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Communalism Hate Speech Rule of Law

Bail not Jail for Bajrang Dal man, Bittu who posted a provocative video on day of Nuh clash

GURGAON: The Bajrang Dal member Raj Kumar alias Bittu Bajrangi, whose video, exhorting provocations, for the communal tension that blew up into a clash in Nuh on July 31, was booked in an FIR filed in Faridabad on August 1. He was taken into custody the next day and released on bail the day after, August 3.

Faridabad police sources however told The Times of India that Bittu (45), however, remained “under house arrest” with a team from the crime deployed at his residence.
The FIR is the latest in a long list of cases filed against Bittu in a month – 4 in Dabua, Mujesar and Saran police stations of Faridabad for controversial statements and social media posts, according to police sources. He has obtained bail in all of them.

The July 31 Facebook video, in which he is heard saying “phool mala taiyyar rakho (keep flowers and garlands ready)” and “tumhara jija aa raha hai (your brother-in-law is coming)” was, in a communally charged atmosphere, perceived as a dare and a reference to cow vigilante leader Mohit Yadav alias Monu Manesar.

All these hate posts that flowed online from members of two communities largely centred around the speculated presence of Monu at the religious yatra in Nuh. Bittu’s video was uploaded around an hour before the yatra on Monday and was widely circulated.

The day before, on July 30, Monu had also posted a video on his Instagram account, urging people to join the religious yatra in Nuh. Monu is one of the accused in the murder case registered in Rajasthan after the bodies of two men, Nasir and Junaid, were found inside a burnt Bolero in Bhiwani in February this year.

According to police sources, 22 FIRs for alleged hate speeches have been registered in Gurgaon, Nuh and Faridabad since the July 31 clashes. TOI had reported on three of these FIRs on Friday that have been filed against Shahid, Aadil Khan Mannaka alias Birjubhai and a Facebook page called ‘Shayar Guru Ghantal’. Another FIR was registered on Friday against Faridabad resident Sajid Qassar and two others for a video. The complaint was filed by a resident of Jawahar Colony who said he got the Facebook clip as a WhatsApp forward.

A Faridabad police spokesperson Sube Singh told TOI the FIR against Bittu was filed at Dabua police station on August 1 on the basis of a complaint by a cop under IPC section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief).

In the complaint, sub-inspector Satish Kumar said Bittu and others were “inciting religious animosity” and made statements “to hurt religious sentiments” of a community.
“He was arrested for questioning and at present he is ‘nazar band’. He has been asked not to leave the city while the investigation is under way,” the police spokesperson said.
A senior police officer said Bittu was granted bail because the offence has a jail term of less than seven years.

The 45-year-old, a bachelor, is involved in wholesale trading of vegetables at the Faridabad mandi and rents carts to vendors there. On his social media account, Bittu claims to run a ‘Bajrang Force’ that works for “cow protection”. He has earlier posted photos with Monu Manesar as well.

Speaking to TOI over a phone call on Friday, august 4, Bittu reportedly said that he posted the video on Facebook at 11.30am and had reached a temple in Nuh around 12.30pm on July 31. “How is it possible that in less than an hour of my video, thousands of people armed with deadly weapons assembled in Nuh and started rioting?” he asked, referring to the mob that attacked the yatra in Nuh.

He said his statements in the video were “answers” to clips on social media that threatened to teach him a lesson. “Many objectionable videos were uploaded from Nuh, but no one is talking about them,” he claimed.

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