Bengaluru: Kannada actor Huccha Venkat was arrested on Friday
after a group of students made a complaint to the police about the derogatory remark he reportedly made against Dr B R Ambedkar during a panel discussion on a news station.
Venkat was booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and remanded in judicial custody by a local court. The students lodged the complaint at the Jnanabharathi police station.
Taking part in a panel discussion that was aired by a Kannada news station at 9 pm on November 18 and re-telecast several times, Venkat reportedly made an offensive remark about Ambedkar. The complaint also accused the news anchor of “provoking” the actor to make the statement and demanded that the news station be banned.
After filing the complaint, the students also staged a protest. Venkat was arrested in the morning. A senior police officer said that the anchor was summoned for questioning and had given to time to do so.
Another complaint
Another complaint was filed against the actor at the High Grounds police station. That’s not all, there could be more complaints as many people are approaching police stations, the officer said.
“But no matter how many cases are filed, we will transfer all of them to one police station and investigate them,” he added.
Venkat was in the news last week, too, after being evicted from Kannada reality show ‘Big Boss 3’. On November 14, he is said to have assaulted singer Ravi Muroor, another contestant. As Venkat had broken the rules of the show, he was immediately eliminated.
MLC wants cops to act
Earlier on Friday, Venkat’s issue was raised in the Legislative Council by Congress member, R V Venkatesh. Seeking the government’s reply on the police response, the member demanded that the government regulate reality shows like Big Boss to ensure that viewers, especially youngsters, were not adversely influenced.
In reply, Home Minister G Parameshwara said that if anybody from the public lodged a complaint against the actor, suitable action would be taken against him as well as the channel concerned.
He also said that neither singer Muroor or any member of his family had filed any complaint against Venkat. He also stated that his department would consult the department concerned to regulate reality shows.
Police had questioned the show’s business head, Parameshwar Gundkal, on the day of the assault. Gundkal had said the incident had taken place on the sets of Big Boss, according to the minister.
So the person in question is jailed because he expressed an opinion about Ambedkar (the man who sold his soul and converted to Buddhism before his death) and this is happening in India, a country which people say is the largest democracy in the world, a country which ensures freedom of thought and expression. How is it different from Islam which also prohibits (under the threat of beheading) the questioning of its origins or its founders and all the pixie-dust anecdotes which they treat to be the final word?
India is a Banana Republic.
‘Huchcha Venkata’ Well, the name tells you everything you need to know about this guy and sad state of our entertainment industry. However, the issue here is not about him. This is about free speech. Unfortunately, free speech is just a theory in many countries. Islamic societies —-> Well, let’s skip this section. It’s a waste of time!! Europe —–> Even in countries like France, the free speech has limitations. For example, comments on holocaust can get you in trouble!! India —–> Third world nation that has allowed restrictions around free speech based on religion, caste, regionalism etc. Doddanna —–>… Read more »
Doddanna —–> Probably the only place on the earth that works extra hard to follow the principles of free speech!!! – Peace TV prophet – Mr. RampaNNA What free speech ya, Sriman Rampu’ji? Let us talk about basic “free(dom)” first. Just take a look at the link below: http://www.ndtv.com/opinion/my-white-neighbor-thought-i-was-breaking-into-my-own-apartment-nineteen-cops-showed-up-1245025?pfrom=home-opinion And I trust you happen to recall Eric Garner’s “I can’t breathe” dialogue. And hey, what about that poor old Indian grandpop called Sureshbhai Patel? And what about the deaths of folks called Michael Brown, Walter Scott, and Freddie Gray? It must have been the work of the Loch Ness Monster,… Read more »
@. . Pincode Pai – You continue your bad habit of ignoring the main topic and comment on trivial things. A clear indication that you are on the losing side here!! smiles… @. . Joker Praveena Pinto – We are talking about free speech here. Doddanna is not perfect but there is enough debate and corrective measures taken after every wrong turn. Was there any debate after ‘huchcha ventakata’ incident to support his right to free-speech? Was there any debate to support one’s right to draw cartoons of religious characters and publish them? Was there any debate to question unofficial… Read more »
Original R.Pai – “You continue your bad habit of ignoring the main topic and comment on trivial things.”
Dear Paimaam, Your main topic was “Huchcha” and I just talked about the “Hucchas” !
Nobody is more qualified to talk about ‘huchcha’ than you!! Why do you think you are held in a tiny room with no windows? smiles…
Original R.Pai – “Nobody is more qualified to talk about ‘huchcha’ than you!!”
YOU RIGHTLY TALKED ABOUT HUCHCHAA. BUT I SAID YOU ARE NOT ELIGIBLE, FOR YOU TOO ARE ….
THANK YOU FOR CONCEDING THAT HUCHCHAA IS NOT ELIGIBLE TO TALK ABOUT HUCHCHAAS. YOU HAVE RIGHTLY SAID I AM ELIGIBLE TO TALK ABOUT … FOLKS.
Original R. Pai – ‘Huchcha Venkata’, Well, the name tells you everything you need to know about this guy.
But, the name of Original R. Pai does not! That is the only difference.