A court in Malerkotla district in Punjab last week sentenced Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Delhi’s Mehrauli to two years in prison in a 2016 Quran desecration case. The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Parminder Singh Grewal also imposed a fine of Rs 11,000 on Yadav, who was present in the court during the sentencing. The court upheld the two-year prison sentence of two other persons (Vijay Kumar and Gaurav Kumar). Another accused, Nand Kishore, was acquitted by the lower court. Yadav was convicted under sections 295A (intentional malicious act done with intent to outrage the religious feelings of any group by insulting the religion or religious beliefs of that group), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
It may be recalled that Yadav was acquitted in the sacrilege case by the lower court in March 2021. Following this, the complainant Mohammad Ashraf filed an appeal against his acquittal. The police had earlier registered a case against Vijay, Gaurav and Kishore but later AAP MLA Yadav was arrested in the case.
It is worth mentioning that after the incident of the recovery of parts of the Quran Sharif from Jarg Road in Malerkotla city on June 24, 2016, the police had registered a case against Vijay Kumar, Nand Kishore and Gaurav Kumar along with two others. Later, the name of AAP MLA Naresh Yadav was added on the basis of circumstantial evidence and statements of other accused. After Vijay Kumar was arrested from Patiala, Naresh Yadav was included in the investigation on the basis of his statement. An application was filed to investigate the Rs 90 lakh transferred by Yadav to Vijay Kumar’s bank account and his links with RSS.
After the charges of sacrilege against Aam Aadmi Party MLA Naresh Yadav were proven, the Election Commission should cancel the recognition of Aam Aadmi Party. The Shiromani Akali Dal believes that the Aam Aadmi Party has proven to be a party in the country which is ready to incite communal riots for the sake of electoral politics. By desecrating the Holy Quran Sharif, AAP has done vile and heinous politics of polarizing votes. If a thorough investigation is conducted, it will also come to light that Aam Aadmi Party has tried to destroy communal harmony in Punjab not only once but many times by insulting religious sentiments. The Election Commission should immediately cancel the recognition of Aam Aadmi Party, which is doing politics of pitting different religions against each other.
Panthic circles believe that politicians and anti-Panth Dera activists are behind the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib, not any community. They are playing riotous politics by committing sacrileges to gain power. An inquiry committee into the sacrileges should be formed under the leadership of the Supreme Court to find out the truth and punish the culprits.
