"I think the reason might be the Jawan film because of the scenes inspired from the Gorakhpur tragedy case. It's backlash because of the same," Dr Kafeel Khan told The Quint. A fresh FIR was filed against him on Sunday, 3 December for "conspiring against the nation" through his book which was released two years ago.
Filed in Krishna Nagar police station in Lucknow, this is the sixth FIR against him since 2017.
The complainant is businessman Manish Shukla who filed the FIR against Khan and "4-5 others." This was after he eavesdropped on conversation near LDA colony on 1 December wherein he alleged these "other" people were making clear references to Khan's book and "conspiring to trigger riots to overthrow the government."
Shukla stated they were allegedly criticising and abusing the government and its ministers over phone.
It must be noted that his book 'The Gorakhpur Hospital Tragedy: A Doctor's Memoir of a Deadly Medical Crisis' was launched on 17 December 2021 in Delhi and has been translated into six languages too: English, Hindi, Urdu, Tamil, Marathi, Malyalam, his brother Adil Khan told The Quint.
'Elections Are Coming..'
Khan stated that the book has an official ISBN number and has been released abiding by all the regular norms and rules.
Ever since he was released from Mathura jail in 2020, he has been working in a southern state as an Assistant professor at a medical college and teaching MBBS students. The FIR has come no less than a shock to him and his family.
"You see, elections are coming and a punching bag is needed. They obviously can't touch Shahrukh Khan for the film, but they can still take such actions against me."Dr Kafeel Khan to The Quint
In the FIR, Shukla has claimed that the people were talking about circulating the book before elections and how more people need to read it. He alleged he overheard Khan collects money from the book sales for a "secret scheme."
Rubbishing these accusations, Khan stated that because of the scenes in the blockbuster 'Jawan' film were eerily similar to what he went through back then, people alleged that he made the film in cahoots with Atlee and Shahrukh himself.
"My Ammi has been scared since yesterday, my children who are growing up now, learn and understand about these incidents, it's heartbreaking. What do I tell them again?" lamented Khan.
For context, Khan was jailed for over seven months for a speech he made in Aligarh during the anti-CAA and NRC speeches. He had also found himself embroiled in the Gorakhpur tragedy of 2017 where he witnessed the deaths of 63 children and 18 adults when the Baba Raghav Das Medical College’s Nehru Hospital in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, ran out of oxygen supply.
'Maligning Govt's Image': What are the Charges?
Shukla has stated that the book and his work, Khan is creating animosity and hatred among people against the government and that "these people can create disorder and can be terrorists too."
He stated that he confronted the people who had then got scared and ran away and Shukla didn't chase them "in case they had bombs on them." His point of contention is that Khan's book has allegedly maligned the government as he has held the health minister and several other government officials responsible for the 2017 tragedy.
The FIR has been filed on 10 sections of Indian Penal Code and two of the Press and Registration of Books Act:
153B- Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration
143- Punishment for unlawful assembly
465- Punishment for forgery.
467- Forgery of valuable security, will
471- Using a genuine forged document or electronic record
504- provides punishment for insulting someone intentionally to provoke them,
505 - Statements conducing to public mischief.
298- uttering words with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings
295- Injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class
295A- Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.
Section 3: Particulars to be printed on books and papers) and 12 (Penalty for printing contrary to rule in section) of the Press and Registration of Books Act.
Adding that he will fight this new FIR legally, Khan noted, "People who have read the book, they know the reality now. But it's about how such actions still affect us."
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