Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Booked For Provocative Comments On Ayodhya Issue

Hyderabad: Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was booked by the city police following a complaint against him for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of the Muslim community by giving "provocative" statements on the Ayodhya issue. "The complaint against the spiritual guru, who has been trying for a solution to the Ayodhya dispute through mediation, was filed by Salahuddin Affan, secretary of the city-based Darsgah Jihad-O-Shahadat (DJS)," Moghalpura police station Inspector R Devendar said.

In the complaint, Affan claimed Ravi Shankar gave "provocative" statements against the Muslim community over the Ayodhya row with an intention to hurt religious feelings and beliefs of its members, he said.

The complainant alleged that the 61-year-old spiritual leader had stated that "if the court rules against a temple (in Ayodhya), there will be bloodshed in the country and India will have a Syria- like situation". This statement was given with an intention to disturb communal harmony in the country, Affan said. However, the spiritual guru had on March 6 clarified that he had cited Syria just as an example.

"It was a point of view, and not threat. There is no point in giving a threat. I cannot imagine it even in my dreams. We want peace, and an atmosphere of harmony...I feel that the situation which is prevailing in other countries, should never arise in our country. We are working in those countries," he had told reporters at Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. Ravi Shankar has been booked under IPC section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), the Inspector said.

A similar complaint was also registered against the well-known religious figure with the Saidabad police station, another police official said. Ravi Shankar has met a number of community leaders as part of his efforts to find an out-of-court settlement to the vexed Ayodhya issue. "There is a lot of goodwill and cooperation from the Muslim community (in resolving the issue)," he had said recently. In the past year, Ravi Shankar had met over 500 leaders in Ayodhya, Bengaluru, Lucknow, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and other places personally and through video conferencing as part of his mediation efforts.

PTI