Slapped with sedition, defiant Ramya declares she stands by her statement

Protests erupted in parts of Mandya and she was even trolled on twitter.  "Sedition is not a surprise at all. And I stand by what I said," she said,  unapologetic and defiant.

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Actor-politician Ramya has been charged with sedition
Actor-politician Ramya has been charged with sedition

When actor-turned-politician Ramya answered my call, she said, "You never remember me nor say 'hi' unless I land myself in controversy." She seemed cool and breezy. "Call me in 5 minutes and let's meet," she said.

When I met her at home, she jovially said, "Now don't tell me this is yet another controversy." Well, a fight with actor Sudeep, later with Karnataka minister Ambareesh and now with ABVP/BJP. This morning she woke up to a sedition case filed against her by Kodagu Pragatiranga President and Advocate, Vittal Gowda.

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HER PAKISTAN REMARK

All this in the backdrop of a statement made by her when defence minister Manohar Parikkar equated Pakistan to hell. "Pakistan is not hell. I went there for a summit and they treated us all well," she said rejecting the minister's statement.

Protests erupted in parts of Mandya and she was even trolled on twitter. "Sedition is not a surprise at all. And I stand by what I said," she said, unapologetic and defiant. "When the minister can express his opinion, why can't I?" she continued.

SEDITION

However, this has been perceived as anti national by certain sections with a case seeking sedition that will be heard on August 27th. "How can the court allow this petition? That in itself is appalling," said author Ramachandra Guha, rising in support of Ramya.

"Sedition is being misused by the government. It should be repealed. Sedition does not go hand in hand with a country that is democratic in nature," Ramya said. "It is used as a tool by political parties to suppress voices of dissent and opponents," said Guha.

One of Ramya's tweets took a dig at RSS and Modi. "Didn't RSS call Pakistan its brother? Modi went uninvited to Pakistan!" she said.

"I would term Modi as being more hypocritical than all," said Guha.

Ramya said that she doesn't have a problem with apologising if she felt she had done something wrong. "But this is not something that warrants an appologu. I will fight it legally," she said.

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