Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 2: A police complaint has been lodged against the Bollywood actor and BJP leader Paresh Rawal for his alleged “hate speech” during an Assembly election rally in Gujarat asking voters to vote for the BJP candidates to avoid “cooking fish for Bengalis.”
Though Rawal later issued an apology stating that by “Bengalis” he had only meant the illegal Bangladeshi entrants and Rohingya migrants and not the fish-eating Bengalis, it could not stop filling the police complaint at the Taltala police station in Kolkata by the West Bengal state secretary of the CPI(M) Mohammad Salim. He alleged that Rawal’s comment was provocative and it could incite “riots and destroy the harmony between Bengali and other communities”.
The complaint holds relevance as Paresh Rawal drew flak over his statements linking inflation, gas cylinders, Bengalis and fish during BJP’s campaign speech on Tuesday. The actor, who emerged victorious from Ahmedabad East in the 2014 Lok Sabha election on a BJP ticket, was seen in a widely circulated video asking people at a poll campaign in Gujarat to back the BJP for their security and not be influenced by other issues.
“Gas cylinders are expensive but they will come down. People will get employment too. 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 at the rally.
CPI(M) leader’s complaint read, “Such speech in the public domain has been made to provoke riots and destroy the harmony between Bengali community and other communities across the country and cause public mischief.” Salim also said the innuendo and the insinuation made in the said speech as regards all Bengalis being foreigners and illegal migrants is likely and bound to invoke sentiments of hatred, ill will among other communities against Bengalis.
“A large number of Bengalis reside outside the limits of the State. I apprehend that many of them will be prejudicially targeted and affected because of the vicious remarks made by Paresh Rawal,” Salim’s complaint stated. “In view of the above, I request you to treat this complaint as an FIR and prosecute the said Paresh Rawal under appropriate provisions of law including sections 153, 153A, 153B, 504 and 505 of the Indian Penal Code” wrote the CPI(M) leader.
Earlier in the day, he, however, apologised for the remark and said it was not aimed at the people of Bengal, instead, he meant to refer to illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and Rohingya migrants.
“Of course the fish is not the issue as Gujaratis do cook and eat fish. But let me clarify by Bengali I meant illegal Bangladeshi n Rohingya. But still if I have hurt your feelings and sentiments I do apologise,” he tweeted.
Many people from West Bengal found Rawal’s statement offensive, wondering what cooking fish had to do with the issue of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. In the political circle, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was the first to take offence over the remark.
But in apologising to Bengalis, Paresh Rawal hurt the sentiments of the vegetarian Gujaratis describing them as also “fish-eaters” like Bengalis.
