Image Courtesy:thewire.in
Citizens for Justice and Peace, has written to the National Commission for Minorities to take cognisance of the vile and anti-minority statements made by one Vikas Sehrawat alias Malik Sehrawat, who is also a disciple of the hate spewing priest, Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati.
CJP has reported on a video uploaded by Vikas on his Facebook page on April 11, 2021, one day after he was released from jail on bail for uploading an incendiary video against politician Alka Lamba and calling for violence against Muslims in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. In the video uploaded on April 11, he abused Aam Aadmi Party leader Amanatullah Khan and NDTV’s renowned journalist Ravish Kumar. He added that he will charge five lakh rupees to kill Khan and make him disappear from the face of the Earth. He also said that he would shoot Ravish Kumar.
At the end of the said video, he also issued rape threats to women, commented on their body, abused them, made sexual gestures and also asked the Indian Muslims to go to Pakistan. CJP’s complaint mentions that Vikas was arrested and lodged in Dasna Jail, Ghaziabad on March 24, 2021 for his comments against Alka Lamba. In a video (that he uploaded around a week after his release from jail), he called Alka Lamba, a so-called sister of Mia Khalifa (a former porn actor). He also called her a chinaal (a slang word used to describe women as prostitutes) and justified it by saying that he did not incite people to kill her.
Further, he also spread misinformation about Lamba by stating that she is Alka Khwateen, and that she went to Jawaharlal Nehru University to attend the anti -CAA protests. In the video, he abused her for allegedly being seen in Chandni Chowk buying Burqas. Going a step further with his vile and sexually explicit remarks, he said that this is what Muslim women do- they wear Burqas and sleep with Maulanas.
CJP’s complaint reads, “After going to jail for close to 2 weeks, he was released on bail and without showing any remorse, he uploaded videos abusing and shaming Muslims (both men and women), with unabashed impunity. This shows the current state of affairs where legal action is taken lightly and people like Vikas Sehrawat perceive going to jail as a good deed in order to protect their “Hindu Rashtra”.”
In another video, which is in CJP’s possession, he openly issued death threats against Muslims and said that he had declared a war against them. He appealed to his audience that either they kill Muslims or die. In the same video, he asked his guru Yati Narsinghanand to trust him and not worry because he would “take care” of all Muslims.
Our complaint has also referred to another video where Yati Narsinghanand praised some of his disciples, including Vikas Sehrawat who was in jail at that time. He was recorded saying that they will make policies to end Islam Jihad (militancy), and such youth including Vikas, who will be released from jail soon, will work with new energy towards eradicating Jihad. We have also included his recent statement given a day before Eid on July 20, that he will destroy all mosques in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
The complaint seeks to show this ecosystem of hate where a serial staging of brazen attacks and the putting out of justifications for their activities is an escalating scale of absurdity. It states how the usual usage of words like mu**** and ka**** has become routine, facilitating hate and propaganda against the minority community. “We would just like to bring to your esteemed authority’s attention, this close nexus of such leaders/members of Hindutva group, who have been held earlier for illegal activities, and continue to spew hate against a particular community”, states the complaint.
It further lists down the various Indian Penal Code provisions that have been violated by Vikas, amounting to hate speech. We have also referred to the 267th Law Commission Report on Hate Speech that reads, “Hate speech has the potential of provoking individuals or society to commit acts of terrorism, genocides, ethnic cleansing etc. Such speech is considered outside the realm of protective discourse. Indisputably, offensive speech has real and devastating effects on people’s lives and risks their health and safety. It is harmful and divisive for communities and hampers social progress. If left unchecked, hate speech can severely affect the right to life of every individual.”
We have prayed before the National Commission for Minorities to take cognisance of the complaint under section 9(d) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 and direct the attendance of hate mongers like Vikas Sehrawat before the commission to examine such allegations under section 9(4)(a) of the Act, 1992. We have also urged the Commission to direct the DGP, Ghaziabad or any other appropriate authority to investigate the matter thoroughly, and register an FIR against such blatant hate speech.
The entire complaint may be read here:
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