Details of the incidents

Gujarat 

On April 15, Bhagirathsinh Rathod, founder of Ekta Aj Laksh Sangathan, delivered a communally charged speech in Kathlal, Kheda, indirectly accusing the Muslim community of engaging in stone pelting, and asking the young women audience to be wary of Muslim youngsters pursuing love jihad. The event was organised under the banner of “Samagra Hindu Sanatan Samaj”, purportedly celebrating “Ram Navami Mahotsav 2024”.

The excerpt from his speech reads, “If someone tries to meddle with our gods, faith, sisters, and cows,  we will respond back a brick with a stone. I warn (you), if this time some Jihadi minded people throw stones at our Shobha Yatra, then we will go the place from where he is throwing the stone, and we will throw him from that place.…though we do not disrespect any religion, we Sanatanis will not tolerate disrespect to our religion.…I repeat again, when you go to Navratri, see how do you look? You look like goddess Amba…(now) if some Mahishasur (demon) in the form of love jihadi comes to you, do not get trapped there, but tear his chest apart. We (all) are envisioning the Hindu Rashtra, therefore, we Hindus should not be fighting among ourselves over petty issues…we should aim to hold our unity together…”

Unnao

BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj gave the speech on April 17 at Bhagwantpur, Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, during which he propagated false conspiracy theory of population jihad by hinting that Muslim men have 4 wives and 40 children, thus requiring population control law to prevent overpopulation in the country.

An excerpt from his speech reads, “When next time the Prime Minister Modi returns to the power he will do two things, first is the law to regulate population. ‘We two, and our two’ (hum do, hamare do), or whatever else it may be, but in any case, it will not allow 4 wives and 40 children. The availability of land is reducing and population is increasing, where will (you) stay? what will (you) eat? where will (you) reproduce? That is the reason why we need the law on population control.  We cannot have two constitutions in the same country, we have shown that in Kashmir. We also need to have Uniform Civil Code, and we will do it. Once we get 400+ seats, then there will be no symbol of slavery in this country, and then you will feel that the country has got freedom.”

Shambhaji Nagar

On April 17, in an event organised at Shambhaji Nagar in Maharashtra, children and minors were found performing the song whose lyrics advocated expulsion of people who did not sing Vande Mataram. The involvement or deployment of minors in the propagation of hate has seen some rise in the recent years. Most recently in Uttar Pradesh, school teacher had used communal slurs and directed classmates to slap a fellow minor Muslim classmate for not performing well in the academics. 

The children in this incident can be found performing the song with the following lyrics, “…(You) will have to sing Vande Mataram (audience repeats) or else you will have to leave from here (audience repeats again). If (you) refuse to leave, we will forcibly remove you, we will show (you) your place (aukaat). Jai Siya Ram, Jai Siya Ram, Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, Jai Siya Ram, Jai Siya Ram.”

Amravati

On April 19, BJP Lok Sabha Candidate for Amravati Constituency, Navneet Rana, incited the crowd by saying that those who want to stay in India must chant Jai Shree Ram. 

Rana asks the crowd, “If you want to stay in India then…”, the audience responds back, (If you want to live in India then…) “you will have to say Jai Shree Ram”. Rana continues, “and you definitely have to say it (Jai Shree Ram)”. “Every kid has got aware about it, now Pakistan’s flag will not be tolerated in India, it will not be tolerated in Amravati.” “Those who love Pakistan…in my country only our flag will be hoisted, no other country’s flag will be tolerated by today’s youth”. 

As Rana retreats, another woman takes over the stage, telling the audience that cow slaughterers will go to hell, before the music starts playing in the background. The woman also incites the audience by referring to Kashi and Mathura (temple-mosque controversy), suggesting that they will meet similar fate as Ayodhya. The video shows that the crowd continues to cheer and dance to the beats of the music system while the woman adds to their frenzy with her own singing, suggesting religious and communal connotations as she begins singing to the beats of the loud speakers.

Chhattisgarh

On April 21, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was caught delivering a communally charged speech during his event in Rajnandgaon, Uttar Pradesh, where he used the familiar trope of Jihad, accusing the Congress of appeasement politics.

