MADIKERI/MANGALURU: Now, the onus is on advocate Katnamane Vittal Gowda to prove how former MP Ramya’s statement that ‘Pakistan is not hell’ constitutes sedition.
Amid boycott of court proceedings by advocates on Saturday, Madikeri JMFC judge Shyam Prasad told Gowda to show why her statement was anti-national in nature and if the court has the jurisdiction to hear the case.
The judge posted the case to October 19 for hearing.
Gowda had filed a petition in the court saying the Congress leader’s statement “praising” Pakistan amounted to sedition. Speaking to Express, Gowda defended his action which his critics dubbed as a publicity stunt.
He said Ramya, by praising Pakistan, “denigrated” the people and soldiers who love India.
“Kodavas, who have been in the forefront of Indian armed forces, are disgusted by her statement,” he said. He said Pakistan is India’s traditional enemy and epicentre of global terrorism. The whole world sees Pakistan as a country which breeds and exports terrorism which is proved beyond doubt in cases, he said.
However, a senior advocate of the JMFC court said the case filed against Ramya is aimed at cheap publicity.
Ramya’s statement and the subsequent protests by BJP and Sangh Parivar had made national headlines. While she was trolled on social media, state ministers defended her saying her remarks were innocuous. Congress leaders also compared her visit to Pakistan for a SAARC convention with the state visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to the neighbouring country.