Video Of Santa Claus Fainting Amid Delhi Pollution Lands AAP Leaders In Trouble, FIR Filed

New Delhi: Delhi Police have registered an FIR against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Saurabh Bharadwaj, Sanjay Jha and Adil Ahmed Khan for hurting the religious sentiments of the Christian community. This comes after the AAP leader posted a video of a skit showing a man dressed as Santa Claus fainting in Delhi's Connaught Place due to the alarming level of pollution in the national capital.

In the skit, the Santa was seen wearing an industrial mask. Bharadwaj, who was holding an AQI monitor, told Santa, “This shows that the AQI is presently 376 in Connaught Place.” After listening to this, the Santa groaned and fainted. “Oh my God! After hearing the AQI, Santa fainted!” Bharadwaj exclaimed.

Party leaders then rushed to Santa to give them CPR, to which Bharadwaj asked, "Are maaroge kya Santa ko?" The political skit was meant to criticise the Rekha Gupta-led BJP government in Delhi.

“Santas fell ill as soon as they entered Delhi…They are now wearing industrial masks and distributing sweets to small kids,” Bharadwaj said in the video as he urged the Delhi government to do work towards improving the AQI of the national capital.

'Video Mocked Santa Claus'

The complaint filed against the AAP leaders said, “In these videos, individuals dressed as Santa Claus- a revered religious and cultural icon for Christians worldwide - are portrayed in a derogatory and mocking manner. The videos depict these religious icons 'fainting' and 'collapsing' on the street to be used as mere props for political messaging.”

It further alleged that the videos mocked Santa Claus, thereby offending the sanctity of Saint Nicholas and Christmas. The complaint said that all this was done deliberately and maliciously, so as to hurt the religious sentiments of the Christian community.

“Such political use of religious symbols in the final days of advent is considered an insult to Christianity,” the complaint added.

According to Delhi Police, mocking any religious symbol in public is a violation of Section 302 of BNS. Delhi police has registered a case under relevant sections in the matter and investigation is underway.

Saurabh Bharadwaj's Reaction To FIR

Reacting to the FIR, Bharadwaj said, “I have just received information that a member of the BJP has filed a complaint, claiming that the religious sentiments have been hurt. This is because we made a video showing that when people come to delhi, they are affected by the pollution.”

He added, “I think this isn't about religious sentiments; it's about their political sentiments, because if they had such deep religious feelings, then why didn't they react when the government issued an order that children shouldn't be dressed as Santa Claus in schools? If their sentiments were truly hurt, they should have reacted to the daily mischief happening in parks where Christmas is celebrated.”

He further said, “Through Santa Claus's skit, we've taken the pollution issue to every single person, which has caused considerable trouble for both the Delhi and central governments.”

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