The excerpt from his speech reads, “Sisters and brothers, I ponder sometimes that even (our) mother cows were handed over to cattle smugglers and butchers, when jihadi activities were given free hand. What kind of incident had taken place with Bhuneshwar Sahu? I congratulate the public of Chhattisgarh for electing his father Ishwar Sahu as an MLA, paying a real tribute to Bhuneshwar Sahu. Bhuneshwar Sahu made only one mistake, that he opposed love jihad and Congress’s appeasement politics.”

Nashik

In a speech given by Harsha Thakur during an event organised by Sakal Hindu Samaj on 22 April at Budhwar Peth, Nashik, Maharastra, the speaker gave an open call to Hindu women to take up arms in order to protect themselves, with an ambiguous reference made against the Muslim community. 

The excerpt from the speech reads, “Learn to hold weapons in your hand, anybody can hide under Burqa. If you leave your religion, you will be found in 35 pieces, and then only fridge and suitcase will be discovered. Read Shaashtra (ancient literature) and take up the arms. Become staunch and loyal towards your religion.” 

Rajasthan

BJP leader Mahant Balaknath Yogi gave a speech in Sirohi, Rajasthan, on April 23, accusing the government of favouring a “particular” religious community while unfairly discriminating against Hindus. Mahant accused previous Congress government in Rajasthan of appeasement politics, noting that Hindus did not get a single rupee in compensation even while a cow smuggler’s family from a “particular” community received 25 lakhs in compensation by the former Rajasthan CM.

The transcript of the speech reads, “…The kind of activities that have taken place in Rajasthan in recent times, how the politics of appeasement was given a push. You must not have forgotten the Jaipur and Udaipur incidents, how somebody slit the throat of a Ram Bhakt. In Jaipur, a member from a particular community was killed in an accident, what right did they have to give Rajasthan’s 50 lakh rupees as a compensation? So many sisters and daughters have been disrobed of their respect, and many were brutally killed, but nobody got any money; on the other hand, particular community is getting paid 50 lakhs. Somebody killed a smuggler in Alwar, he was (actually) killed in other state, that is what people are saying. Chief minister had gone to his house, 10 cases of cow smuggling is registered against this person, and the chief minister gave his household 25 Lakhs…your former chief minister (gave it).” 

In a separate incident in Gurugram (Haryana), Bajrang Dal members were captured on record forcibly closing Muslim shops selling non-vegetarian food on Hanuman Janmotsav festival. The video of the incident was uploaded by Hindutva Watch on April 26 on its Telegram channel.

Related:

Elections 2024: The past fortnight of April 2024 saw the first phases of the Lok Sabha polls marred by repeat doses of hate speech

Ram Navami Celebrations 2024: Calls for mosque desecration, sword displays, and provocative slogans ignite tensions

Several instances of hate speech in March and April mar the election cycle, demonise religious minorities before the polls 

The post April: CJP’s hate watch campaign analyses several hate incidents reported across the country in the last week appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On July 16, 2022, a special court in Mumbai extended the National Investigation Agency (NIA) custody of seven men until July 22 in connection with the murder of a chemist from Amravati, reported LiveLaw.

Readers would recall that 54-year-old Umesh Kolhe, a chemist, had been allegedly killed for Whatsapp posts supporting Nupur Sharma, the now suspended spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who had made allegedly derogatory remarks about Prophet Mohammed on a television news debate. Two bike-borne assailants had slit Khole’s throat on June 21.

Though he was killed a week before Kanhaiya Lal, Khole’s murder received media attention only after the beheading of the Udaipur tailor. Khole’s son Sanket who was an eye-witness and riding with his wife Vaishnavi on a separate two-wheeler behind Khole, revealed that the assailants who had caused his father to fall off his vehicle and slit his throat, would have beheaded him, if Sanket hadn’t intervened. The investigation of the case was taken over by the NIA from the local police.

The seven accused are Muddasar Ahmad (22), Shahrukh Pathan (25), Abdul Taufiq (24) Shoaib Khan (22), Atib Rashid (22) and Yusuf Khan (32) and alleged mastermind Shaikh Irfan Shaikh Rahim who are book under sections 16,18 and 19 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and under sections 302, 120 B and 34 of the IPC.

It was the NIA’s case that the said issue would have “international ramifications” and that the act was done to “terrorise a section of society”. They reportedly further claimed that the victim had updated his Whatsapp status supporting Sharma who made derogatory remarks against the prophet, pursuant to which one of the accused, Dr. Yusuf Khan (member of the same Whatsapp group as the victim) allegedly asked him to remove his status. He then asked people to professionally ban Kolhe.

