Image courtesy: The Indian Express
In yet another instance of communally targeted speech at an event organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a speaker asked Maulvis (Muslim clerics) to “pack up their belongings”, hinting at an attempt to oust them from the region.
The incident occurred at a Trishul Diksha (trident distribution) ceremony organised by the VHP in Manesar, where VHP joint general secretary Surendra Jain reportedly made the remark in the presence of at least a hundred people including women and children, reported the Indian Express.
Jain was quoted by the publication as saying, “12-13 years ago, only three Muslim families had come to Bhora Kalan and sought permission to offer namaz at a land meant for grazing goats… there was an understanding that no maulvi or anyone from outside would come. But slowly, people from outside started coming… they took away bricks and tried to build a mosque. Koi apke ghar mein ghuskar masjid banaega, aap sweekar karoge? (Will you accept if anyone entered your home and built a mosque?)”
Jain was referring to the incident from a few days ago when a mob entered a mosque in Gurgaon’s Bhora Kalan area. According to him, the mosque, where renovation work was taking place, was actually engaging in an unauthorized expansion as part of a “land jihad” conspiracy.
He further said, “What happened in Bhora Kalan can happen tomorrow in Gurgaon, Manesar, Haryana and the country. They want to convert the whole nation… I want to congratulate the people of Bhora Kalan, who taught them a lesson.”
Jain then went on to target the Maulvis themselves saying, “I want to tell those maulvis, pack up your belongings or else the people of Manesar will not leave you… Ye Hindu rashtra tha, hai aur rahega. (This was a Hindu Rashtra and will remain so.)”
Jain also referred to punishment for people allegedly engaged in cow slaughter. He said, “In Mewat, cow slaughter is rampant, but police do not dare to take action. Unko saza dete hein, toh hamare Manesar ke Bajrangi… ghar mein ghus kar maarte hain. (They are punished by our Bajrangis from Manesar who enter their homes and beat them up.)”
He also tried to rile up listeners against namaaz, saying, “Ye namaz nahi fasad hai. Wo namaz nahi padna chahte, aatank failana chaahte hain. (It isn’t namaaz, it’s terrorism. They don’t want to offer namaaz, they want to spread terror.)”
It is noteworthy that this event comes exactly a week after another event, also organised by the VHP, where high ranking BJP leaders and Hindutva spiritual gurus had made a series of hate speeches. While BJP MP Parvesh Mishra called for a complete boycott of the minority community, and BJP MLA Nand Kishore Gurjar made disparaging remarks about mob lynching victim Mohammed Akhlaq of Dadri, Yogeshwar Acharya gave an open call to “chop off hands and heads” of Muslims, even as Mahant Naval Kishore encouraged people to bear guns – with or without licence.
Given the shocking impunity with which such hate speeches were made, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) moved the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) urging for their urgent intervention and demanding stringent action against all hate speech makers.
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