April 28, 2025: An FIR has been lodged against folk singer Neha Singh Rathore at the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow under serious charges, including sedition, after comments she made about the recent Pahalgam terror attack. The case was registered following a complaint by poet Abhay Pratap Singh, also known as Abhay Singh, who accused Rathore of spreading caste-based hatred and anti-national sentiments through her posts on social media.
The controversy arose from a post by Rathore on X (formerly Twitter) on April 23, in which she criticized the Modi-led government and alleged that the ruling BJP was using the Pahalgam terror attack for political gain, similar to the way they allegedly used the 2019 Pulwama attack. Rathore accused the government of “collecting votes in the name of Pulwama” and suggested that a similar strategy would be used in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, which took the lives of 26 people, including a Nepali national.
The complaint, filed by Singh, claims that Rathore’s posts could disrupt communal peace and foster negative sentiments against the nation. Singh, who has been vocal about issues related to public opinion and national integrity, argued that the comments made by the singer were likely to incite division and hatred among different communities.
In response to the complaint, an FIR was registered on April 27 under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) of 2023, including serious charges such as sedition and promoting enmity between different groups. The FIR includes provisions from Sections 196(1)(a), 196(1)(b), 197(1)(a), 197(1)(b), 197(1)(c), 197(1)(d), 353(1)(c), 353(2), 302, and 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, along with Section 69A of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008.
The police have launched an investigation into the matter, and further legal proceedings are underway. This case has raised questions about the boundaries of free speech and the implications of social media posts in politically sensitive contexts.