NIA sought the remand stating that they needed more time to investigate if the said incident had any connection to the brutal murder of a tailor in Udaipur. According to NIA, the perusal of case diary showed that this was a terrorist act.

Advocate Sharif Shaikh appearing for one of the accused, Muddasar Ahmed asked the NIA to establish how the public at large was affected and that this couldn’t be considered a terror act. He reportedly stated, “The sections have not been properly applied and they are giving a different colour to the incident.” He further submitted that there were not cogent grounds for further remand as the present incident was prior to the Udaipur incident.

Advocate Ali Kaashif Khan for most of the accused reportedly argued that this was merely a fight between friends and not a terror act. He claimed that at most it could be called a case of murder. He said the victim was also provoking the accused, reported LiveLaw. He further cited the Supreme Court observations about Nupur Sharma being responsible for communal violence that followed her remarks about the Prophet.

Related:

CJP’s Hate Hatao Campaign: A half-yearly report

Why is serial hate offender Ilyas Sharafuddin invited to TV news debates?

Indian Muslims condemn Udaipur beheading, demand justice for victim

One needn’t be member of a Terrorist Organisation to be prosecuted for a ‘Terrorist Act’: Karnataka High Court

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A day after Raza Academy called for a bandh in Maharashtra, to protest the persecution of Muslims and destruction of mosques in Tripura, some Hindutva groups too called for a bandh (strike) to protest the violence during Friday’s bandh. And just like on Friday, when the protests were far from peaceful, even the bandh on Saturday was marred with violence.

The Indian Express reported, “Hundreds of people, many of them holding saffron flags in their hands and raising slogans, came out on streets in Rajkamal Chowk area…”. There were incidents of stone pelting as well as shops being damaged in Amravati. Police resorted to a lathi charge to control the violent mob, and eventually a curfew was imposed in the area.

It appears that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supported this bandh. The Hindustan Times reported that violence took place in areas like Cotton Market, Rajkamal Chowk, Namuna and Jawahar Gate “when a massive morcha was taken out by the BJP workers.”

Yashomati Thakur, the Guardian Minister for Amravati, who is camping in the region to ensure peace prevails, tweeted in Hindi saying, “The situation in Amravati is coming back under control. I appeal to people to not believe in rumours. I also appeal to media channels to put a time code on their videos to show when they were recorded, so that they cannot be misused late to spread confusion or misinformation.”

अमरावती की स्थिती नियंत्रण में आ रही है। जनता से अनुरोध है की वो अफवाओं पर ध्यान न दें। मिडीयाकर्मीयों से अपिल है की वे अपने प्रसारण पर समय ज़रूर दर्ज करें ताकि लोगों में किसी भी तरह का संभ्रम पैदा न हो। शांति प्रस्थापित करना हमारी सर्वोच्च प्राथमिकता है, कृपया सहकार्य करें

— Adv. Yashomati Thakur (@AdvYashomatiINC) November 13, 2021

The Times of India reports that a total of 11 FIRs have been registered under various charges including rioting, in both matters so far, and 10 people have been arrested.

As SabrangIndia had reported previously, on Friday, in response to a bandh call given by Raza Academy, that describes itself as a Sunni Barelvi organization of Indian Sunni Muslims, and claims to promote Islamic beliefs through publications and research, a bandh was observed in many parts of Mumbai and Maharashtra. However, incidents of violence were reported from Amravati, Malegaon and Nanded. In Amravati, instances of stone pelting were reported from three spots between Chitra Chowk and Cotton Market.

The Police also issued a statement this evening asking people not to forward videos of violence, and to report to the police if they receive any such videos. It further warned people that it was an offense to forward videos that spread hate and incite violence. It also warned administrators of Whatsapp groups used to srpead rumours and hate filled videos that such offenses are punishable under the Information Technology Act. The entire communique by the Police may be read here in Marathi.

The curfew imposed on Saturday in Amravati has now been extended to four days. Prohibitory orders have been passed under sections 144(1), (2), (3) of the CrPc to avoid any untoward incidents. People have been advised not to step out of their homes unless there is a n emergency such as urgent need for medical attention. Assembly of five or more people has been banned during this period. Internet services have also been suspended for the next three days to control the spread of hateful videos and misinformation. 

Related:

Violence erupts in Maharashtra after bandh call by Raza Academy

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