Hyderabad police arrest 4 for screening ‘Ram Ke Naam’ documentary

While two of the arrested — Anand Singh and Parag — were organisers of the event, the other two — Srujan and Sowmith — were owners of the cafe.

A case under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 290 (creating public nuisance), 295-A (insulting religious sentiments), and 34 (criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of the common intention) was registered by the police.

J Srinivas, the circle inspector (CI) of the Neredment police station, told South First on Sunday, “Four people were arrested and produced before the local magistrate today. All of them have been released on bail and none are in custody now.”

Initially, the cops had detained at least around eight people, including the attendees, who were released later in the night.

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The incident

The screening of Ram Ke Naam at a cafe in Hyderabad on 20 January. (Supplied)

The complaint was filed by Pandrangi Ruthvik, who alleged that when he visited the cafe with his friends, he found that a film named Ram Ke Naam was playing.

He claimed that the attendees were making derogatory statements against the Hindu religion and the Vishwa-Hindu Parishad (VHP), adding that it hurt his religious sentiments.

The VHP is the organisation that led the Ram Janmabhoomi movement over the years.

The complainant also alleged that the screening was organised to intentionally aggravate communal issues ahead of the grand consecration event of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on 22 January.

Ruthvik, who claimed to be a sympathiser of the VHP, also stated in his complaint that the group also hurled abuses at him as well as provoked him.

Ruthvik told South First that the attendees were alleging that the VHP was a corrupt organisation.

“They were saying that the VHP took donations in the name of Ram Temple in the 1980s and 1990s but kept them to itself. They also said the VHP has nothing to do with the Lord Ram and did the Babri Masjid demolition to stoke a communal issue,” he said.

Noting that there were some “suspicious-looking” “bearded men” among the attendees, he added, “There were around 15 people initially but when the police came only seven to eight were left. The rest, including those bearded men, around two in number, escaped. I suspect that they might have links with terrorist organisations.”

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‘Peaceful screening’

The Neredmet police at the venue. (Supplied)

According to one of the attendees, the screening — which was scheduled for 8 pm — started around 8.30 pm.

It was attended by around 15-20 people, including students of Hyderabad-based universities.

“There was no disruption or something, but not even halfway through the movie (around 9 pm), some people came out of nowhere. First, two-three people came. They were observing the movie and then they called their associates,” the attendee told South First.

Noting that the outsiders disrupted the movie, the attendee said, “They were shouting that it was illegal to screen the movie (Ram ke Naam) and pointing fingers at us, asking how dare we screen the movie. They were yelling that their religious sentiments had been hurt, and that we were violating a Supreme Court order.”

The screening of the one-hour-15-minute movie was halted amid a ruckus.

“The whole time, the disrupters were claiming that it was a YouTube-propagated video while were were trying to make them understand that it was a recognised movie by Anand Patwardhan. However, they created such an environment we were not able to continue the screening. One of the men tried to tear the screen (made of PVC) as well,” said the attendee.

Around 9.30 pm, the Neredmet cops arrived on the scene and asked the organisers to shut down the screening. They also detained the attendees.

“The disrupters repeated their allegations to the police. Ironically, it was they who were creating a public nuisance for all the people present there, including us,” the attendee said.