SC’s stance on Leena Manimekalai is puzzling, given its critical remarks on Nupur Sharma

1. The SC defends Leena Manimekalai, who had mocked Shri Durgadevi

Leena Manimekalai recently produced and directed a documentary film ‘Kaali’. The poster of this documentary portrayed Kalimata smoking a cigarette. Kalimata is one of the three forms of Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati. Millions of Hindus worship these Deities, and for many, they are a source of strength and inspiration. Some secularists deliberately and repeatedly hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus through films, advertisements and social media platforms. They also criticise Deities, Saints, Hindu politicians and even freedom fighters. The mainstream media and Courts consider such mockery as their ‘freedom of expression’.

Many criticised Leena on social media for the outrageous poster of Kalimata. We expected her to respect the religious sentiments of Hindus and promptly remove the poster. However, such progressives and Hindu-haters do not easily budge from their anti-Hindu stand since they do such things deliberately, and later, continue to defend themselves.

In this case, the Police registered criminal cases in six cities and issued a lookout circular against Leena. In some cases, the Police could have arrested her. However, she quickly realised the rising tide against her and sought the SC’s intervention against the impending arrest. The SC promptly heard the petition on 20^th January 2023 and said that a notice be served to the defendant. The SC also restrained the Police from taking any action against Leena.

2. SC treats the case against Leena differently than the case against Nupur Sharma

The SC’s order in favour of Leena is in stark contrast with its sharp remarks against the ex-BJP Spokesperson Nupur Sharma. Considering the threat to her life, Nupur had filed a petition in the SC seeking bail and transfer of all the FIRs against her to Delhi. The SC rejected her request and ordered her to apologise to the Muslim community. If you carefully examine her so-called crime, you will realise that she spoke nothing more than what is mentioned in the Hadith, a religious text of Islam. However, this enraged many Muslims, and some religious fanatics issued death threats to her. They openly proclaimed, ‘Gustakh-e-Rasool ki ek hi saza, Sarr Tan Se Juda, Sarr Tan Se Juda’ (Decapitation is the only punishment for blasphemy in Islam). These were not just empty words; the religious fanatics brutally killed five Hindus for supporting Nupur Sharma.

3. The SC seems to care a lot for the human rights of anti-Hindus and the so-called liberals, but gives the cold shoulder to pro-Hindu leaders and Hindu activists

Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, the current MP of Bhopal (MP), is also a woman like Leena and Nupur Sharma. She rotted in jail for almost seven years for her alleged role in the Malegaon bomb blast case. This makes one wonder why the High Court and the Supreme Court did not feel the need to intervene and protect her human rights. The Courts seemed to have served different justice for devout Hindu Sadhvi Pragya Singh and Hindu activist Nupur Sharma. However, they have an opposite perspective for anti-Hindu Leena Manimekalai. They often worry about duration of the case, should the accused rot in jail till the final order is served, and about their human rights. This line of thinking often leads to anticipatory bail to such people. However, the Courts have conveniently ignored the plight of Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Nupur Sharma and Colonel Purohit. They were also defamed. The (insensitive) SC tore into Nupur Sharma and said, “Nupur Sharma’s loose tongue set fire to the entire country”. However, the SC took a completely accommodative stance on Leena and said, “Leena is a graduate student at York University in Canada who presented her art in the form of a film. It seems that multiple FIRs were lodged across many States because of serious prejudice. A criminal case typically lasts 8-10 years; hence, it is important to protect her human rights”. Sadly, when it came to Nupur, the SC said, “We uphold the decision of the lower Court against Nupur Sharma. The SC should not intervene in such cases”.

4. We must establish the ‘Hindu Rashtra’ to deliver true justice to Hindus

These examples make it clear that the entire administrative system promptly rushes to rescue progressives, anti-Hindus, and religious fanatics. Hindu unity is necessary to stop this anti-Hindu, anti-National juggernaut. It is also critical that the Government enacts stringent Laws to prevent the mockery of Saints, Deities and Hindu Dharma. ‘Hindu Rashtra’ is the only remedy on all such issues that plague our Nation and Dharma today. (23.1.2023)

– H.H. (Advocate) Suresh Kulkarni, Bombay High Court

The entire system rushes to rescue progressives, anti-Hindus, religious fanatics. Hindu unity is necessary to stop this !