A cyber complaint has been filed against retired IAF FL Lt Anoop Verma by Congress Seva Dal in connection with his provocative post where he compares Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi to 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab. The controversial post was uploaded on X and consisted of a side-by-side image comparison, which immediately led to a backlash in political and veteran circles.
Congress Seva Dal proceeds through legal channels
As a reaction to the aforementioned social media post, the Congress Seva Dal legal cell declared that it will be pursued through legal means and will not tolerate any such acts committed against party members that seek to bring disrepute to them or equate their criticism of the government to acts of terrorism.
In light of provisions of the constitution under Article 19, the Seva Dal said that while people have the right to free speech, within the legal limits, the organization intends to pursue charges against Verma under BNS and cybercrime laws.
Veterans criticise post and bring up Matthew VanDyke example
In addition to a general backlash, Verma was severely criticised by fellow veteran retired Sergeant Karmveer Singh. Singh criticised the comparison as an embarrassment to military service, noting that wearing a uniform does not grant license to engage in political trolling.
Alongside the condemnation, Singh highlighted the recent default bail granted to US national Matthew Aaron VanDyke by a Delhi court in an NIA case involving illegal entry and alleged drone warfare training in Myanmar. Singh accused Verma of displaying “selective patriotism” while failing to maintain respectful discourse within democratic boundaries.
