Karnataka Again: Files Sedition Against Actor-Politician Ramya For a Stray Remark on Pakistan

NEW DELHI: A little over a week after Amnesty International was charged with sedition for an event held in Bangalore, Karnataka, actor turned politician Ramya is now facing the heat for a comment on Pakistan.

Referring to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's recent remark "going to Pakistan is like going to hell," the 33-year-old Congress leader had said, "Pakistan is not hell. People are just like us. They treated us very well."

Ramya was speaking having recently returned from Islamabad where she was attending the AARC Young Parliamentarians Conference.

Ramya’s statement led to massive protests across the state of Karnataka, as ABVP and BJP activists launched a campaign urging her “to go to Pakistan” and accused her of being “anti national.”

A sedition case was filed against Ramya for the comments by Karnataka-based advocate, K Vittal Gowda, under Section 200 in the first Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court in Somwarpet. The petition accuses Ramya of insulting India and provoking Indians by appreciating Pakistan.

Judge Shyam Prakash posted the hearing of the case on August 27.

In a media statement, Ramya refused to apologise for her comment, maintaining the she had done nothing wrong. State Congress working president Dinesh Gundu Rao also defended Ramya. He said, "She was only sharing her experience of her recent visit to Pakistan. It was not a controversial statement."

The case against Ramya comes on the heels of an FIR filed against Amnesty International, as ABVP workers accuse the international organisation of “sedition” saying “anti-India” slogans were chanted and speeches made at an event held by the organisation on Kashmir recently in Bengaluru.

Amnesty International denies the charge.

The latest incident received a lot of attention on Twitter.