Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj filed a complaint with Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu and the Delhi Police Commissioner against the organisers of the Shri Keshav Ramlila Committee in Pitampura, including its president and BJP MLA Ashok Goel, and Delhi minister Kapil Mishra over the planned burning of a cockroach effig y alongside those of Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghnad during Dussehra .
The event organisers, however, said the effigy was being burnt to raise awareness about filth and the health problems associated with cockroaches.
He urged the authorities to take immediate action to prevent what he termed an insult to Hindu religion and Sanatani customs. Sharing the letter on X, Bharadwaj wrote: “MLA & Minister of BJP cannot use my Hindu religion for their cheap politics against GenZ. They cannot demean our thousand years old sanatan customs by making it a joke. RSS can’t sit quite on this blasphemy. Singh emphasised that Dussehra was an occasion to reaffirm the values of truth, duty and righteousness. Mishra highlighted the importance of incorporating the lessons of festivals.
In his letter to the lieutenant governor and the police commissioner, Bharadwaj described the burning of a 30-foot cockroach effigy during Dussehra celebrations as a deeply disturbing act by the organisers of the Shri Keshav Ramlila Committee.
AAP Delhi chief Saurabh Bharadwaj filed a complaint with Delhi Police and Lieutenant Governor (LG) Taranjit Singh Sandhu alleging that the effigy “hurt religious sentiments”. Earlier reporting noted: According to the organisers, Khanna said cultural events such as Ramlila and Dussehra helped strengthen social unity and preserve India’s traditions, the report further said.
Earlier reporting noted: While the cockroach effigy, burnt during the Dussehra celebrations organised by the Shri Keshav Ramlila Committee, gained massive attention, it also faced backlash from the Aam Aadmi Party. Earlier reporting noted: The chief guests of the event included BJP Rajya Sabha MP Arun Singh, Delhi Cabinet minister Kapil Mishra and Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Delhi unit president Kapil Khanna.
Kapil Mishra defends burning cockroach effigy along side Ravana’s
The public has its own unique ‘pesticide’ to deal with them. A cockroach is a symbol of filth and chaos… the people want such effigies to be burnt; just as anti-national forces emerge, their defeat in India is inevitable.”
Mishra has defended the burning of the cockroach effigy during Ravana Dahan celebrations on Dussehra and said the “political termites” of the country are in pain over the same. Speaking to reporters, Mishra said, according to news agency ANI, “The effigy being burnt is that of a cockroach, yet it is the ‘termites’—the political termites of this nation—who are feeling the pain.
