The Virat Hindu Sabha organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) at Dilshad Garden in New Delhi on Sunday October 9 is fast turning out to be as controversial as the 2021 Haridwar Dharm Sansad. After a series of speeches made by political and hardline Hindutva spiritual leaders targeting the minority community went viral on social media, the Delhi Police had filed a First Information Report (FIR) under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code against the organisers, saying they had not sought proper permissions from the police.
But VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal has now shot down the police’s claims and was quoted by The Hindu as saying, “The FIR against us is laughable as several policemen were present at the venue. We had all the permissions.” Bansal further told NDTV, “Let alone permission, we fixed the venue at Ramleela Ground in Dilshad Garden after suggestion and recommendation from senior police officers. We earlier had planned to hold the gathering near Manish’s house but on the request of the police changed it to Ramlila Maidan.”
This suggests that the FIR is just an eyewash, especially given how police have not taken any action against any of the people who had made hate speeches at the venue. This despite the fact that videos of all these hate speeches have gone viral on social media.
The VHP by its own admission had organised the event in response to the killing of a man named Manish in Delhi’s Sunder Nagar area on October 1. According to the Indian Express, Manish was stabbed 20 times in the attack and his assailants have been identified as Sajid, Aalam, Bilal, Faizan, Mohsin and Shakir. Thus, their names clearly give away their religious identity. In its press release, the VHP also claimed Hindus had become a minority in the area, and that groups engaged in religious conversion were active there.
This story was originally published in sabrangindia.in . Read the full story here
