Lakshadweep Filmmaker Faces Sedition FIR For "Bio-Weapon" Remark

Lakshadweep filmmaker Aisha Sultana has been named in a case of sedition and hate speech for her comments criticizing administrator Praful Patel's Covid handling and calling him a "bio-weapon" sent by the Centre. The FIR was filed on the complaint of the state BJP chief. Aisha Sultana had, during a news debate on a regional channel, blamed Covid cases in the island on Praful Patel's decisions and remarked that the Centre had used a "bio-weapon" against Lakshadweep. "Lakshadweep had zero cases of COVID-19. Now it is reporting a daily spike of 100 cases. What the Centre has deployed is a bioweapon. I can say this clearly that the central government has deployed bioweapon," she had said on a Malayalam TV debate earlier this week.