FIR against Congress MP Pratapgarhi for posting 'provocative' song video

Jamnagar, Jan 4 (PTI) Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi has been booked for posting an edited video with an allegedly provocative song in the backdrop of a mass marriage function he attended in Gujarat's Jamnagar, police said on Saturday.
    Pratapgarhi was booked under BNS sections pertaining to promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion, race etc, along with local Congress leader Altaf Khafi and a trust which organised the programme.
    "The national chairman of the Congress' minority cell was booked on a complaint lodged by a Jamnagar resident after he posted a video on X in the context of a mass marriage function he attended in on December 29," said Superintendent of Police Premsukh Delu.
    The 46-second video clip shows Pratapgarhi being showered with flower petals as he walks waving his hands with a song running in the background which the FIR stated used lyrics which are provocative, detrimental to national unity and hurting religious feelings.
    The SP said the voice in the video is likely of Pratapgarhi's.
    The FIR lodged by Kishan Nanda stated that spreading such a video would encourage a group of ten or more people to resort to violence, a crime under section 57 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS).
    The case was registered at Jamnagar A-division police station on Friday.
    Delu said Pratapgarhi tweeted the video on January 2, three days after he attended the mass marriage function.
    This video drew sharp comments from X users, he said.
    Pratapgarhi was booked along with Altaf Khafi and Sanjari Education and Charitable Trust that organised the function, the police officer said.
    "The Parliamentarian has been booked under BNS sections for promoting enmity between different groups based on religion, race, etc., using actions or statements that harm national integration, offend someone's religious sentiments, and encourage a group of ten or more people to commit a crime," Delu said.
    The mass wedding programme was organised to mark Khafi's birthday. Altogether, 51 couples tied knots. Pratapgarhi attended the function as an invitee.
    One of the X users slammed Pratapgarhi, stating the video reminded him of Syria and Iraq.
    "Apart from other relevant sections, we have also invoked section 57 of the BNS which pertains to instigating 10 or more people to commit a crime and attracts a jail term of up to seven years. We will take all required legal action against him," Delu said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)