TelanganaTNM Staff| Tuesday, July 21, 2015 –

 

The Sultan Bazaar police in Hyderabad has issued a notice to social scientist Kancha Ilaiah and management and editor of Andhra Jyothy, a regional after booking a case against them.

The case pertains to an article published in the newspaper, written by Kancha Ilaiah titled ‘Devudu Prajasamya Vaadi Kaada,’ which translates to “Is God not a democrat?”

“We have sent a notice asking them to appear before court in this case. If they do not respond, an arrest warrant can be issued,” Inspector P. Shiva Shankar Rao of the police station told Deccan Chronicle.

The petitioners were two Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists Pagudakula Balaswamy and Thirupathi Naik, who claimed that the article, which was published in May, was offensive to religious sentiments.

Responding to the notice, Kancha Ilaiah told TNM that,”VHP has been against developing social science talk in India.”

Kancha Ilaiah whose article talks about how a society’s social and political institutions are deeply influenced by its concept of God and by its religious beliefs says that this is the most democratic article he has ever written.

“There is nothing offensive about it. It is a social science exploratory article which is a critical assessment of divine forces. Things like this need to be addressed in our country,” he says.

He also went on to allege that the Telangana government was allowing the VHP to go on with the incident. “The VHP have been after me since united Andhra but are succeeding only now. I had written a lot of articles against the bifurcation of Telangana and that is why notices are being filed,” he says.

He also alleged that the TV channel of the media group ABN Andhra Jyothy has been blocked in the state and the management dragged into the case.

“During the Telangana protests, hundreds of cases were filed against KCR and his ministers and aides. Why were no notices served to him? What sort of fascist state goes after writers?” he asks.

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