Protests against journalists being targeted, discussions on press freedom, round-tables on state of the media – this is what you’d probably expect from events that take place at a press club.
Instead, the Dehradun Press Club last week played host to a group of seers who, among other things, called for violence against Muslims.
“If Hindus want to save the women in your family, they should keep a good weapon with themselves, and learn how to use them,” said Yati Ramswaroopanand Giri at the event, to which “Sanatani Hindus were cordially invited”. “…Every person reading and believing the Quran becomes a terrorist.”
Ramswaroopanand, who is from the Shiv Shakti Dham in Ghaziabad’s Dasna, had tweeted an invitation to the event on September 10. It got no retweets or likes or any interactions at all, even though he tagged Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Uttarakhand department of information and public relations, and the “official Twitter account” of Uttarakhand news.
But videos from the event made their way to social media. A day later, the Dalanwala police took suo motu cognisance of the video and booked Ramrwaroopanand and a seer named Mahant Giri under sections 196 (promoting enmity) and 353 (public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Dehradun SSP Ajai Singh issued a video statement saying the FIR was registered after the videos were spotted online.
“The Supreme Court has issued guidelines for the police to register an FIR after coming across any incident of hate speech, so we have taken action accordingly,” he said. “We appeal to everyone to be safe from such videos and not like or comment on such posts. It’s against the Supreme Court’s order.”
But how did this happen on the press club premises?
https://x.com/RubikaLiaqat/status/1835582624305221931
This story was originally published in newslaundry.com. Read the full story here.
