NEW DELHI: Former water resources minister and rebel AAP MLA Kapil Mishra stirred the hornet’s nest on Monday by tweeting a video in which he is seen reciting a poem asking people to pull out traitors of the country from their homes.
The video, which had garnered over a thousand views, mentioned names of senior journalist Barkha Dutt, actor Naseeruddin Shah, activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan and actor-turned-politician Kamal Hassan. He also attacked rights activist Shehla Rashid.
“It is time that we pull the traitors from their homes into the streets,” says the video. “One Barkha (Dutt) tries to shift attention away from Pulwama and another Swara (Bhaskar) tries to defame the country. A Naseeruddin (Shah) says our country is reeling under terror... But the very next day goes to Karachi wagging his tail,” said Mishra in the video.
Both Rashid and Bhushan responded to Mishra by asking the authorities to take action against his threats.
“This person who has a huge following and is an MLA from Delhi, is giving an open, emotive call to people to enter our homes, drag us to the streets and lynch us,” said Rashid while asking the Delhi police to take action.
Similarly, Bhushan tweeted, “This lumpen MLA @KapilMishra_IND must be immediately arrested. If he is not arrested in 24 hours, it would mean that Delhi Police is acting under the orders of the BJP which is aiding... this call to violence.”
Later in the day, the Union Ministry of Communications took note of the video. “It is brought to our notice that one Kapil Mishra has circulated a highly incendiary video, provoking people to attack some citizens. The content of video is self-explanatory and violates the Indian Penal Code and IT act,” said a letter written by DoT Controller Communications, Dehradun, Ashish Joshi.
Mishra, however, refused to back down. “This man @acjoshi - misusing letterhead & playing agenda. This is not his job. Tomorrow, there will be a complaint filed against him for misusing of office. Will file a case against @pbhushan1, @kavita_krishnan and @ashutosh83B for...creating an atmosphere of violence,” he tweeted.