Dehradun (Uttarakhand), 12th April 2023: Dehradun police have charged stand-up comedian and YouTuber Yash Rathi with “promoting enmity between different groups” for allegedly making an “objectionable” comment about Lord Ram on April 8 during a comedy event held at a local farmhouse.
The case was reportedly opened on Monday night after Sagar Jaiswal, the state head of the right-wing group known as the Uttarakhand Bhairav Sena, filed a complaint. Jaiswal said that Rathi made fun of Lord Ram by making a “highly condemnable remark” about him in a video that they came across on the internet.
Jaiswal said, “We found a video of the comedy show held at a farm house in the city’s Prem Nagar neighbourhood in which he (Rathi) could be seen making a crude joke about Lord Ram’s sea journey. Nobody has the right to insult Hindus’ feelings.”
Rathi was seen in the video stating, “Jesus drowned when he first attempted to walk on water. Jesus was dragged out of the sea by his buddy, who questioned his excessive confidence.Why didn’t he learn to swim if he wasn’t able to walk on water?To which Jesus replied, I made a tiny error, I failed to write Ram on my chappal.”
Additionally, the group has called for “strict action against the management of the farmhouse and the group that had organised the event.”
Sub Inspector Sanjay Rawat, who is managing the case said, “Acting on the complaint, a case was registered against Rathi for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion under section 153(a) of IPC. A probe is underway in the case and the eyewitnesses are being questioned.”
This is not an exclusive incident as many comedians in India have repeatedly gone through such procedures. Several times their jokes on politicians, parties and religious groups lands these comedians in a sticky situation which might also end in legal proceedings.
