On May 10, Citizens for Justice and Peace complained to the Superintendent of Police, Jalgaon and the SDPO Jalgaon (Division) to register a complaint against the two hate speeches during a Hindu Rashtra Jagruti Sabha event organized by Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS) in Dharangaon, Jalgaon, Maharashtra. The event was held on April 30, 2023. In the said speech, the speakers had made incendiary and inciteful speeches, and said derogatory statements, through which they had specifically targeted Muslims.
In the said complaint, CJP had highlighted that the communal and hate spewing speech delivered by the two unknown hate speakers, one man and one woman, promoted a hard, right-wing, exclusionist ideology, through which he has targeted and othered the Muslim Community. At this event, the speakers had indulged in peddling various conspiracy theories to generate hate towards Muslims and called for establishing a ‘Hindu nation’, made misinformed and offensive claims against the minority community and their culture. The said speakers had even made open calls of violence against the Muslim community too.
With an aim of spreading social disharmony and fear-mongering, the woman speaker can be heard misinformed statements, furthering the Hinduvaadi love-jihad agenda, and saying, ““It’s time for women to awaken their patriotism. Every day there are crimes against women (rape etc.) and Hindu women are being slaughtered in love jihad. In this country crimes against women are increasing…Every day at least 84 rapes on women. Today everyone should learn self-defence. Hindus are not safe. Until when will we bear with this? Instead of dying at their hands, it is time to kill these love jihadis. Because it our right under the law.”
The male speaker made the following statement: “In India, crores have the faith that Ram was born in Ayodhya. “Ram mandir jhaki hai Kashi Mathura baki hai” slogans are raised because even where Krishna was born, there are illegal structures.”
Through the complaint, CJP highlighted that the two speakers from HJS were following the patterns of their extremist peers, giving fire to the unsubstantiated, untrue and provoking claims of a “Love-Jihad agenda”. The complaint emphasised that the speakers have even brought in the issue of Hindu woman being under the threat, substantiating the same with the help of made-up statistics. Relying on the recent judgments of the Supreme Court in the complaint, stringent action was then urged as such expression of targeted and extreme hate with a clear communal objective to establish religious hegemony upon a community that is already a minority in numbers in the country, is deplorable and against the constitutional values that we uphold as citizens of this country. Additionally, such speech and hate content has the direct potential to cause physical and mentally bodily harm to marginalized groups, their women and render their already insecure life further eroded of dignity and equality.
In the complaint to the Jalgaon police, CJP had sought swift and stringent action against the two speakers and the extremist organisation of HJS under certain sections of the IPC in view to the overall unsafe atmosphere for the Muslim community that is being generated through the systemic and the perpetrated use of hate speech and writing within the country.
After sending the complaint via email and registered post, Citizens of Justice and Peace took the initiative to follow up with SP M. Rajkumar on a phone call, to which he said that he will look into the matter.
The entire complaint can be read here:
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