Incitement to violence / Hate

Despite the SC Order, Hateful Rallies In Maharashtra Persist, Citizens Group Demands Action | T Raja https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cntJMqblzvE
May 12, 2023
The Sakal Hindu Samaj, an organization known for organizing hateful rallies against so-called Love Jihad and Land Jihad, has been causing unrest in Maharashtra for the past six to seven months. They often invite repeat hate speech offenders like T Raja and Kajal Hindustani to speak at these rallies. Initially, these rallies were happening every other day, with the same hateful rhetoric being spewed at each one. The Loksatta editor Girish Kuber pointed out in an interview with The Wire that this was an attempt by the ruling dispensation to communalize a relatively peaceful state like Maharashtra. BJP leaders were also seen frequenting these rallies, making it seem like the state was supporting them.
The situation changed when the Supreme Court intervened after a PIL was filed by Maktoob journalist Shaheen Abdulla. The court directed the police to take legal action to stop hate speech and even called the Shinde government "impotent" for failing to do so. The rallies cooled down for a few days after the order, but a large rally was organized in Daayghar, a suburb of Mumbai, on April 30th, 2023. The speakers at this rally used anti-Muslim slurs for secular leaders like Jitendra Awhad and targeted the Haji Malang dargah, a 300-year-old syncretic shrine where both a Hindu and a Muslim religious official had been officiating at rituals.
Despite having information about the Daayghar rally, the police failed to take any action against the Sakal Hindu Samaj. A citizens group, including CJP of Teesta Setalvad and the Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, went to the Thane Police commissioner to demand action against the speeches at the rally. Journalist-activist Teesta Setalvad spoke about the issue and provided more details.
Watch the video to know more.

Politics Over Hate Speech Ban in Karnataka https://www.newsclick.in/politics-over-hate-speech-ban-karnataka Ram Puniyani | 09 May 2023
In its manifesto for the Karnataka polls, the Congress party committed to ban organisations that “spread hatred against communities on grounds of religion or caste”. In that sense, it equated the Peoples Front of India, banned by the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre, with the Bajrang Dal, an offshoot of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, itself an arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, of which the BJP is an arm.

There was a mini-storm in response, as the BJP made it a major issue in the last days of its election campaign.

There were many incidents between 2006 to 2008 that highlighted the warped priorities and violent actions of Bajrang Dal “activists”. For example, Naresh and Himanshu Panse (a VHP member), were accidentally killed while making bombs, and a kurta-pyjama and a false beard were found near the site. It hinted that the attempt was to pin a blast on to a Muslim perpetrator, and, by extension, create an opportunity to blame the entire Muslim community for the damage it would cause. There have been other such instances, where the finger of suspicion has come to rest on a member of the right-wing brigade, though more often than not, the role is denied by the Bajrang Dal. In January 2019, another worker of the outfit, Yogesh Raj, was arrested for the murder of inspector Subodh Kumar in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh. The incident involved allegations of a cow having been slaughtered. In the recent Ram Navami violence in Bihar Sharif, Kundan Kumar, also of the Bajrang Dal, has been arrested for fomenting unrest and violence.

What about the PFI? Spreading hate and consequent violence has been the hallmark of their activities, too. Such organisations may operate in the name of religion but are intolerant and resort to violence.

As society shifts towards orthodoxy, even secular parties are afraid to criticise communal forces that use religion as an instrument to capture or retain power. One can only remind them that the Taliban’s dictates for women may sound terrible, but oppression, even when measured in degrees, causes suffering and torment—opposing jeans for women and imposing the burqa are on the same spectrum of tyranny, even if the degrees vary.

Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindutva group Vishwa Hindu Parishad on April 10 pledged the economic boycott of Muslims and Christians in Chhattisgarh’s Jagdalpur days after communal clashes took place in the state, reported The Hindu on Wednesday.

Communal clashes had erupted in Bemetara district on April 8 after two school students from different communities got into a fight reported The Indian Express. The incident soon spilled over into a clash between members of the two communities.

https://scroll.in/latest/1047312/chhattisgarh-bjp-vhp-members-pledge-economic-boycott-of-muslims-christians-after-communal-clashes 

13/04/2023

A Supreme Court bench of Justices K.M. Joseph and B.V. Nagarathna had strong words to say on the role of the state in taking action against incidents of hate speech.

The hearing, in which the bench was considering a petition asking for contempt of court action against the Maharashtra government over their alleged failure to act against hate speeches during rallies, was reported on by LiveLaw in detail. The petitions alleged that the state government was ignoring the Supreme Court’s own directions when dealing with processions of the Sakal Hindu Samaj. This Supreme Court bench had also asked authorities to take relevant action against proponents of hate speech without waiting for a complaint to be filed.

https://thewire.in/law/supreme-court-justice-joseph-nagarathna-hate-speech-religion 

31/03/2023