Chief priest of Chilkur Balaji demands arrest of man who insulted Lord Ayyapa

Hyderabad: The chief priest of Chilkur Balaji temple, C.S Rangarajan, on Friday took part in a huge dharna in Moinabad and urged the police to immediately arrest Byri Naresh, a local leader of the Atheists Society, for insulting Lord Ayyappa. He said this was a planned strategy to target Ayyappa devotees and enrage them.

Byri Naresh's comments about Lord Ayyappa have invited the outrage of crores of Ayyappa followers. In a video that is doing the rounds of social media, Mr. Naresh can be heard making the blasphemous remarks at a meeting. In the video, he says Lord Ayyappa was born out of an unnatural relationship between two men and that people who worship the deity are frauds. The video has hurt the believers of Iswara who follow the sacred 41-day deeksha to Sabarimala.

According to the Hindu scriptures, Lord Ayyappa is the incarnation of the Hindu deity Hariharaputra who is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Mohini, the female avatar of Lord Vishnu. Hariharaputra means the putra or son of Hari or Vishnu Hara or Shiva. But Vishnu was in the female form of Mohini. Devotees are demanding that Byri Naresh, the organisers of the meeting, the people on the stage, and the people who were whistling should be booked under section 295A of the IPC.

What is Section 295A of the IPC?

The object of Section 295A is to punish deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs. This section only punishes an aggravated form of insult to religion when it is perpetrated with the deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of a class.

When is Section 295A applicable?

· The accused must insult or attempt to insult the religion or religious beliefs of any class of citizens of India.

· The said insult must be with a deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of the said class of citizens.

· The said insult must be by words, either spoken or written, by signs or by visible representation or otherwise.

· The offence under Section 295A is cognizable and a non-bailable and non-compoundable offence.

· The police have the power to arrest a person charged under Section 295A without a warrant.