Will UP manage to stop communal events planned by hate offenders?

If posters, and social media announcements are to be believed, grand plans are afoot in Uttar Pradesh, to hold Hindutva meetings, even if they do not get police or administrative permission.

A meeting has been called on Eid by hate speech maker Prabodhanand Giri, who shot to global infamy when he called for the ‘ethnic cleansing of minorities’ at a hate conclave in Haridwar that had been titled as ‘Dharam Sansad’ or Religious Parliament.

Giri repeated his hate words in Uttarakhand, but the Supreme court thwarted all attempts at organising another hate assembly in the state after putting the Roorkee administration on alert.

Now Giri, who claims to be close to UP Chief Minister Adityanath, flaunting on Facebook his photos with the monk-politician, has also shared poster space with the latter. The poster announces a public invite to a Hindutva event called by Hindu Raksha Sena on May 3, at a farm house in Ghaziabad. The poster makes it look like the CM himself has ‘blessed’ this event, which if it follows the past event organised by Giri and his followers, may well turn out to be another communal stage for anti-Muslim, anti-Christian hate speeches.

There is another event announced by Swamy Kalicharan a.k.a Kalicharan Maharaj, alias Abhijit Dhananjay Sarag, on May 8 in Ghaziabad. He had been previously arrested for making derogatory comments against Mahatma Gandhi, at the Raipur Dharm Sansad. He, along with hate monger Narsinghanand, will launch a “Har Ghar Geeta, Har Haath Gandiv (a Geeta in every home, and bows and arrow in all hands)” campaign to arm Hindutva followers with weapons in the guise of religion.

Kalicharan Maharaj who was arrested for his hate speech and for abusing Mahatma Gandhi in Raipur Dharm Sansad, will be in Ghaziabad on 8 May. Yati Narsinghanand and Kalicharan will start a campaign “Har Ghar Geeta, Har Haath Gandiv (Bows & Arrows)”. Another hate assembly! pic.twitter.com/ch9ilDZv3l
— Kaushik Raj (@kaushikrj6) May 1, 2022

However in the first case of the event to be held at Ghaziabad on Eid Day, the police have said no such permission has been given. “The organisers of the owner of the venue have not sought permission, and action will be taken against them according to the law,” said the police. Police also said that action was likely to be taken against the organisers for using the CM’s photo on the poster without permission.

इस संबंध में एसीपी-2 सेंट्रल नोएडा द्वारा दी गई बाइट। pic.twitter.com/u4PeoyVCSo
— DCP Central Noida (@DCPCentralNoida) May 1, 2022

It is yet to be seen if the Hindutva groups plan to ignore the police warnings and action and go ahead with their plans to hold their meeting on Eid and the days that follow.

Last week, in Hashimpura, Meerut, hatemongers had vowed to use religion to unleash unrest this week. Here an on-duty policeman was seen in a viral video trying to maintain peace and harmony in his jurisdiction even as he was openly threatened by one Kamal Dutt Sharma a local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ‘leader’ from Meerut. Inspector (Civil Line) Ramesh Chandra Sharma was seen and heard trying to reason with him that it is a communally sensitive area, and is the month of Ramzan. The inspector said, “Any unauthorised jagran (community prayers), or public prayers without permission” cannot be held in the city.