Complaint Filed Against Journalist Nikhil Wagle For ‘Offensive’ Tweets

Section 66A might be gone but that hasn’t stopped Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Pune Communication Cell from lodging a police complaint against journalist Nikhil Wagle for his “offensive” tweets.  In a telephonic interview with Newslaundry, the cell’s coordinator Paresh Joshi accused Wagle of calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “pervert” in one of his tweets. “He has insulted the Prime Minister, and that’s why we lodged a police complaint,” he said.

According to Joshi, Wagle, as part of a heated Twitter exchange with some BJP followers, also misbehaved with a woman. “Our followers were only trying to have a civil discussion with him, but he resorted to calling names,” Joshi alleged.  Wagle, Joshi claimed, was also guilty of spreading religious disharmony. “He called Brahmins murderers, even implying that people of the community were involved in the murder of Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Govind Pansare; however, when we asked him to furnish proof, he didn’t respond,” contended Joshi.

Incidentally, it is not just the BJP’s Pune unit that has taken umbrage to Wagle’s tweets, but also the Akhil Bharatiya Brahman Mahasangh (ABBM). The ABBM, according to its website, seeks for all “national and international settled Brahmans to be grouped together”.  Speaking to Newslaundry, the organisation’s president Govind Kulkarni said Wagle was trying to create differences in society on the basis of religion. “He has been spreading vile against Sanatana Dharma through his tweets,” alleged Kulkarni. He said it wasn’t only on Twitter that Wagle was targeting “Sanatana Dharma”. “Even the debates that he conducts on television portray Hinduism as evil,” Kulkarni told Newslaundry.

Here are the few of the tweets that seem to have irked the two groups:

Wagle said he “welcomed” the complaints and would fight them. “I haven’t yet received any formal intimation about the complaints, I will seek legal advice when I do,” he said. Wagle said his tweets were there for all to see and maintained that he didn’t abuse anyone but only criticised. “If the Pune police acts on the complaints, it will only prove they are working under political influence since they haven’t been able to crack down on the murderers of Pansare and also Narendra Dabholkar who was shot dead in the city,” said Wagle.

A First Information Report has not yet been filed by the Pune police at the time of filing this story. The story will be updated in case of further developments.