On April 24, Kajal Shingla, alias ‘Kajal Hindusthani,’ a Gujarat resident who purports to be working for the cause of ‘Hindu human rights’ was been booked by the Vashi police station for delivering a hate speech a Hindu Jan Aakrosh Morcha rally in Vashi. On February 26, 2023, the aforementioned rally had been organised by the Sakal Hindu Samaj to push communal agendas and put pressure on the state government to pass legislation to deal with ‘Love Jihad,’ (‘forceful conversion’), cow slaughter, and ‘illegal encroachment on Hindu land’. It is during the same rally that open calls for an economic boycott of the Muslim community were made.
A First Information Report (FIR) has now been filed by the Maharashtra Salokha Samiti against Hindusthani. In the FIR, the complainants have provided the details of the speech given by her, which is as follows: “Now here he was selling apples with a bag. I really want to get down from the stage and see his Aadhaar card whether the seller is Abdul or Ajay. Small things have to be taken care of. There is a vegetable market next to it and Oh Abdul listen, my Hindu brother is boycotting you.”
The complaints, both women, have also highlighted the other statements made by Hindusthani with the aim of creating a religious divide and religious bias, such as “Tu Kali Ban, Tu Durga Ban, Kabhi Na Burkhewali Ban (become goddess Kali, goddess Durga, but never become a burkha donning woman)”. As emphasized by the complainants, Hindusthani has delivered the said anti-Muslim hate speech with the intention of insulting a certain religious group, creating hostility, hatred and divisiveness, which has the potential to hinder national unity and harmony.
Hindusthani has been booked under section 153A (promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, language, etc.), 153 B (Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 295A (acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
When the SabrangIndia team contacted the police inspector in-charge of investigating this matter, the office provided that no action has been taken yet.
The FIR can be accessed as follows:
At the mentioned rally, Hindusthani was a keynote speaker. As had been previously reported by the Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), she had made misleading and distinctly Islamophobic statements, “In Navi Mumbai, land jihad has become so prevalent that today 25 Bangladeshi Muslims live in one room.” Making an unconstitutional call, urging people to boycott Muslim vendors, Hindusthani claimed that they (Muslims) have taken over our produce and fruit markets. I want you to repeat after me: “We, the people of Maharashtra, will boycott them economically.”
“I urge you to question your Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation,” she said, citing the ‘illegal’ construction of eight dargahs in APMC fruit market, as well as dargahs near Ghansoli and at several Navi Mumbai stations, as was reported by the Indian Express. Provoking people to damage public properties, she said that “only when the women of our households come out and question the authorities will Navi Mumbai be free of them. Do they seek permission to build illegal dargahs? So why do you need permission to demolish their property?”
Continuing with her communal diatribe, Hindusthani had instigated her Hindu audience to not rent or sell their spaces to them. She further added that if this is happening in your neighborhood, form an association with rules stating that anyone who is not an idol worshipper should not be rented or sold a flat.
It is essential to note here that on April 13, a Gujarat court had granted bail to Hindustani, who had been sent to judicial custody for 14 days for allegedly delivering a hate speech during the Ram Navami celebrations that led to communal clashes in Gujarat’s Una on April 1.
She was arrested April 9 on a Sunday morning, after she had surrendered at the Una police station. A FIR had been registered against Kajal on April 2 under sections 295A, 153A and 505 of the IPC.
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