Hyderabad: As many as 41 handles on X, including Siasat.com, received notices from the Telangana Police through the social media platform to delete the video of a school principal in Nizamabad district’s Armoor allegedly being assaulted by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders for “teaching Urdu” to students – a clear hate crime by all accounts. The police cited “disturbing public order” in doing so.
Siasat.com has only reported this as a news story – no opinion and based on information shared by the police and the accused in question. However, when we get a notice to remove such videos, this not only infringes on the freedom of press but also brings into question why the Telangana Police is trying to suppress the communal incident, even as the news has become a national talking point.
In a notice to X, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Telangana Police R Bhaaskaran said, “It is brought to your notice that certain videos, photographs, posts, and related digital content concerning a communal incident at Armoor, Telangana, are presently being circulated and amplified on your platform, thereby disturbing public order and creating a serious likelihood of communal tension, unrest, and breach of peace.”
The DIG directed X to “remove, disable access to, block and prevent further circulation” of the video, specifically sending the links to 41 such posts, including that of Siasat.com.
The Telangana Police said the notice was being under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, read with Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act removes “safe harbour” legal immunity for online intermediaries, such as X, if they fail to remove or disable access to “unlawful content.” Under Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules, intermediaries must remove or disable access to “unlawful information” within three hours of receiving the notice.
X, subsequently, flagged the notice to the 41 handles that were marked in the notice. These include news platforms, journalists, fact-checkers and activists, with many questioning why the notice has been served in the first place.
A group of over 10 people associated with BJP stormed a private school in Nizamabad’s Armoor on June 27 and assaulted the school principal of Bharat Chandra School, Amer Khan, for teaching Urdu to students. The BJP leader attacked Khan in the presence of police personnel, alleging that their children were taught “Urdu songs,” “kalma,” “had Urdu writings in their books” and noticed “behavioural changes.”
Speaking to Siasat.com, Armoor Station House Officer (SHO) Satyanarayana said that a case has been registered against BJP town president, Balu, and others for intimidation, trespassing and assault.
A case has also been registered against the principal, Urdu teacher Huma and school correspondent Mallaiah “for teaching Urdu without permission.” They have been charged under Section 196 (promoting enmity between different groups) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Ironically, Khan said he teaches English and was not the instructor for the Urdu classes. He told the Indian Express that the decision to introduce Urdu as a second language was taken by the school management, which, according to him, is headed by Hindus.
“The management decided that Urdu could be offered as a second language because around 25 per cent of the students are Muslims, and several Muslim parents had requested that the language be introduced,” Khan said.
In a complaint lodged with the Armoor Police, school correspondent Mallesh said no religious instruction was ever imparted. “The students were only taught the Urdu alphabet for two days. There was no question of teaching any religious texts,” he said.
For an incident that has become all too common for Telangana, which has seen an uptick in communal violence in recent months, bringing such events to light becomes the responsibility of the press. We are not “creating a serious likelihood of communal tension, unrest and breach of peace”; we are doing the exact opposite. We are showing how far the rot of communal divide has seeped into a state that was once considered safe for people of all faiths.
Some of the social media handles which received the notice from X include The Observer Post, Hate Detectors, fact-checker Zubair and journalist Revathy Pogadadanda, Mannam Chinna and Kethireddy Tarun. Some others are activists.
Many of them have said they will not delete the video, and we at Siasat.com are standing with them and echoing the same – we will not delete the video. “I would never delete a tweet unless someone is affected by it. Takedown notices have become a fear tactic of the police. I don’t think they can legally do anything about it. It is an arm twisting tactic,” said independent journalist Pogadadanda, who received the notice on X at 6:45 pm on Monday, June 29.
“This is not the first time I am getting this notice; I get it at least once every two weeks. Almost are all related to any posts about communal incidents,” said Pogadadanda, adding that what the police doesn’t understand that is by silencing, these stories spread faster and create more trouble.
Siasat.com also tried contacting the Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) CV Anand multiple times to understand why the video of Amer needs to be removed in the, but did not receive a response at the time of filing this story. When we asked Armoor SHO Satyanarayana why the notices were sent, he said it could probably be due to the communal nature of the incident.
As a responsible news outlet, we have the duty to bring communal incidents to light, even and especially when it is inconvenient. We hope the Telangana Police understands this.
This post was last modified on June 29, 2026 6:13 pm