A man in Delhi named Azim has been arrested by Delhi Police for insulting saffron flags placed along a street in the Shastri Park area. He was arrested after a complaint was filed by a Shastri Park resident named Sagar after he saw his neighbour Azim trampling the flags.
On the occasion of Ram Navami, saffron-coloured religious flags were placed along A Block Street at Shastri Nagar. At around 12.30 on Tuesday, Azim tore some of the flags, trampled them and then dumped them in a drain. Sagar, a resident of Lane No. 8 in the area named filed a police complaint against Azim alleging that he has hurt the religious sensibilities of Hindus. The complainant also submitted a video of Azim’s act to the police.
Delhi Police booked Azim under IPC sections (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs). He was arrested after the FIR was registered based on the complaint.
The video of the incident has gone viral, which shows a person wearing a kurta-pajama tearing apart and then trampling saffron flags with his feet in the night. As seen in the 28-second video, after trampling the saffron flags, the accused returns to his home.
It is pertinent to mention here that on Ram Navami this year, fanatics carried out acts of violence in various states of the country. The states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar, Bengal, and Jharkhand have been especially severely impacted by this violence. The administration was hesitant to let the procession this time after the violence on Ram Navami in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri last year. However, Hindu organizations took out a grand procession.