Pro-Palestine WhatsApp Status Sparks Police Warning in Karnataka

A20-year-old man named Nawaz faced a stern warning from the Hospet Police in Karnataka’s Vijayanagara district. This happened after he shared a pro-Palestine video as his WhatsApp status on Thursday, 12 October.

The Hospet Police noticed that certain individuals in a Hospet neighborhood were using social media to disseminate pro-Palestine content during the Israel-Palestine war. In response, they invoked Sections 108 (security for good behavior from persons spreading seditious material) and 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offenses) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to summon the young man for questioning on Thursday. Ultimately, they released him with a warning.

The 20-year-old individual in question works as an attender at the minority cell in Hospet. In a separate incident, as a precautionary measure, the police took Alam Pasha into custody to halt the further circulation of such videos. A case has been filed against Pasha on charges of disseminating seditious content. He is currently under detention for questioning and will face an executive magistrate.

The devastating events on October 7, when Hamas initiated an attack in Israel, unleashed turmoil on thousands of innocent people in both Israel and Gaza. The sequence of events began with Hamas militants bombarding Israel with a barrage of rockets, followed by a significant ground offensive. These actions resulted in the tragic loss of life, including babies, mothers, and, in some heart-wrenching cases, babies within their mothers’ wombs, as well as numerous other innocent civilians.

In response to these devastating attacks, Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The consequences have been severe, with more than 1,500 Gazans losing their lives in the process.