Come Sunday, March 19, 2023, 5 p.m., and Sheetal Nagar, at the heart of Mira road city centre will see the kick off of a unique campaign launched by young citizens of Mira Road-Bhayander. Hundreds and thousands of post cards will be written ad dispatched to the elected representative of the locality, Geeta Jain, who sought the vote as an independent and is now hob-nobbing with the hate-mongers sponsored by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Ms Geeta Jain, after elections switched to the saffron fold. Her facebook posts show her assimilating and meeting a cross-cultural polity but when she participated in a hate event last Sunday, March 12, residents felt that the #HateVirus had struck!
Dear citizens of #MiraBhayandar* brace yourselves for some *not-so-happy news* today
Our beloved MLA, *Geeta Bharat Jain* has contracted a highly infectious and *dangerous virus that goes by the name of #HateVirus* . Unlike the #CoronaVirus, this nasty bug doesn’t just attack the body; it preys on the very *humanity* within.
But fear not, my friends! We are not giving up on Geetaji just yet. We can still show her that *we care and support her by sending her some #GetWellSoonGeetaJain cards and flowers.*
*Let’s shower her room with so much love and positivity that even the virus will have to retreat in defeat!*
To all the amazing folks of *#MiraBhayandar* who voted for Geetaji and her *#9AdhureVachans*, let’s rally together and show our MLA some much-needed love and support.
*With our encouragement and backing, our MLA can take on this virus and prove to the world that love and positivity always win over hate and negativity*
So, let’s *get those pens and papers out, and write those #GetWellSoonGeetaJain messages with all our wit and humor. And don’t forget to send some gorgeous flowers too, because nothing cheers up a sick person like some colorful blooms!*
*#haqhai*
*#nafratmuktmirabhayandar*
*#HateCannotWin*
*#GetwellSoonGeetaJain*
https://www.facebook.com/
*#GetWellSoonGeetaJain* Campaign. Let’s show Geetaji how much we care!
Add your name and share widely. *Let’s fight #Hate with #Harmony,#Brotherhood & #Love*
It is this event held by the ‘Hindu Jan Akrosh Morcha’ in Mira Road on March 12, in which an outside speaker from Gujarat Kajal Hindustani was invited as chief hate guest that has triggered this concern-filled response. On Tuesday, March 14, political representatives and citizens submitted a memorandum to Commissioner of Police, Madhukar Pandey demanding prosecution of the hate mongers.
A delegation of citizens and representatives of political parties including the CPI (M), AAP and Shiv Sena(UBT) met the Mira-Bhayandar Vasai Virar police commissioner with a letter listing elements from the vicious hate speech by Kavita Hindustani in Mira Road on Sunday. The letter also requests the police commissioner to take action against the perpetrator of hate speech as well as the organisers of the ‘Jan Akrosh Morcha’. Among those who attended were Sadiq Basha of the CPI(M), Sukhdev Banbanci of the AAP and Sabby Fernandes of Shiv Sena (UBT). The letter has also been signed by representatives of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Details of the hate event that were covered by Sabrangindia may be read here. The “star speaker” Kajal Hindustani was clearly in fact advocating violence as a solution. It was also clear from such-like statements that a concerted attempt is being made by Ms Kajal Hindustani and the organizers of the Hindu Jan Akrosh rally to create divisions in the society, promote enmity among communities and disturb the rule of law in Mira-Bhayandar city. Calls for economic boycott of a community consistently create an atmosphere of fear in the city apart from being patently anti-constitutional.
BJP leader Nilesh Rane (Narayan Rane’s son), BJP’s Mira Bhayandar unit President Ravi Vyas and BJP MLA Geeta Jain were also present at this event attended by wide sections of the media including Sabrangindia. Rane called for anti-conversion law in Maharashtra on the lines of other BJP states and Vyas justified the concept of ‘Land jihad’ as being real, citing two alleged incidents of land encroachment.
Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) has been through a series of interventions with NBDA (National Broadcasting Digital Authority) and in the series of hate busters it has created pointed out and analysed how the term ‘Jihad has been twisted and manipulated by the far right to signify a series of “underhand” acts by Indian Muslims laced with conspiracy. It began with a series of electronic media (read commercial television broadcasts on India Today and Zee News in March 2020 when terms like “Corona Jihad” etc were concocted and sought to gain legitimacy.
Following the memorandum to the commissioner of police on Tuesday, this citizens campaign by all citizens of Mira Road- Bhayander to gently remind their elected rep, MLA that ‘hate” is a virus that needs to be shed, is a strong assertion by the citizenry of Constitutional values and the rule of law. Maharashtra has seen a spate of such hate events/rallies since December 14, 2022.
Related:
Maharashtra: Vitriolic speaker from Gujarat calls for economic boycott of Muslims in Mira-Bhayandar