The Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi filed a police complaint against National Herald for publishing an opinion piece by Kuldeep Kumar which they alleged denigrated “India and Hindu culture”. They also used this opportunity for a photo op of them handing over the complaint to the police.

The National Herald piece, titled “Are our epics replete with #MeToo sagas?”, talked about how “disregard for women’s consent and misogyny are deeply rooted in our religious, cultural and literary traditions”.

In its complaint signed by Neelkant Bakshi, head of media relations, and Ashok Goel Devraha, head of the media department, the BJP said the tweet of the article was “very offensive, defamatory, mischievous” and “intended to hurt and outrage religious sentiments of several millions of Hindus like me”.

The complaint also called the piece “scurrilous, inflammatory and prejudicial”. It said the article’s portrayal of women in epics as #MeToo was “highly provocative” with the potential to “seriously damage the secular fabric of India”. It protested that the article spread hatred against Rama and portrayed Sita and Draupadi, among others, as “objects of lust”.