Calls to ‘kill’ Muslims in hate speeches delivered at events in Haridwar, Delhi

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In two separate incidents within a week, members of right-wing groups delivered inflammatory speeches and administered oaths, threatening to kill Muslims to make the country a Hindu nation.

The first event took place in Haridwar, where, during a three-day hate speech conclave organised by Hindutva leader Yati Narsinghanand from December 17 to 19, multiple speeches were made against Muslims. On December 19, in Delhi, another event was organised by right-wing group Hindu Vuya Vahini, where the members were seen taking an oath to "fight, die and kill, if required to make this country a Hindu rashtra".

BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay, who was earlier involved in organising a rally in Delhi's Jantar Mantar, where anti-Muslim slogans were chanted, was also present at the conclave in Haridwar.

Inciting violence against the Muslims, Yati Narsinghanand, the organiser of the Haridwar event, said, "Economic boycott will not work. No community can survive without picking up weapons, and swords won't work, they look good only on stages. Hindu groups need to update weapons, only they can protect us."

"If you want to finish them off, then kill them... We need 100 soldiers who can kill 20 lakh of them to win this," said Annapurna Maa, Mahamandleshwar of Niranjini Akhada and General Secretary of Hindu Mahasabha.

Another seer Dharamdas said he would have "followed the footsteps of Nathuram Godse to shoot former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh". He was referring to
Singh's statement in Parliament in 2006, where he had said minorities must have the first claim on resources of the country.

All India Trinamool Congress leader and RTI activist Saket Gokhale filed a complaint with the SHO at the Jwalanagar police station in Haridwar against the organisers and speakers at the three-day event. The complaint has been filed against Yati Narsinghanand, the organizer of the ‘Dharma Sansad', Sagar Sindhu Maharaj, Dharamdas Maharaj and Premanand Maharaj, for making "inflammatory and provocative speeches, inciting violence" against the Muslims.

In Delhi, the communally charged oath was administered by Sudarshan News Editor-in-Chief Suresh Chavhanke, reported The Scroll. People present at the event said, "We take an oath and make a resolution that till our last breath, we will fight, die for and if need be, kill, to make this country a Hindu rashtra and keep this country a Hindu rashtra."

"Lions and Lionesses of Hindu Yuva Vahini taking the oath of Hindu Rashtra with me", Chavhanke said in the video posted on Twitter. He had also tagged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Criticising the act, the Youth Congress took to Twitter and asked if the communal speech fell under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Two former defence chiefs too condemned the incendiary speeches and called for action against hate-mongers. Retired admiral Arun Prakash, former Chief of Naval Staff, said in a tweet: "With our jawans facing enemies on two fronts, do we want a communal blood-bath, domestic turmoil and international disgrace?"

Retired Gen Ved Prakash Malik, former chief of Army Staff, said such events "disturbed public harmony and affected national security".

AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, who asked party president in Uttarakhand to file a complaint against the Haridwar assembly, referred to India being party to Genocide Convention 1948, under which incitement to genocide is a crime, and asked if it was time to join the International Court of Justice so that "crimes against humanity such as genocide, ethnic cleansing and their incitement do not go unpunished".

After videos of Narsinghanand went viral, the Uttarakhand Police on Thursday filed an FIR against "Wasim Rizvi alias Jitendra Narayan Tyagi" and others involved.

An FIR was registered under Section 153A of the IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) related to the statements made at Haridwar event.