Actress Ramya faces sedition charge for praising Pak

Actress-turned-politician Ramya is facing a sedition charge filed against her by a lawyer in Karnataka for praising people in Pakistan, kicking up a controversy today with questions being raised over invoking a colonial-era law to curb free speech.
As 33-year-old Ramya's remarks triggered a bitter backlash on social media and BJP and ABVP workers staged protests terming her remarks "anti-national", the actress stood her ground and ruled out tendering any apology, saying she has not said anything wrong.
The private complaint in a court in Somwarpet in Kodagu district sought action on sedition and other charges against her for "insulting" Indian patriots by her remark that "Pakistan is not hell".

The complaint has sought a direction to police to book Ramya, an ex-Congress MP, under IPC sections 124(a) (sedition), 344 (wrongful confinement for ten or more days) and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment).
Advocate K Vittala Gowda filed the complaint before Somwarpet Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court, which yesterday admitted it and posted it for hearing on August 27.
In the complaint, Gowda accused the multi-lingual actress of "insulting" India and "provoking" people by appreciating Pakistan which is a "traditional enemy of India."

After a recent visit to Islamabad as part of a SAARC delegation of young lawmakers, Ramya had reportedly said at a meeting in Mandya, which she represented from 2013 to 2014 in Lok Sabha, "Pakistan is not hell. People there are just like us. They treated us very well."

Her remarks came as a veiled counter to comments of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who while lashing out at Islamabad for promoting terror, had said last week, "going to Pakistan is same as going to hell."
Ramya replied in the negative when asked whether she would apologise.
"I don't think I am wrong. It's freedom of speech, also our duty to speak on inclusiveness and peace. Curbing freedoms is wrong in democracy.
"This is the state of affairs in this country today. Sedition is being slapped against anyone and anybody who is entitled to an opinion which should not be the case," she said.

She accused BJP of trying to curb freedom of expression. "I think that as an individual I should be allowed to air or express my thoughts, views and opinions. I think BJP government is trying to curb that."
She said other parties could also misuse sedition law and file cases against BJP leaders because of the "bizarre" statements some of them were making which were "seditious" but they do not do it and instead engage them in discussions.
Ramya also said the BJP "right now" would not do anything to repeal the sedition law as it using it to its advantage.

The sedition issue has cropped up afresh amid a raging row over sedition charge filed against Amnesty International India by police, after anti-national and anti-Army slogans were allegedly raised at an event on Kashmir organised by it in Bangalore recently.