Social activist Prashant Bhushan courted controversy and invited the ire of quite a few Hindu outfits on Sunday, April 2, when he said Lord Krishna was a "legendary eve teaser," and dared Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to rename the anti-Romeo squads as anti-Krishna squads. The Delhi unit of the BJP subsequently lodged a police complaint against him for hurting the sentiments of Hindus.
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Bhushan later took to Twitter to say that his initial tweet was being taken out of context, and that he didn't intend to hurt any religious sentiments. However, that did not stop the Delhi BJP from saying in its complaint, submitted to the Tilak Marg police station, that Bhushan be booked under relevant sections of the IPC and the Information Technology Act.
Anti-Romeo squad row
Bhushan was on Sunday morning reacting to a tweet on anti-Romeo squads in UP, where an individual had jocularly said the term was an insult to William Shakespeare — who wrote Romeo and Juliet, which is considered one of the best love stories of all time. The individual's tweet also suggested that England might name similar teams anti-Krishna squads "in retaliation."
However, Bhushan chose to wrote on Twitter: "Romeo loved just one lady,while Krishna was a legendary Eve teaser.Would Adityanath have the guts to call his vigilantes AntiKrishna squads? [sic]"
However, after facing backlash over the tweet, he chose to "clarify" his statement, saying: "My tweet on Romeo brigade being distorted. My position is: By the logic of Romeo Brigade, even Lord Krishna would look like eve teaser. [sic]" He added: "We have grown up with legends of young Krishna teasing Gopis.The logic of Romeo squad would criminalise this.Didnt intend to hunt sentiments. [sic]"
BJP complaint
The explanation did not stop the Delhi BJP from lodging a complaint against him with the Tilak Nagar police station in New Delhi. The complaint says Bhushan has "intentionally and deliberately" posted the "derogatory remarks against most-worshipped Hindu god Lord Krishna, solely for the purpose of insulting and outraging the religious sentiments of the Hindu community."
The complaint also called for Bhushan to be booked under IPC sections pertaining to hate speech and promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, among others, as well as relevant sections of the IT Act.
