Free speech continues to be one of India's most pressing debates. In recent times, free speech online has become an even more pressing matter. Now, the debate on Heer Khan has reopened the issue. A YouTuber was arrested on Tuesday by Prayagraj police in Uttar Pradesh.
A viral video surfaced on Monday by a YouTuber Heer Khan, in which she ranted about Hindu gods and the religion Hinduism. Soon after, netizens who had come across the video reported the content for being derogatory and offensive.
Heer Khan's rant on Hinduism
Religion has become a factor in divisive politics in India, not much is needed to spark this debate. Since the Bengaluru riot, religious dialogue on social media has become a point of concern. How much is ok? If one Facebook post can become the base of a riot, a rant on Hindu gods becomes a risk.
Heer Khan shares short videos on YouTube and many of her videos are posted on Black Day 5 August. The channel has only been around since January of this year. While the video of the specific rant that has gone viral on social media has been taken down by the owners, it is available on Twitter.
Her video became a talking point after netizens began asking that legal action be taken against her. Additional Director General of Police Sandeep Mittal asked the UP Police and CM Yogi Adityanath for action to be taken against her controversial video. In the video, Khan talks about Goddess Sita and Ram in a bad light using derogatory languages like "r**di" and many expletives in her rant describing Hindu gods and goddesses.
Netizens over the past day have been relentlessly pursuing action against the woman whose details are still largely unknown. While many have said she lives in UP. On Tuesday evening, however, the news broke that Heer Khan had been arrested, the Hindu IT Cell and Shalabh Mani Tripathi tweeted.
Many BJP leaders like Kapil Mishra have also tweeted demanding that Heer Khan be arrested.
