Panaji: Goa police have registered an FIR against 300 unidentified protesters who took part in a Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protest in Panaji on Oct 11, alleging they raised slogans that hurt Hindu sentiments.“During a public protest organised in Panaji, the functionaries and supporters of CJP raised slogans such as ‘Murdabad, Murdabad, Hindutva Murdabad’, thereby promoting religious disharmony and deliberately hurting the religious sentiments of the Hindu community,” Panaji police inspector Vijaykumar Chodankar said.He said police registered the case under Sections 196 and 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 for religious disharmony and a deliberate attempt to outrage religious feelings.Earlier, chief minister Pramod Sawant had said the incident is under investigation and govt would not tolerate attempts to disturb communal harmony in the state.Ramprasad Kelkar, a resident of Taleigao, filed the FIR after citing a video of the Oct 11 protest circulated on social media.“I have seen the video… members of CJP had organised a protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, demanding his resignation for discrepancies in the SIR and deleting names from the electoral roll in the country. As per local news reports, it also came to my notice that one lady coordinator of CJP had applied for permission before the North Goa collector, and it was rejected,” Kelkar said in his complaint.He said the organisers said it was peaceful. “However, it was noticed that the protesters were raising slogans against Hindus… which shows the protest was organised to disturb harmony and peace in society and the locality,” Kelkar said.Seven protesters were detained by police for entering Azad Maidan after the district administration had refused permission to CJP to hold a protest. They were later released after the Bombay High Court convened a late-evening hearing on Oct 11 on a habeas corpus petition.
