On Monday (4th March), Bengaluru Police arrested three people for raising ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans inside the Vidhana Soudha after a Congress candidate won the Rajya Sabha elections last week. The arrests come after the forensic report confirmed that the video of the said incident was not doctored and that pro-Pakistan slogans were indeed raised in the assembly, India Today reported.
The arrested accused have been identified as Ilthaz, Munavar, and Mohammad Shafi. According to the News18 report, DCP Central, Bengaluru City Police said, “All three arrests are based on FSL report, circumstantial evidence, witness statements, and other evidence.”
Notably, on 27th February, pro-Pakistan slogans were raised inside the Vidhana Soudha after Congress leader Syed Naseer Hussain registered a victory in the Rajya Sabha elections. The video of the incident went viral on the internet last month in which some supporters of the Congress leader could be heard shouting “Pakistan zindabad” in the Karnataka assembly to celebrate Hussain’s victory.
A day later, on 28th February, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar retweeted a post claiming that ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans were raised in the Karnataka state assembly after the re-election of Hussain in the Rajya Sabha polls.
Congress and ecosystem peddled claim that slogans raised were ‘Nasir saab zindabad’
However, the Congress party, its ecosystem, and notorious fake news peddler Md. Zubair had peddled the claim that Congress workers were only raising slogans for Hussain, chanting ‘Nasir saab zindabad’.
Meanwhile, on 29th February, BJP MLAs staged a protest in the Karnataka Assembly demanding the arrest of the culprits who chanted pro-Pakistan slogans.
Following massive outrage, the Siddaramaiah-led government was forced to order a probe by a government-run forensic science laboratory (FSL) to check the veracity of the claims that pro-Pakistan slogans were raised or not.
He said that the state government has forwarded the audio recording to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and assured that action will be taken once the report is received.
He said, “As I have told you already the government is committed, we’ll not spare any person once the report comes. We have given it to FSL. We’ll take action once the report comes.”
Subsequently, the forensic report confirmed that the video of the said incident was not doctored and that pro-Pakistan slogans were indeed raised in the assembly, as reported by India Today.
Later, the BJP cited a report of a private forensic science laboratory named Clue4 Evidence Forensic Investigations Private Limited that indicated that the “Pakistan Zindabad” slogan was shouted in the Vidhana Soudha. The forensic report stated that the examined video of the incident is “not tampered/ doctored in between and is a result of single capture”.
Karnataka Home Minister targets private lab for FSL report confirming ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ sloganeering
However, the Congress party rejected the report alleging that the government does not consider private reports.
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara went further and went after the laboratory asking who permitted it to do the same. “We will find out with whose permission he has done it, who gave him ‘No Objection Certificate’ and is he authorised to make such reports public,” PTI quoted him as saying.
However, as per the News18 report, the DCP while confirming the arrest stated that the arrests have been carried out based on evidence including the FSL report and witness statements.
Mohammed Zubair and Congress had claimed ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans weren’t raised
Notably, after the state unit of BJP flagged the issue, dubious ‘fact-checker’ Mohammed Zubair claimed otherwise and was supported by several Congress leaders including the son of President of the Indian National Congress Mallikarjun Kharge and Karnataka Minister of Information and Technology Priyank Kharge as well as party’s Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala among others. However, the local police acknowledged the allegations and started an inquiry that proved the authenticity of the controversial clip.