Ranchi court orders student to distribute Quran for sharing communal content on social media

A Ranchi Court on Tuesday ordered a student to distribute the Quran – a religious text of Islam – for sharing communal content on social media. The girl, named Richa Bharti had been arrested for shared a controversial post on Islam in connection with the lynching of Tabrez Ansari.

She was produced before the Ranchi magistrate court on Tuesday where judge Manish Singh granted her bail on the surety of Rs 14,000 and ordered her to distribute five copies of the Quran to various organisations. She, however, denied distributing the religious text of Islam.

“Today they are asking me to distribute Quran, tomorrow they will ask me to imbibe Islam. Even Muslims post objectionable remarks on social media, have they ever been asked to read Ramayana or Hanuman Chalisa for insulting the Hindu religion?” she told a local news channel.

As per the reports, a member of Sadar Anjuman Committee (SAC) had filed a complaint against Bharti on July 12 at Pithoria police station. In the FIR, the SAC member had stated that Bharti had posted a highly inflammatory post against Islam on Facebook, which could affect the communal harmony of the society.

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Acting on the FIR, the police arrested Bharti and produced before the court. Following the Ranchi court’s order asking her to distribute the Quran, several right-wing organisations have come out in her support.

Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy also jumped into the matter and said that he had asked Jharkhand Minister Saryu Rai to look into the case.

“I have requested my friend and Minister in Jharkhand Govt Shri Saryu Rai to look into it. Ask this brave girl to meet him,” the firebrand BJP leader had said in response to a user urging him to help the girl.