Ramya Sedition Case: Ramya Refused to Apologise on Her Pakistan Remark.

Kannada actress and Congress member Ramya, who recently addressed a women’s rally in Mandya, Karnataka, indicated that she thinks Pakistan may not quite be hell. She said, “I respectfully disagree, but Pakistan is not hell”.

After her remark on Pakistan, some people protested as they thought that  her statements were a direct response to a comment that was made last week by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar when he equated visiting Pakistan with visiting hell.

A Karnataka lawyer also registered a complaint against Ramya in court, asking a case of sedition to filed against her under IPC sections 124 (A) and 511.

The Kannada actress Ramya, whose real name is Divya Spandana said that she will not apologise for making a remark on Pakistan as she has no reason to apologise and has not done anything wrong. She added that she doesn’t have any ego at all and if this would have been a different incident she would have apologised but if Ramya apologised in this case, the larger cause she is fighting for would go.

She said that it is really sad to see such a situation in India where Politicians want  to polarise and spread hatred. Just because border separates India and Pakistan that does not mean we should not hate each other.

The former Mandya MP from Karnataka’s Mandya constituency said,”I’m free to express myself, am I not? Everyone is entitled to their views and that is what democracy is about. You can’t force your ideology on anyone”.

She said that she has the freedom of speech and it is every citizen’s duty to  speak on inclusiveness and peace, Curbing freedoms is wrong in a democracy.

At the rally, Ramya also talked about the hospitality of Pakistan referring to the time when she had just returned from visiting Pakistan for the SAARC Youth Summit.

Ramya said that when she went Pakistan for the SAARC Youth Summit, she spoke about peace, harmony and unity in diversity and when she got back to India, she was asked to explain the visit of Pakistan to which she replied that people of Pakistan are just like the people of India and she, along with other members was treated very well. In fact, there was a lot of respect.

The Congress member refused to apologise and said she stands by what she said.

Ramya said, “I don’t think I’m wrong. I also love Bangladesh, Sri Lanka. Of course, I won’t leave India, it’s my home and I am not going to leave my dogs.”

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23 August 2016
Avni S. Singh