-K (Jammu and Kashmir) with India and also against the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and others. Such literature can cause unrest in society,” Parashar said.

Congress spokesperson JP Dhanopia said they were not aware of the development. “We will look into it,” Dhanopia said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

Get the latest India News, breaking headlines and real-time updates from across the country. Stay informed about politics, government policies, crime, weather and major national developments.