(Photo: Meghnad Bose/The Quint)
19 December 2021. Anti-Muslim hate speech event in Delhi’s Govindpuri.
3 April 2022. Anti-Muslim hate speech event at Delhi’s Burari.
4 September 2022. Anti-Muslim hate speech event at Delhi’s Badarpur.
9 October 2022. Anti-Muslim hate speech event at Delhi’s Dilshad Garden.
And this is not an exhaustive list. There have been several other such events in the national capital in the past couple of years.
Through the course of this article, we will take you through how the Delhi Police’s inaction may be enabling more such hate speech events to take place in the capital.
Let’s start with how the Delhi Police treated Sudarshan News chief Suresh Chavhanke with kid gloves while probing his call for violence during an event in December 2021.
When the Delhi Police Tried To Give a Free Pass to Suresh Chavhanke
Do you recall the viral video of Suresh Chavhanke administering an oath to make India a Hindu Rashtra at a December 2021 event in Delhi?
Here’s the video in case you don’t.
After probing the matter, the Delhi Police declared in its report to the Supreme Court in April 2022, “Nothing was said or done which could create an environment of paranoia amongst any religion, cast (sic) or creed.”
The police further said, “There was no hate speech against any particular section of the society or the community.”
Referring to the complainant, the Delhi Police noted, “We must practice tolerance to the views of others. Intolerance is as much dangerous to democracy as to the person himself.”
Displeased with the Delhi Police’s report, the Supreme Court asked the cops to file a better affidavit. Noting that the affidavit had been filed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police, the bench asked, “We want to know that the senior officer has understood the nuances of other aspects before filing this affidavit. Has he merely reproduced inquiry report or applied his mind? Do you want to take a relook?”
The affidavit had been filed by Esha Pandey, DCP Southeast Delhi.
Post the SC’s rap, the Delhi Police registered a fresh case against Chavhanke regarding the incident.
In the new affidavit, the police said that an FIR had been filed on 4 May 2022 under the following sections of the Indian Penal Code:
This story was originally published in thequint.com . Read the full story here