Filmmaker Aisha Sulthana Booked For Sedition Over ‘Biological Weapon’ Remark During TV Debate

Thiruvananthapuram: A ‘biological weapon’ remark made by filmmaker Aisha Sulthana during a television debate, landed her with sedition charges by the Lakshadweep Police on Thursday.

She was booked after a complaint was filed with the Kavaratti police by the BJP’s Lakshadweep unit president Abdul Khader who said, “Sulthana is circulating false news about the spread of COVID-19 in the union territory” during a TV debate in a Malayalam channel, News18 reported.

Khader’s complaint cited a recent debate on the Malayalam channel ‘MediaOne TV’ on the ongoing controversial reforms in Lakshadweep, in which Aisha had purportedly said that the Centre was using ‘bio-weapon’ on the islands.

Sulthana had alleged that the central government used ‘biological weapons’ for the spread of COVID-19 in the Lakshadweep islands. “The BJP leader said the centre is trying to care for the islanders. Does this care result in the increase of several covid patients who had zero cases to hundreds of cases per day. They have used biological weapon. I can say one thing very accurately. The centre has clearly used bioweapon in a place which had zero cases,” she said in the debate, titled, ‘Will the traitors of the island leave coast?’ in the Malayalam channel on Wednesday night.

BG Vishnu, who represented BJP objected to this and asked her to withdraw the reference as “it is baseless and sending a wrong message against the country”.

When the TV anchor asked for a clarification of this statement, Sulthana compared the situation with that of “the news of China used against the world.” Sulthana reiterated that said she is ready to take responsibility for the remark and repeated the statement that “the administrator used bioweapon in the island.”

According to the FIR lodged by the Kavaratti police, a case under sections 124 A (sedition) and 153 B (hate speech) of the Indian Penal code has been registered against the filmmaker, the report added.