By Jignasa Sinha / Indian Express
IN NEW videos from the ‘Virat Hindu Sabha’ organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s local unit and other Hindu organisations on Sunday, the BJP MLA from Loni, Nand Kishor Gurjar, appears to acknowledge that he was involved in the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots. When contacted, however, he claimed he was speaking about the violence in Loni, Ghaziabad.
Several VHP and BJP leaders attended the event on Sunday, where speeches were allegedly made against the Muslim community. BJP MP Parvesh Verma was among the speakers who called for a “total boycott” of a community. On Monday, the Delhi Police registered a case against unnamed organisers.
“We took cognizance of the issue and registered an FIR under IPC Section 188 (disobedience to order lawfully promulgated by public servant). The organisers did not take permission from the police before conducting the event. We have initiated legal action,” said R Sathiyasundaram, DCP (Shahdara). So far, no speaker or organiser has been named in the FIR, with a senior police officer saying they are still looking at the video footage of the event.
On Sunday, several VHP leaders and BJP leaders attended the event, where speeches were allegedly made against the Muslim community. BJP MP Parvesh Verma was among the speakers who called for a “total boycott” of a community.
A Hindu majoritarian ruling party MP in Delhi calling his hundreds of supporters to economically boycott minority Muslims in India. pic.twitter.com/XkpLUkUUKN
— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) October 9, 2022
On Monday, several video clips emerged of Gurjar. In one, he is heard saying: “Hum log kisi ko chedte nahi, lekin humari behen-beti ko chede toh usse hum chodte bhi nahin… Delhi ke andar CAA pe danga hua. Tab ye jihadi Hinduon ko maarna shuru kiye. Toh aap log the… apne ghar mei ghusa diya. Humare upar aarop laga diya ki hum 2.5 lakh log Delhi mein leke ghuse. Hum to samjhane ke liye gaye the, lekin hum par police ne mukadma darj kar diya ki humne jihadiyo ko maarne ka kaam kiya. Hum jihadiyo ko maarenge. Hamesha maarenge.”
The meeting was organised to protest against the killing of a man, identified as Manish, who was stabbed over 20 times as he was returning home in East Delhi’s Sunder Nagri last week. Six people, identified as Sajid, Aalam, Bilal, Faizan, Mohsin and Shakir, have been arrested in the case. Police had said the incident was the fallout of an old rivalry.
Referring to the incident, Gurjar can be heard saying: “This should not happen again. For the next plan, we will bring 50,000 men from Loni. It’s not a big deal. 50,000 men from Loni will come for you. They came before as well… whenever Delhi needs. Because we don’t think of Delhi as a different (entity).”
In his speech, Gurjar called Sunder Nagri “‘suar nagri” and said Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal should be booked under NSA (National Security Act).
“Dadri mein ek suar maara jaata hai gai kaatne waala Akhlaq, toh wahan saare ke saare, Rahul Gandhi se lekar Akhilesh aur Arvind Kejriwal, aise rote hain jaise inka damaad mar gaya ho… Delhi mein hatya mein… inka muh nahi khulta (When Akhlaq is killed for cutting a cow in Dadri, Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh and Arvind Kejriwal cry like their son-in-law has died. But for the murder in Delhi, they are silent),” Gurjar can be heard saying.
Meanwhile, the organisers said they had informed the police about the event. “The police haven’t approached us yet but the FIR holds no merit. We did take their permission and informed them about the speeches and speakers. This was not a closed event and invites were also sent. The police were present throughout the event. Many police personnel were there. How can it be illegal?” said Indrajeet Singh, VHP’s state head of electronic media.
Reacting to Gurjar’s speech, Y Sathish Reddy, social media convenor of TRS Party, posted a tweet saying, “BJP MLA Nand Kishore Gujjar openly admits his participation in Delhi mass violence! Would BJP dare to take any action on him?”
Gurjar, meanwhile, said he was not speaking about the Delhi riots but about the violence in Loni. “My fight is not against Muslims but against those who are killing Hindus every day. I was not talking about riots in Delhi. I was talking about the Loni area and how we united to fight against jihadis. I stand by my statement. I am ready to take 50,000 men to Delhi if something happens and will attack these jihadis,” he said, without elaborating on the alleged incident.
This article first appeared in indianexpress.com