New Delhi: A group of rights organisations and concerned citizens have written to senior officials in the Thane police about “communal and hate spewing speeches” made at a Hindu Janjagran Dharam Sabha event on April 30 organised by the Sakal Hindu Samaj in Mumbra, Thane, Maharashtra.
“Many speakers were seen participating in the said event, espousing a hard, right-wing, exclusionist ideology, and can be seen delivering incendiary and inciteful speeches through which they had specifically targeted Muslim citizens and community of our country,” the organisations’ letter states.
Videos of these hate speeches, the letter continues, have gone viral on social media, and at least five provocative speeches made at the event can be found online. “We would like to bring your attention to these instigating speeches, urging you to take stringent action against the perpetrators, as if these hate-driven speeches are left unchecked, the peace and harmony of our country will be affected direly,” the letter-writers state.
To drive home their point, the organisations have pointed to recent orders of the Supreme Court against hate speech. “Such gatherings wherein egalitarian, divisive and stigmatizing words are uttered and mobs provoked violate both the fundamental rights guaranteed to all Indians under the Indian Constitution as are in violation of provisions of Indian criminal law. Articles 14, 15, 16, 21 and 25 of the Constitution stands violated. Provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) have also been violated,” the letter continues.
The letter also directly quotes sections of speeches made at the event where speakers call on Hindus to take up arms against Muslims, or where they peddle blatant falsehoods about the minority community. For instance, one Sadhvi Saraswati is quoted as saying, “In the name of religion, even if you have to kill for it or die for it, do not take a step back. Do buy a swords for Rs. 1000 and keep it at home, in case if anyone who follows any other religion and is a be-dharmi even dares to look at you.”
The signatories include the National Alliance for People’s Movements; Sanjeevani Kendra, Thane; Parcham, Mumbra; and the Citizens for Justice and Peace, Mumbai.
Read the full letter to the police below.
Complaint to Thane Police on the Sakal Hindu Samaj by The Wire on Scribd
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