Bhojpuri Singer Neha Singh Rathore Booked For Sedition Over Objectionable Remarks After Pahalgam Attack

Lucknow Police have booked folk singer Neha Singh Rathore in a sedition case registered by Abhay Pratap Singh, Deccan Herald reported. The First Information Report (FIR) was filed at Hazratganj police station based on a complaint that her posts allegedly provoked, targeted a particular religious community, and could incite communal tensions.

Rathore faces several charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including those related to promoting sectarian animosity, disturbing public tranquillity, and endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India.

In her video, she claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would now use the Pahalgam attack as a pretext for Bihar's vote-seeking, much as he did following the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF soldiers. Due to similar social media remarks, the artist has has previously faced controversy.

Complainant Abhay Pratap Singh claimed that the nation's citizens united in calling for the most severe retaliation against the disgraceful attack. "In this condition, singer and poetess Neha Singh Rathore, using her Twitter handle Neha Singh Rathore @nehafolksinger posted some objectionable posts, which could adversely affect the national integrity, made repeated efforts to provoke one community towards another on the basis of religion," Deccan Herald quoted the FIR.

The FIR further suggests that her comments have gone viral in Pakistan and are being used by Pakistani media to question and criticise India, thereby potentially harming India's international standing.

Political satirist and folk singer Neha Singh Rathore is well-known for writing Bhojpuri songs. Born in 1997, she grew up in Jandaha, Bihar. In 2018, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Kanpur University.