‘Nepali’ man tonsured, forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ by Vishwa Hindu Sena

The Varanasi police have registered a case against Arun Pathak, convener of the Hindutva right-wing Vishwa Hindu Sena (VHS) for a video he posted on Facebook where members of the group reportedly tonsured a purported Nepali citizen and forced him to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and other raise slogans against Nepali PM K.P. Oli. The members of the group also wrote ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on the man’s scalp, The Hindu reported.

The video appeared after Nepalese PM K.P.Oli stoked a controversy saying that the ‘real Ayodhya’ was located in Nepal and not in Uttar Pradesh, India. However, the Nepal Ministry of Foreign Affairs had soon issued a statement saying the remarks made by PM KP Oli were not linked to any political subject and had no intention to hurt the feelings and sentiments of anyone or debasing the significance of Ayodhya and the cultural value it bears.

Soon, Pathak put up the said video on his Facebook profile in which the man was not only seen and heard praising Indian PM Modi, but also thanking India for providing a livelihood to people from Nepal.

In a post, Pathak not only expressed surprise as to why people were questioning the incident, especially when Nepal PM KP Oli had made a remark against the Ram Temple. He demanded the police stop calling him a criminal, claiming he was a social activist. He added that all this while he and his group hadn’t said anything when Nepal created a border issue with India or the Nepalese Army killed Uttar Pradesh soldiers, warning that if KP Oli didn’t apologise for his remarks, there would be a large scale agitation in the matter.  

Prior to this incident, it had been reported by News 18 that Nepali citizens in Varanasi had started receiving threats and that the VHS had also put up controversial posters on the walls of the Pashupatinath Temple. The poster read that if Nepal PM KP Oli didn’t take back his words, the consequences would have to be borne by Nepalese citizens in India.

The Varanasi police have registered a case against Pathak at the Bhelupur police station under Section 505 (2) (statement creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill will between classes), Section 295 (Injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and the IT Act.

It was also reported by The Tribune that Nepali Ambassador to India Nilambar Acharya called Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath to draw his attention to the video.

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