Blasphemy charge against 5 Uttar Pradesh ministers

Patronising a magazine that published blasphemous content on Hinduism has spelt trouble for five ministers in the Mayawati government.

They now face criminal charges after a court ordered a case to be registered against nine people, including four of the ministers.

The content has angered people at many places in the state, and opposition parties are demanding that the ministers be sacked.

The article Vedic Brahmins and their religion written by one Ashwini Kumar Shakya and published in the May issue of Ambedkar Today allegedly used abusive language to describe Hindu Gods, Goddesses and scriptures.

The chief judicial magistrate (CJM), Jaunpur, Ashraf Ansari, passed the orders on a complaint filed by one Radhey Shyam Verma.

The plaintiff had charged publishers with hurting religious sentiments. Four ministers —- Naseemuddin Siddiqui, Babu Singh Kushwaha, Swami Prasad Maurya and Daddu Prasad, and a BSP leader with minister of state rank Parasnath Maurya, are ‘patrons’ of the magazine.

A government spokesman said a CB-CID inquiry had been ordered into the matter and that the Registrar of Newspapers of India (RNI) had cancelled the magazine’s registration.

However, the opposition is not impressed. “These ministers have been patrons of the magazine since 2003… the government is trying to cover up the matter now,” UP Congress spokesman Dwijendra Tripathi said.