A lawyer from Karnataka has filed a case of sedition against actress-turned-politician Ramya for her recent comment praising Pakistan and its people.
“I respectfully disagree, but Pakistan is not hell,” reiterated Kannada actress and Congress member Ramya, after news broke, asking a case of sedition be filed against her.
A petition has been filed against Ramya at the office of the Judicial Magistrate of First Class Court at Somavarapete in Karnataka’s Madikeri, demanding that she should be booked under the sedition law for her comments on Pakistanis.
“Everybody is entitled to express their views and that is what democracy is all about, you can’t force your ideology on anyone”, the former Congress MP said.
“Politicians want to polarise and spread hatred. Just because borders separate us we shouldn’t hate others”, Ramya aka Divya Spandana said.
Referring to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s statement that “going to Pakistan is like going to hell”, Ramya had said that “Pakistan is not hell. People are just like us. They treated us very well”. Ramya was recently in Islamabad to attend a SAARC Young Parliamentarians Conference.
The former Congress MP also reiterated her stand and said, “I don’t think I’m wrong. I also love Bangladesh, Sri Lanka. Of course, I won’t leave India. It’s my home and I am not going to leave my dogs.”
On whether she would apologise for her statements, Ramya said, “I don’t have ego at all and in any given incident I would have apologised, but if I do it in this case, the larger cause we’re fighting for would go.”
The case comes exactly a week after sedition case was filed against Amnesty International for organising the event ‘Broken families’. The ABVP which was protesting against the organisation and has been demanding a NIA probe, will now stage a protest against Divya for her remarks.
