An FIR was registered against journalist and author Rana Ayyub in Dharwad district of Karnataka for allegedly referring to anti-hijab protesters in Karnataka as 'Hindu terrorists' during a television interview. The FIR was registered under section 295 A (acts intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code after a complaint by Ashwath, a volunteer of the Hindu IT Cell, an organisation that claims to protect Hindus by legal means.

In his complaint, Ashwath claimed that Rana Ayyub called anti-hijab protesters in Karnataka 'terrorists' in an interview with the BBC. The complaint quoted Rana Ayyub as saying, "These girls have been wearing the hijab for a long time, so why suddenly has this group of young students, young terrorists for that matter, who are hoisting a saffron flag in an educational complex in Karnataka, why are male students holding a saffron flag in an educational institution, what does that mean?"

Though the complaint was sent to the police station on February 21, an FIR was registered only on Friday, March 4 at the Vidyagiri Police Station in Dharwad. The Hindu IT Cell had claimed that at least five similar complaints were filed against Rana Ayyub over her comments in the video. The video interview mentioned in the complaint is from a YouTube account called 'rana ayyub' and it was uploaded on February 10. In the video, Rana Ayyub is discussing the recent controversy over disallowing the hijab in educational institutes in Karnataka.

Responding to the FIR, Rana Ayyub took to Twitter to say, "Another case has been registered against me, in Karnataka, by the same Hindu right wing group, for ‘hurting Hindu sentiments’ in my interview on the Hijab ban and the intimidation of Muslim women. To the government and its cronies, THIS WONT STOP ME FROM SPEAKING THE TRUTH."

Last year, a co-founder of the Hindu IT Cell had filed a police complaint in Uttar Pradesh against Rana Ayyub accusing her of "illegally acquiring money from the general public in the name of charity". The complainant mentioned three relief campaigns on Ketto that were crowdfunded by Rana Ayyub.

An FIR was registered in the case, and the Enforcement Directorate last month locked assets worth over Rs 1.77 crore belonging to Ayyub.