Actress-politician Ramya faces sedition charge for Pakistan comments

Kannada actress-turned-politician Ramya, was in the midst of a controversy after comments she made in support of Pakistan following her return after attending a SAARC Young Parliamentarians Conference in the country.

Ramya

When quizzed by the media about her experience, Ramya is reported to spoken in favour of Pakistan and it's people, something that irked many in Karnataka including her fellow actors and politicians. She was also trolled for her comments where he apparently stated that, "Pakistan is not hell. People there are just like us. They treated us very well."

Ramya has since clarified that she made the comments in the spirit of promoting peace and welfare between India and Pakistan. Her comments have landed her in hot water as K Vittal Gowda, a lawyer, lodged a private complaint under Section 200 of Cr.Pc in the first JMFC court in Somwarpet against Ramya for praising Pakistan, accusing her of being "anti-national".

Additionally, activists of Yuva Bharat, a pro-BJP organisation in Mysuru, launched a postcard campaign urging Ms. Ramya to "shift to Pakistan".

Some have even opined that Ramya's comments were an apparent rebuttal against Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's recent comments against Pakistan.

33-year-old Ramya, who was born Divya Spandana, made her name as a leading actress in Kannada films. Although she has acted in Telugu and Tamil movies, Ramya is considered a star of Sandalwood, the Kannada film industry.

Ramya entered politics in 2011 by joining the Indian Youth Congress, and became a MP from Mandya constituency in Karnataka after winning the by-election in 2013. She was the youngest Member of Parliament in India at the time. Ramya again contested the Indian General Election from Mandya in 2014, but was defeated by C. S. Puttaraju by a margin of 5500 votes.