New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Raja Pateria, arrested on December 13, 2022, for telling Congress workers that they should “be ready to kill Modi, kill in the sense of defeating him” was on March 4 released from jail where he spent 80 days for this remark.The 69-year-old leader has told The Indian Express that he does not blame the judiciary but the Bharatiya Janata Party-run state government “for misusing the law and jailing” him.In January, the Madhya Pradesh high court had denied Pateria bail, observing that public leaders should be vigilant about the words they use in speeches.In his December speech, Pateria had said: “Modi will end the elections. Modi will divide on the basis of religion, caste and language. The future of Dalits, tribals and minorities is in danger. If you want to save the constitution, then be ready to kill Modi. Kill in the sense of defeating him.”State BJP chief V.D. Sharma shared the video clip and demanded an inquiry, asking if there is a plot to assassinate the prime minister.Pateria had claimed that he had asked to “defeat Modi in the elections” and did not mean that he should be physically killed.At the time when Pateria made the comment, Congress had also denounced his statement.On February 28, he was given bail by the Madhya Pradesh HC and released four days later. Madhya Pradesh police has filed a chargesheet against Pateria. Among charges in the FIR were also sections of the Indian Penal Code that dealt with house-trespass, along with intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace, statements conducting public mischief, criminal intimidation, abetment of offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life if offence not committed and abetting commission of offence by the public.While speaking to reporters after his release and to the Indian Express, Pateria said that he was against the caste system.He told the latter that BJP has wanted to silence him as he “follows the principles of Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar” and also because he had been leading the agitation against MP CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan for a while now.“I am against the caste system. But the BJP follows the principles of [Nathuram] Godse, [Veer] Savarkar and [M.S.] Golwalkar. I had spoken with the intention of safeguarding our Constitution and defending the rights of tribals, Dalits and minorities in the country,” Pateria said.Pateria also told Express that while BJP is known to arrest opposition leaders like they arrested him, BJP leaders are “never arrested for openly talking about Hindu Rashtra in their speeches.”“Is this not unconstitutional? They misuse religion and get sadhus to make controversial statements, but no action is taken,” he asked.
