EC directs X to take down Karnataka BJP's 'objectionable post' on Muslims

 EC directs X to take down Karnataka BJP's 'objectionable post' on Muslims

The Election Commission said, “'X' is directed to take down the post immediately. This is issued with the approval of the competent authority.”

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday asked X to take down an animated video posted by the Karnataka leg of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) targetting Muslims, which was posted amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

It said, “'X' is directed to take down the post immediately. This is issued with the approval of the competent authority.”

Linking the post where the BJP aimed to attack the Congress amid the Muslim reservation row, the EC said, “I am directed to inform that post of "BJP4Kamataka" (as mentioned below) is violative of extant legal framework.”

The video in question depicts Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) as "eggs" in a basket representing reservation. An animated character of Rahul Gandhi is shown planting another “egg” representing the Muslim community into the same basket. The video suggests that Congress leaders prioritise the Muslim community over SC, ST, and OBCs by allocating more funds to them, symbolised by placing funds into their mouths.

After the video was posted on Saturday, Karnataka Congress on Sunday filed a complaint against BJP national president J P Nadda, the party's IT cell head Amit Malviya, and state unit chief BY Vijayendra.

Chairman of the media and communications department of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, Ramesh Babu, said in the complaint that the video not only violated the model code of conduct (MCC) but was also an offence under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act of 1989.

On Sunday, the Karnataka Police sent a notice to X directing it to remove the May 4 video for violating the Representation of People Act.

The EC added, “An FIR (copy enclosed) has already been registered in the matter. It is further brought to your notice that Chief Electoral Officer, Kamataka through Cyber Crime Division, Bengaluru has already directed X on 05.05.2024 to take down the objectionable post as per Section 79(3)(b) of Information Technology Act and rule 3(1)(d) of The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021. However, the post has not been taken down yet.”

As reported by the News Minute, three different videos have been posted by the BJP. Apart from the video posted by Karnataka BJP, Telangana MP and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arvind Dharmapuri and a BJP Nizamabad MP posted two different videos depicting the same.

The first video was initially shared on April 30 via the party's Instagram account. However, it was taken down, either by the BJP or Instagram.

It explicitly targeted Muslims, labelling the Congress manifesto as a disguised version of the "Muslim League's ideology". The animated content further claimed that if the Congress were to win, it would seize the wealth of "non-Muslims" and redistribute it to Muslims, the News Minute reported.

Preceding the video, Modi made remarks in Rajasthan last month referring to Muslims as "infiltrators" and those with "more children".

He said, “The Congress manifesto says they will calculate the gold with mothers and sisters, and then distribute that property. They will distribute it to whom - Manmohan Singh's government had said that Muslims have the first right on the country's assets.”