An FIR was registered in the incident, days after an AI-generated video was posted on the official Facebook page of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttarakhand, accusing former chief minister and Congress leader Harish Rawat of “appeasing” minorities.
In his police complaint, Rawat said the video was posted by the Uttarakhand People's Party through its official social media platform to tarnish his image, in which “disgusting words and images” about the two communities were broadcast.
“As a result, dissatisfaction and disharmony have prevailed among the people of both the communities,” Rawat said in the complaint cited in the FIR. “Through the publication and broadcasting of such falsehoods, religious sentiments are being disrespected and serious harm is being caused to the faith of the two communities.”
The reel, posted on December 18, showed Rawat handing over land to an ethnic minority community, with an audio clip resembling Rawat's voice playing in the background.
In his complaint, Rawat accused the BJP Uttarakhand state president and other associate members of running the social media page where the video was uploaded.
“The video seeks to hurt religious sentiments and endanger the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. It is clear from the video that this is a malicious and hateful act published and disseminated with the aim of insulting the religion and religious beliefs of a particular class and stirring up religious sentiments,” he said, adding that he was portrayed as “anti-national”.
The FIR registered at Nehru Colony police station was filed under the provisions of the Information Technology Act and the People's Republic of India Act (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita).
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Ahead of the 2022 assembly elections, the Election Commission had issued a notice to the Uttarakhand Bharatiya Janata Party for allegedly violating the model code of conduct, asking it to respond within 24 hours to anyone who tweeted a morphed image of Rawat. The move came in the wake of Congress charges that the Bharatiya Janata Party, Uttarakhand, had wrongly portrayed Rawat as belonging to a particular community.
Manveer Chauhan, the media chief for the Uttarakhand Bharatiya Janata Party, denied that his party had anything to do with the video and instead accused Rawat of resorting to legal proceedings to “divert attention from the appeasement issue”.
“The Bharatiya Janata Party fully abides by legal procedures and responds to allegations through the procedures prescribed by the Constitution. Frustrated with the mandate of the people, Harada (as Rawat is called in the state) is fabricating allegations against the Bharatiya Janata Party,” Chouhan said.
Furthermore, he said, “Mr. Harada is seen as opposing the government in every decision taken by the state, including the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), anti-conversion laws, anti-riot laws, cow slaughter, and measures against illegal religious violations.”
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