BJP worker arrested in Karnataka for raising ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogan in 2022 protest
Bengaluru: Indian police today arrested a BJP worker in Karnataka state for allegedly shouting a pro-Pakistan slogan during a protest organised by the party in 2022.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the arrested BJP worker has been identified as Ravi, a resident of Dhanayakapura. This came amid the arrest of three men by the Bengaluru Police on Monday for allegedly shouting pro-Pakistan slogans inside the state Assembly on February 27 after Congress MP Syed Nasir Hussain was elected to the Rajya Sabha.
Mandya district Senior Superintendent of Police, Yetish said that Ravi was arrested after a first information report was registered by Congress worker Kannambadi Kumar in connection with the protest organised in December 2022. Ravi will be produced before a local court, Yetish said, adding that efforts were on to arrest other persons named in the first information report.
The police officer said that the BJP had organised a protest at Mandya’s Sanjay Circle on December 22, 2022, after former Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a purported video of the protest, Ravi is allegedly seen shouting “Pakistan Zindabad” even as another person behind him attempted to stop from saying it, Indian media reported.
In response to the arrest of Ravi, BJP Mandya district chief Indresh NS said that it was a clear case of political vendetta. “While raising slogans, he got confused and raised ‘Zindabad for Pakistan’. Why would he raise pro-Pakistan slogans when we were protesting against Pakistan?” He said that BJP workers were being attacked for questioning the Congress over the pro-Pakistan slogans that were shouted in the Assembly on February 27.
