A formal complaint has been lodged against BJP Member of Parliament Nishikant Dubey (Godda, Jharkhand) for allegedly making communal and inflammatory remarks targeting former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi. The complaint, filed by human rights activist and former bureaucrat Harsh Mander, has been submitted to the Station House Officer of Hauz Khas Police Station in New Delhi.
The remarks in question were made by Dubey on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on April 20, 2025. In his post, Dubey referred to Quraishi as a "Muslim Commissioner" and accused him of facilitating the registration of Bangladeshi infiltrators as voters in Jharkhand’s Santhal Pargana region during his tenure. The post further included inflammatory references to Prophet Muhammad and India's partition, which the complaint argues could incite communal hatred and disturb public harmony.
Mander’s complaint calls for the immediate registration of an FIR under Sections 196 and 197 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, which address the promotion of enmity between different groups and disloyalty to the Constitution based on religion or community. It also draws attention to a pattern of similar communal statements allegedly made by Dubey over the past three years.
Highlighting the urgency of the situation, the complaint cites the Supreme Court's judgment in Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay v. Union of India (WP Civil No. 943/2021), which mandates swift, suo motu legal action in instances of hate speech. It urges the police to act promptly to uphold India's secular values and curb the rising normalization of hate speech within political discourse.
Karwan-e-Mohabbat, the human rights collective associated with Harsh Mander, emphasized in its communication with media outlets that the issue holds significant public interest and warrants wide coverage to ensure transparency and accountability from public representatives.
This development has once again spotlighted growing concerns about the impact of divisive rhetoric on India’s social fabric and the pressing need for elected leaders to be held to constitutional standards of conduct.
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