Gujarat chief electoral officer BB Swain on Sunday ordered a police probe into the hate-mongering video that went viral yesterday showing a girl walking hurriedly on the road while 'azaan' (the Muslim call to prayer) is being played in the background, reported NDTV.
According to agency reports, the video clip surfaced on the social media on Saturday.
The 1.15 minute-long clip, which begins in Gujarati, shows a girl hurrying back to home through a deserted locality with azaan playing in the background. The channel reported: “After she reaches her home, the father adds: ‘This was Gujarat 22 years ago. And this can happen again if they return.’ ‘But don't worry, no one will come because here it's Modi’ says the daughter.” The clip ends with a line that reads, "Our vote, our safety."
Following this, a human rights activist lodged a complaint to the Election Commission of India urging that the video was intentionally circulated to polarize the political campaign in Gujarat.
Advocate Govind Parmar of Human Rights Law Network had also written to the Chief Electoral Officer of Gujarat, the cyber crime cell of Ahmedabad police, and the Election Commission with a request to ban the video clip and take action against those responsible for its creation and circulation.
"We request you to ban this video as well as other similar videos that attempt to spread hatred towards the minority community and also order the cyber crime in Ahmedabad to launch an investigation by top officials after registering an offence against all those shown in the video as well as those who created the video," activist Govind Parmar has told the poll panel.
Parmar also sought action against the persons behind the video clip under section 153(A) - promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion - of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of Information Technology (IT) Act.
(With PTI Inputs)
