The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Maharashtra government to give permission for a rally organised by Hindutva organisations on February 5 in Mumbai only if it could be ensured that no hate speech will be made at the event, Bar and Bench reported.
A bench of Justices KM Joseph and JB Pardiwala also asked the state government to do video recording of the “Hindu Jan Akrosh Sabha” event and submit a copy of it to the court.
“If permission is granted, it will be subject to the condition that nobody will make any hate speech in defiance of law and in violation of public order,” the court said in its order.
The court was hearing a plea filed by one Shaheen Abdullah, who sought to ban the event by Sakal Hindu Samaj – an umbrella body of Hindutva organisations. Abdullah argued at a rally held by the body on January 29, hate speeches were made against the Muslim community.
Several Bharatiya Janata Party leaders – including the party’s Mumbai unit President Ashish Shelar, Maharashtra MPs Gopal Shetty and Manoj Kotak and former MP Kirit Somaiya – had attended the rally on January 29. Several leaders of the Shiv Sena faction headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also took part in the event.
One of the speakers at the event, Telangana MLA T Raja Singh, had urged Hindus to boycott goods from shops run by Muslims. The attendees had also called for laws against “love jihad” and religious conversions.
“Love jihad” is a debunked Hindutva idea that Muslim men lure Hindu women into romantic relationships in order to convert them to Islam.
In the past three months, the Sakal Hindu Samaj has held similar rallies in over 20 districts of Maharashtra.
At the hearing on Friday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared on behalf of the Maharashtra government, opposed the plea and accused the petitioner of selectively taking up issues, reported PTI.
He questioned why the petitioner was concerned about an event in Maharashtra despite being a resident of Kerala.
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