Complaint Against Swara Bhasker, Twitter India Head And Others Over Ghaziabad Assault Video

Ghaziabad Assault Video: A police complaint has been registered against Bollywood actor Swara Bhasker, journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani, Manish Maheshwari and Asif Khan of Twitter India, over the Ghaziabad assault video. In the viral video an elderly Muslim man had claimed that he was assaulted, his beard was cut off and he was forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram". The authenticity of the claims made by the man stand challenged as contrasting reports about the incident have emerged. The complaint against Bhasker and others was lodged at Delhi's Tilak Marg police station by advocate Amit Acharya.

Delhi Police say they've received complaint against actor Swara Bhaskar, Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari & others at Police Station Tilak Marg, in connection with incident in Loni (Ghaziabad) where a man was thrashed & his beard was chopped off. "It is under inquiry," they say

— ANI (@ANI) June 17, 2021

"Knowing the fact that their tweets have an impact on society, they gave communal colours to the incident without fact-checking the truthfulness of the incident," reads the complaint, as per The Indian Express. It further stated that the concerned tweets were floated across social media with the intent of hampering peace and harmony amongst religious groups.

Delhi police said an inquiry is underway in the case, while an FIR against those named in the complaint is yet to be registered.

Post #FakeNews on @Twitter , get @jack Company to make it go viral, ensure @WhatsApp amplifies it further. #Toolkit #tabeez to spread hate and create fear.
Law of #India cannot allow this perversion. @Uppolice files FIR against offenders. As ‘publisher’, @TwitterIndia is liable. pic.twitter.com/6fc8811cPp

— Kanchan Gupta (@KanchanGupta) June 16, 2021

Defending her decision to voice concerns over the viral video, Bhasker, had earlier tweeted that the incident was "a desecration of my God and my religion and I’m ashamed.. as shud you be."

RW & Sanghis vomiting on my timeline ‘coz Ghaziabad police named 3 Muslims. Jackasses the prime accused is literally a Pravesh Gujjar. The man is on camera forcing the old man to chant #JaiShriRam
Yes it is a desecration of my God and my religion and I’m ashamed.. as shud you be

— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) June 15, 2021

Earlier, an FIR was also registered in Ghaziabad against Twitter, Rana Ayyub, Mohammad Zubair, Dr Shama Mohammed, Saba Naqvi, Maskoor Usmani, Slaman Nizam for allegedly propelling fake news using the video on social media. The FIR stated that the people who were named in the complaint did not verify the "truth of the matter" and shared it online with an intention of "provoking communal sentiments."

The FIR came soon after Twitter was stripped off its protective legal shield in India for third party content. The move by Central government thus made Twitter the only US platform to lose the protective shield granted under Section 79 of the Information and Technology Act.

UP police also claimed that it had provided Twitter with details of the case and rejected the communal angle being cited in the incident. However Twitter reportedly failed to take any actions to remove the content in question. Read more about it here.

Feature Image Credit: Youtube screenshot