Opposition, Facebook users slam FIR over anti-Modi post

Panaji: Opposition parties and Facebook users in Goa are enraged after the police booked a Facebook user for making inflammatory statements against the BJP and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

The Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Communist Party of India (CPI-M) have called the complaint as an act of muzzling opposition against the BJP and Modi. However, complainant Atul Pai Kane, a businessman and former chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Goa, has defended his decision to slap the first information report (FIR) on Devu Chodankar. "The BJP is scared that we are winning both seats, that`s why they are scared and trying to intimidate their opponents," Congress spokesperson Durgadas Kamat said. Kane, who regularly defends the BJP and Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on the social media, in his complaint said Chodandkar had threatened Facebook users from voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha polls. The post also claimed that if elected to power, Modi would unleash a holocaust in India. The post has been deleted since, police said. The complaint has been filed under Sections 153(A), 295(A) and section 125 of the People`s Representation Act and 66-A of the Information Technology Act. The AAP too has criticised the complaint, claiming it was an attempt to muzzle criticism online. "This is clearly an attempt," Valmiki Naik told reporters on Thursday. Facebook users took to the social media forum to react to the complaint even as the poll campaign has just begun to heat up. "Let`s just call it Section 666....," said Anou Raut Desai. There are others who have backed Kane and his complaint. "I feel sad for Devu Supriya Purushottam Chodankar. Didn`t expect this from him. Talent misused. There is no excuse to sow seeds of communal disharmony and incite violence," says Sunila Muzawar. Kane himself says that the complaint was not against Chodankar`s alleged diatribe against the BJP. "The complaint is against Devu for making inflammatory statements and trying to create communal disharmony, not comments against the BJP," Kane explained in his online post.