FIR lodged in Jalandhar against ‘edited’, ‘doctored’ video of AAP leader Atishi

Chandigarh, Jan 9 (PTI) The Jalandhar Police Commissionerate on Friday filed an FIR in connection with uploading and circulating an “edited” and “doctored” video of AAP MLA Atishi in the Delhi Assembly.

Using the clip, Delhi BJP leaders, including Law Minister Kapil Mishra, alleged on Tuesday that Atishi insulted Guru Tegh Bahadur in the Assembly during a debate on a programme organised by the Delhi government to mark the 350th martyrdom day of the ninth Sikh Guru last November.

On Thursday, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann slammed the BJP for targeting Atishi for her alleged remarks on Guru Tegh Bahadur, which, he claimed, she never made.

An official statement quoting a spokesperson of the Jalandhar Police Commissionerate said that an FIR under relevant provisions of law has been registered on the complaint of one Iqbal Singh against “uploading and circulating an edited and doctored video of Atishi”, the leader of opposition in the Delhi Assembly.

“Several social media posts containing a short video clip showing Atishi allegedly making derogatory and blasphemous remarks against (Sikh) Gurus with highly inflammatory captions have been uploaded on social media platforms,” the spokesperson said.

“Investigations have been conducted scientifically, and the video clip containing Atishi's audio has been downloaded from a social media platform of Delhi minister Kapil Mishra, which has been forwarded to the director of the forensic science laboratory in SAS Nagar, Punjab, for examination,” the spokesperson added.

After a report in this regard dated January 9, it has emerged that the word “Guru” was not uttered by Atishi in her audio as contained in the video clip being circulated on social media, the spokesperson said.

“Furthermore, there has been deliberate doctoring of the video to attribute words in the captions that were never spoken by Atishi,” he said.

The Delhi Assembly has taken cognisance of the FIR and said strict action will be taken against the Jalandhar police commissioner.

“This (the FIR and use of the clip) amounts to a breach of privilege, and strict action will be taken against the Jalandhar police commissioner, because the video clip is a property of the Delhi Assembly. We are taking cognisance of this matter,” Speaker Vijender Gupta said.

Atishi, on her part, has accused the BJP of indulging in petty politics by dragging the name of the ninth Sikh guru.

In a video post on X, Atishi claimed that she was talking about the BJP running away from a discussion on pollution and about their protest in the Assembly on the issue of stray dogs.

But the BJP deliberately added a false subtitle and inserted the name of Guru Tegh Bahadur into it, she claimed, referring to the clip.

The former Delhi chief minister also said that she belongs to a family in which, for generations, the eldest son adopted Sikhism.

She would rather die than insult the Guru Sahib, Atishi said. PTI SUN VSD ARI