NEW DELHI – Calls to murder Muslim men and abduct women were made from yet another ‘Hindu Mahapanchayat’ in the north-Indian state of Haryana.
On July 4, a large “Hindu Mahapanchayat” was attended by thousands of Hindutva supporters in Haryana’s Pataudi. This is the second Mahapanchayat organized in Pataudi in less than two weeks. Notably, a series of mass assemblies in the form of “Hindu Mahapanchayats” were organized in parts of Haryana, particularly in districts with large Muslim populations and people from Delhi NCR and Western Uttar Pradesh joined these assemblies. The agenda of the Mahapanchayat at Pataudi, like before, covered anti-Muslim conspiracies like, “Love Jihad”, “Land Jihad”, “peer Jihad” and “Population Jihad”.
The crowd for the Mahapanchayat was mobilized through social media appeals by prominent Hindutva leaders.
Militant Hindutva leader and Jamia shooter Rambhakt Gopal appeared in a Facebook live video with one RB Gurjar, who had also made a video calling upon Hindus to mobilize in favour of the accused in Asif’s case in May 2021.
Asking the youth to attend the Mahapanchayat in large numbers, Gopal said, “In the honour of our daughter and sisters we have to answer in the language our enemy understands.”
“This action needs a proper reaction. We have to smash the heads of the ‘Love Jihadi’ snakes,” Gopal said.
A day later, Rambhakt Gopal led a mob of hundreds of men into the Ramlila ground, the venue of the Mahapanchayat. They were chanting slogans ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Mullo ka na Qazi ka, Ye Desh hai Veer Shivaji Ka.’
At the event, he delivered a speech asking Hindus to take revenge by abducting Muslim women. He asked, “Can’t we abduct a ‘Salma’?”
“When Muslims will be murdered, they will shout Ram Ram,” he said in his speech, which has since gone viral on social media.
Gopal had made equally incendiary speeches at the previous Mahapanchayat in Indri as well, in which he called upon Hindus to assemble in support of the accused in the lynching case.
“A eunuch named Asif has been killed because of his deeds. Look at Hindu unity. We won’t even spare your unborn if our sisters’ honour is touched,” he had said in the Facebook live.
Suraj Pal Amu, BJP Haryana spokesman and Karni Sena president, who while referring to Asif Khan had asked at the Indri Mahapanchayat, “Should we not even murder them now?” was also a star speaker at the Pataudi event. He made several hateful anti-Muslim remarks, which are now going viral in Hindutva networks and social media.
This time around, Amu allegedly called for the demolition of a mosque by its foundation. He also referred to Muslims as Pakistanis and demanded their eviction from India and said, “Agar Bharat hamari mata hai, toh Pakistan ke hum baap hain, aur ye Pakistani… ko hum yahan ke gharon mein kiraye par makan nahin denge… Inko is desh se nikaalo, yeh prastaav paas karo (If India is our mother, then we are the father of Pakistan. We will not give houses here on rent to the Pakistani. Remove them from this country, pass this proposal),” reported The Wire.
In 2017, Amu’s name surfaced in the news when members of his group Karni Sena launched violent protests against the makers of the film Padmavat. Amu had even announced a bounty of Rs 10 crore on the head of the filmmakers and was charged under Section 120 (criminal conspiracy) for widespread violent protests.
Making a communal dig at actor Saif Ali Khan, he added, “Agar desh ke andar itihaas banana chahte ho, itihaas banna nahin hai, itihaas banana hai, na Taimur paida hoga, na Aurangzeb Babar Humayun paida honge, hum sau crore hain, aur wo bees crore hain (If you want to make history in the country, if you don’t want to become history, neither will Taimur be born, nor will Aurangzeb, Babur, Humayun be born. We are 100 crores, and they 20 crores.)”
“Wo mooche kaat lete hain aur hum gala kaat dete..” (They trim moustaches, we slit throats).” He then asked the crowd, “Hum unko chun chun kar thokenge ki nahi (Should we not identify and shoot them)?” The mob responded, “thokenge (Shoot them).”
Manu Manesar, a Gau-rakshak and Bajrang Dal leader was introduced by the host as someone “who shoots and gets shot while protecting cows.” Manesar’s solution to the ‘Love Jihad’ issue was more direct. He suggested that Muslim men who commit ‘Love Jihad’ should be murdered. He sought a list of ‘Love Jihadis’ to be killed by his team. He also referred to the “big brother” who would save them afterwards.
Amu and other speakers pointed out how at the previous Mahapanchayat in Indri, they had advocated the release of the accused in the lynching of Asif Khan, a gym trainer from Mewat. He celebrated the fact that some accused have been let off on bail.
Shockingly, the police have failed to act despite these repeated calls of mass murder of Muslims. The Indian Express reported that the police are waiting for a formal complaint to book the hate mongers. Meanwhile, the police are yet to investigate the hate speeches at the previous Mahapanchayat.
Pertinently, the police is duty-bound to take cognizance of such grave offences even if no one files a complaint. This was pointed out by Supreme Court lawyer, Anas Tanvir, who wrote on Twitter: “Hey @gurgaonpolice, people are afraid of these elements and are not coming forward to file FIR. People in this Mahapanchayat have committed cognizable offences u/s 153A r/w 34 and 120B. You’re duty-bound to file FIR as per CrPC and SC judgment in Lalita Kumari. You’ve power.”
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