Hindutva mascot Sangeet Som once again became the centre of controversy after supporters of the former Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Sardhana threatened to hold a demonstration demanding the immediate arrest of those responsible for an “objectionable video” of Som by March 29, 2022.
According to Indian Express, four men were arrested around March 27 for allegedly creating and sharing the video, Som’s lackeys have demanded the arrest of main-accused Atiqur Mohammed “within two days”.
Police said Mohammed scripted and published the video on Facebook on March 25. He apologised for this on the same website stating in a video that he was inebriated while posting the video on Sunday. He even called Som “MLA” even though the hate monger had lost to Samajwadi Party candidate Atul Pradhan with a massive 18,160 margin after losing the confidence of Muslims, Gurjars and Jats communities.
While the Telangana cloth vendor who posted the video is absconding, his father Irshad Mohammed, and three others – Aas Mohammed, Chandru and Vaaju – were arrested in connection with the case according to the Indian Express. In all this, the chief figures demanding action in the incident are members of the Sangeet Som Sena and not the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA himself. In fact, he is yet to issue a statement on the incident, said the newspaper.
The local police immediately responded to this video ridiculing Som although, it was comparatively lax when Som himself posted a video on March 13 – post-election time – where he called SP members “goons” and openly threatened them with “Baba ka bulldozer” and “Som ka danda” once Yogi Adityanath (Ajay Bisht) was sworn in again as the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister. Som also mentioned to a cheering crowd in the video how “some people” of the area were “influenced by other ideology” and voted against him. He “advised” them “to introspect”.
Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) is drafting a complaint against this video further mentioning how the video incited a clash between two groups on March, 14. The two groups had an old “election-related rivalry” that sprung back after the Assembly Elections. Due to Som’s video, there was stone-pelting, a rogue shot that reportedly did not harm anyone. However, 12 people were injured in the chaos.
Som’s true infamy however, stems from the communal riots in Muzaffarnagar in 2013 owing to his inflammatory and instigating hate speech video. More than 60 people were killed and 40,000 people were displaced at the time. It should be noted that Som was among the key-accused although the district court withdrew the case.
This year, he even allegedly barged into a polling booth, slapped the presiding officer. His supporters took away the CCTV cameras inside the booth, said media reports. Yet, he lost to Pradhan. Som was confident of retaining his position as the Sardhana MLA. His defeat marks the first win for the SP in the area.
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