University of Lucknow assistant professor Madri Kakoti, known as satirist Dr Medusa online, has been booked for her social media posts on the Pahalgam attack.
An FIR has been lodged at Hasanganj police station on the basis of a complaint from an ABVP member, who is enrolled in a postgraduate course at the university. It has been filed under BNS sections 197(1), 152, 302, 352, 353(2) and 196(1)(a) apart from provisions of the IT Act.
Jatin Shukla, the complainant, alleged that Dr Medusa’s social media posts were detrimental to national integrity and law and order in India. Shukla claimed that Dr Medusa had repeatedly referred to “saffron terror” and her post was also shared by a Pakistani social media account.
The University of Lucknow is yet to issue any official statement on the FIR against the assistant professor.
धर्म पूछकर गोली मारना आतंकवाद है।
— Dr.Medusa (@ms_medusssa) April 23, 2025
और धर्म पूछकर lynch करना,
धर्म पूछकर नौकरी से निकालना,
धर्म पूछकर घर न देना,
धर्म पूछकर घर bulldoze करना, वगैरह वगैरह
भी आतंकवाद है।
असली आतंकी को पहचानो।
In her post, the satirist had criticised the media and government’s response to the Pahalgam tragedy. “Twenty-seven ordinary Indians, people like you and me, were killed. The media was busy chasing TRPs, and no serious questions were asked of those in power. A major lapse in internal security went unnoticed, and the home minister remained clueless.”
Dr Medusa and investigating officer Pramod Kumar Pandey refused to comment on the issue.
BNS section 197(1) deals with claims prejudicial to national integrity, 302 with words hurting religious sentiments, 353(2) with statements creating ill will, and 196(1)(a) with promoting enmity. While it doesn’t use the term “sedition,” section 152 criminalises acts that incite secession, rebellion, or subversive activities, or encourage feelings of separatism, potentially endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India.
Meanwhile, speaking to Newslaundry, the complainant, Jatin Shukla, said, “People from Leftist ideology are working to divide society and the students. They are making this issue political, when there is a situation of war between India and Pakistan and your ideology wants to create a civil war in the country itself…we have lodged this FIR so that no student or professor can repeat such things.”
The Pakistani social media account mentioned in Shukla’s complaint is the same as the one that featured Bhojpuri singer Neha Singh Rathore’s remarks.
Rathore was on Sunday booked under 11 charges, including section 352, after the Pakistani social media account reposted her video in which she lashed out at the Narendra Modi government over the Pahalgam attack, claiming that PM Modi will now seek votes in Bihar in the name of the Pahalgam attack.
In a video posted on April 25, Rathore took a jibe at the BJP’s “war rukwa di papa” ad, saying the PM could not even avert a terror attack in his own country.
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