Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh police have arrested an educationist for writing a blog on the ideals of secularism with a blend of spirituality in context of Vedas and Lord Jesus.
The FIR was registered at Narayangarh Police station against Rajendra Prasad Dwivedi, a resident of Bhopal and a former District Education Officer, in November 2020 on the complaint of Suresh Sahu, a lawyer and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist.
Sahu, a resident of Narayangarh of Mandsaur district in his police complaint alleged that Dwivedi has outraged his religious feelings by showing Hinduism in poor light in his blog. Police on April 4 booked Dwivedi under several sections of the Indian Penal Code and sent him to judicial custody.
Sahu further alleged that Dwivedi’s blog ‘Pragyapravaah.in’ is in resemblance of RSS’s Prajnapravah.com, a portal that propagates the ideas of Hinduism and nationalism, and he has been publishing articles that propagates the ideas of Christianity.
Town Inspector of Narayanganj Police station Avnish Shrivasta confirmed the arrest and said, “After a long search, we have arrested Rajendra Prasad Dwivedi on Sunday for outraging Hindu sentiments in his blog and presented before the court.”
Dwivedi, who embraced Christianity and took voluntary retirement from State Education Department after serving on various posts as teacher, lecturer and DEO, has published his latest article with title ‘Secular — Sacred Divide is Non-Existent’ on his blog on March 26. His recent articles were on descent, importance of education, spiritual intelligence and so on.
He is also a text book writer and educational administrator, directorate of School Education, Madhya Pradesh and Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.
When contacted, Sahu, who claimed his association with RSS’ Prajna Pravah, said, “Dwivedi is a Christian sympathizer and created a blog with a resemblance to RSS’s Prajnapravah.com and propagated the ideas of Christianity while showing Hinduism in poor light in majority of his blogs.”
He further said, “He also inappropriately quoted RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat saying his faith in God has declined during the Covid-19 pandemic, which is fake information. Such a person should not be allowed to be free in society,” he said.
Nevertheless, Rashmi, Dwivedi’s wife, defended him. She said, “He is a very learned man and served more than two decades in the state Education Department and he can’t defame or write anything against any religion.”
She further said, “He writes the blog after critically evaluating and analyzing the facts. It is a baseless case and I’m sure that the court will grant him bail in the next hearing.”
When contacted, Maria Stephen, Public Relation Officer of Christians of Madhya Pradesh said, “It is another sign of religious intolerance even though the Constitution values the freedom of expression and right to propagate one’s own religion. It’s quite similar to the cases which are registered against members of Christian community under the newly passed anti-conversion law.”
“It is the fight between truth and lies, justice and injustice, light and darkness. The lies appear like they are fast in the race but the truth endures forever. I’m hopeful for his bail in the upcoming hearing,” Stephen added.
Source: newsclick.in