Kalicharan Maharaj Arrested For Remarks Against Mahatma Gandhi
Kalicharan Maharaj, who had made derogatory comments about Mahatma Gandhi has been arrested.
Recently, a “Dharam Sansad” or a religious meeting was held in Raipur, Chhattisgarh on 25th and 26th December, 2021 where Kalicharan Maharaj delivered a speech in which he abused Mahatma Gandhi and praised his assassin, Nathuram Godse. He also said that the aim of Islam is to capture the nation through politics and demanded people elect a "staunch Hindu leader" to "protect" Hinduism.
Congress leader Pramod Dubey who was at the event, filed an FIR on 26th December against Kalicharan Maharaj for abusing mahatma Gandhi and promoting tensions between different communities. Kalicharan Maharaj who is from Maharashtra was then arrested by the Chhattisgarh Police from Madhya Pradesh's Khajuraho. Police sources said that Kalicharan booked a guest house in Khajuraho but did not stay there. He instead went to a rented house some 25 km from Khajuraho to dodge the police, who had been looking for him since the day a case was filed against him. To evade the police from tracking, all his close aides had also switched off their phones. On 30th morning, a team of policemen finally tracked him down, arrested him and took him back to Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur. Later Kalicharan was presented before the sessions court in Raipur, where he was remanded in police custody for two days.
However, after the arrest Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said that the Chhattisgarh Police had violated norms by arresting Kalicharan without informing the Madhya Pradesh Police. In reply to it, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said, “Strict action will be taken against those abusing the Father of the Nation. People asking questions about the arrest, I want to ask them, are they unhappy that such a man has been arrested?” Chhattisgarh BJP leader Brijmohan Agrawal, who was present at the event tweeted in support of Kalicharan, with the hashtag #ReleaseKalicharanMaharaj. Even at the sessions court in Raipur, where Kalicharan was presented, a group of people raised slogans seeking his release. FIRs have also been registered against Kalicharan at police stations in Akola and Thane city over the speech he made in Raipur. Sources said both FIRs are being transferred to Raipur.
