New Delhi, 24 April 2025 – A formal complaint has been filed against BJP Member of Parliament Nishikant Dubey (Godda, Jharkhand) for making communal and inflammatory remarks on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on 20 April 2025 by human rights activist and former bureaucrat Harsh Mander. The complaint, submitted to the Station House Officer of Hauz Khas Police Station, seeks immediate registration of an FIR under Sections 196 and 197 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, which pertain to promoting enmity and questioning constitutional loyalty based on religion or community.
In his social media post, Dubey targeted former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi, referring to him disparagingly as a “Muslim Commissioner.” He further alleged that during Quraishi’s tenure, Bangladeshi infiltrators were registered as voters in Jharkhand’s Santhal Pargana region. The post went on to make inflammatory references to Prophet Muhammad and India’s partition, employing divisive rhetoric that has the potential to incite hatred and disturb communal harmony.
The complaint highlights that this is not an isolated incident, citing a pattern of communal statements made by Dubey in 2022, 2023, and 2024, often involving unfounded allegations against the Muslim community and invoking the bogey of illegal infiltration and demographic manipulation.
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The complaint invokes the landmark Supreme Court judgment in Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay v. Union of India (WP Civil No. 943/2021), which mandates suo motu FIR registration and prompt legal action in cases of hate speech. It urges the police to act without delay in accordance with this judicial directive, emphasizing the importance of protecting India’s secular and constitutional values from divisive political rhetoric.
This incident raises pressing concerns about the normalization of hate speech in political discourse and underscores the urgent need for accountability from elected representatives.
