New Delhi: A fresh plea has been filed in Supreme Court on Monday to ban anti-Muslim speeches and programmes like the ‘Dharma Sansad’ in Haridwar in Uttarakhand and in the national capital. The petition has been filed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind.
The petition demanded stern legal against those who allegedly threatened to massacre Muslims and said it was not just a matter of religion but of the Constitution, law, unity, and integrity of the country.
“Hate speeches and statements against Muslims have suddenly intensified in the country in recent times,” it said.
“Even the recent programmes held, under government’s nose, in Haridwar and Delhi have not only caused open provocations, but have also deliberately conspired to provoke the majority to massacre Muslims for the establishment of ‘Hindu Rshtra’, but unfortunately, no legal action has been taken in these two cases so far,” the petition said.
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president Maulana Arshad Madani said that the State and central law enforcement agencies have not fulfilled their duties, “which has created a very depressing situation in the whole country”.
“The silence of the central and state governments on the controversial speeches in the Dharma Sansad and elsewhere has added to the gravity of the situation,” he said in the petition.
The supreme court, meanwhile, on Monday agreed to hear another PIL seeking a direction to ensure investigation and action against those who made hate speeches during two separate events held recently at the ‘Dharam Sansad’ in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, and in the national capital.
A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal that no action has been taken against those who made the hate speeches despite the registration of FIR by the Uttarakhand Police.
The petition, filed by journalist Qurban Ali and former Patna High Court Judge and senior advocate Anjana Prakash, has sought a direction for “an independent, credible and impartial investigation” by a special investigation team (SIT) into the incidents of hate speeches against the Muslim community.
The plea, which specifically referred to the “hate” speeches delivered between “the 17th and 19th of December 2021 at Haridwar and Delhi”, has also sought compliance with the apex court’s guidelines to deal with such speeches.
The event in Haridwar was organised by Yati Narsinghanand and that in Delhi by the ‘Hindu Yuva Vahini’, and these allegedly called “for the genocide of members of a community”.
The Uttarakhand Police had filed an FIR on December 23, 2021, under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code against some persons including Wasim Rizvi, Sant Dharamdas Maharaj, Sadhvi Annapoorna alias Pooja Shakun Pandey, Yati Narsinghanand, and Sagar Sindhu Maharaj.
A similar complaint has been filed with the Delhi Police for the event organised in the national capital.
The plea said no effective steps have been taken by Uttarakhand and Delhi police.
To date, no FIR has been lodged by the Delhi Police despite calls for ethnic cleansing at the event organised here, it said.
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