Wajahat Khan, the 30-year-old co-founder of the Rashidi Foundation, who had earlier filed the hate speech complaint that led to the arrest of social media influencer and law student Sharmishta Panoli, is now facing criminal charges himself following a social media campaign against him by Hindu nationalists.
The Kolkata Police have booked Khan for allegedly posting communal and provocative content online.
Khan has been charged under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), mirroring those invoked against Panoli. These include Section 196(1)(a) for promoting enmity between groups on religious grounds, Section 299 for deliberate acts aimed at outraging religious sentiments, Section 352 for intentional insult likely to provoke a breach of peace, and Section 353(1)(c) for statements that could incite public disorder.
The FIR against Khan was registered at the Golf Green police station based on a complaint by one Sujit Ghosh. This comes in the wake of multiple complaints lodged against Khan across West Bengal in the past week. These include two complaints at Garden Reach police station, one at Metiabruz police station, a submission to the Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissioner by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and another at Jetia police station.
Khan, who had publicly demanded action against Panoli through his now-locked X account, is alleged to have posted communal content and celebrated her arrest online. The content of his posts has been described by complainants as derogatory and hurtful to religious sentiments.
Police sources confirmed that Khan has not been seen in his locality since Sunday. His family has not filed any missing person’s report, raising further questions about his disappearance. Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies from both Delhi and Assam are also searching for him.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.