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India: Hardline Hindutva leaders give call to bear weapons, chop off hands, heads of minorities
Friday 14 October 2022, by
Minorities
Hardline Hindutva leaders give call to bear weapons, chop off hands, heads of minorities
Open call for violence made at same VHP rally where Parvesh Verma called for economic boycott of a particular community
CJP Team
10 Oct 2022
Boycott
Image Courtesy: Twitter
As if an open call for economic boycott wasn’t enough, two “spiritual leaders” have now urged people to bear arms and cut off hands and heads of “those who dare to point fingers” at Hindus. Mahant Nawal Kishore Das and Yogeshwar Acharya made these open calls for violence at the same public rally where Parvesh Verma had previously administered an oath to boycott members of a particular community.
Addressing a gathering at an event called Virat Hindu Sabha organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Sunday at North East Delhi’s Dilshad Garden, Yogeshwar Acharya, a spiritual leader who goes by the title “Jagat Guru”, referred to the same murder case as Verma had – that of the alleged killing of a man named Manish in Delhi’s Sundar Nagar area on October 1. While Verma did not specifically name the Muslim community in his comments, it was clear he was targeting them given how all the accused in the case have Muslim-sounding names. But Yogeshwar Acharya did not exercise any restraint and openly called for violence against the community.
In a video that has gone viral on social media, Acharya can be seen and heard saying, “The inhuman killing of Manish… The (Delhi) government wants such terrorists and Ma***chas (a derogatory word for Muslims) to engage in such brutal killings.” Taking a dig at the Muslim population he said, “They have not one, but many children. They want to marry 14 times and have 40 children.” He then gave an open call for genocide saying, “We should target and kill them.”
Indian Express further quoted him as saying, “Agar aise log humare mandiro… ko ungli dikhayee, unka ungli mat kaato, unka haath kaato. Agar zarurat pade, to unka gala bhi kaat do. Kya hoga? Ek ko phaansi hogi, do ko phaansi hogi…Hum sab bhi iska dhyan de… inko chun chun ke marne ka kaam karen.” (Translation: If such people point fingers at our temple, don’t just chop off the fingers, chop off their hands. If need be, slit their necks. What’s the worst that can happen? A few people will be hanged. We should be mindful, target them and kill them.)
Following the event, when media persons confronted him, Acharya appeared to defend his comments. Indian Express quoted him as saying, “Main baar baar kahunga iske liye… sanatan dharam ke liye phaansi chadne ke liye tayaar hoon.” (Translation: I will say this repeatedly, I am prepared to be hanged for Sanatan Dharma.)
But the impunity with which calls of violence were made at the venue, did not end with Acharya. Another hardline Hindutva leader Mahant Nawal Kishore Das urged Hindus to bear arms. According to India Today, he said, “Get guns. Get licenses. If you don’t get a license, dont worry. Those who come to kill you, do they have licences? So why do you need a licence?” He went on to declare, “If we all come together, even the Delhi Police Commissioner will offer us tea and let us do what we want.”
But it did not end there either. It was then the turn of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Nand Kishore Gurjar to make even more disparaging remarks about Muslims. In another video that has gone viral on social media, he can be seen and heard saying, “A pig named Akhlaq, who killed cows, was killed in Dadri. Then everyone from Rahul Gandhi to Akhilesh (Yadav) and Arvind Kejriwal cry as if their son-in-law has been killed.”
The open calls for violence clearly constitute hate speech, no matter what justification is offered by the speakers, their followers or supporters. The Print now reports that the Delhi Police have filed a First Information Report (FIR) under Section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), saying prior police permission was not sought for the event. However, so far, no action has been taken against Parvesh Verma, who had at the same event urged people to boycott the minority community, nor has any action been initiated against Yogeshwar Acharya or Mahant Nawal Kishore Das.
Related:
Hate Watch: Parvesh Verma calls for total boycott of a particular community
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Source: https://sabrangindia.in/article/bjp-mp-parvesh-verma-calls-total-boycott-particular-community
Communalism Hate Speech
BJP MP Parvesh Verma calls for total boycott of a particular community
Though he does not specifically name the community, he was referring to an alleged case of murder where all accused are from the Muslim community
Sabrangindia 10 Oct 2022
BJP MP Parvesh Verma calls for ‘total boycott’ of a community
Controversial Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma has fired yet another salvo against members of a particular community, urging people to boycott them. Though Verma did not specifically name the Muslim community, he was speaking in reference to an alleged case of murder where the victim was Hindu and the alleged perpetrators all hailed from the Muslim community.
Verma made the remarks at an event called Virat Hindu Sabha organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Sunday at North East Delhi’s Dilshad Garden. Videos of the speech went viral on social media. In the video, Verma can be seen and heard saying, “If you want to set their minds right, if you want to cure them, there is only one solution – complete boycott.” He then asks the audience if they agree with him, and they loudly cheer him on.
Verma then goes on to administer an oath of boycott, which the audience repeats after him: “We will boycott them completely. We will not buy anything from their shops and establishments. We will not pay them any wages.
Verma was speaking in connection with the killing of a man named Manish in Delhi’s Sunder Nagar area on October 1. According to Indian Express, Manish was stabbed 20 times in the attack and his assailants have been identified as Sajid, Aalam, Bilal, Faizan, Mohsin and Shakir. Thus, their names clearly give away their religious identity.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had also issued a press statement about the killing, and claimed Hindus had become a minority in the area, and that groups engaged in religious conversion were active there.
But when probed about the public call to boycott Muslims, Verma tried to dodge the allegation by saying he did not specifically name Muslims as a community. Verma told the publication, “What I said was that the families whose members carry out such killings should be boycotted. Such families, if they run any restaurant or any business, should be boycotted. There have been such crimes in my area also. And in such cases, their business should be boycotted.”
Understandably, the impunity with which a public call was made for boycotting an entire community, has caused nationwide outrage with many prominent leaders and civil society members calling out the bigotry.
But this is not the first time Verma has made comments targeted at Muslims. In January 2020, in the run up to Assembly Elections in Delhi, Parvesh Verma had in an interview to the news agency ANI, made disparaging remarks about the Muslim community in connection with the Shaheen Bagh protests. He had said, “Lakhs of people gather there [Shaheen Bagh]. People of Delhi will have to think and make a decision. They will enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, kill them.” Verma had gone on to say, “There’s time today, Modi ji and Amit Shah won’t come to save you tomorrow.” Considering that the Shaheen Bagh protests were led by women, this comment was utterly bizarre!
The Print now reports that the Delhi Police have filed a First Information Report (FIR) under Section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), saying prior police permission was not sought for the event. However, no action has been taken against Parvesh Verma, so far.
Related:
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Why no FIR filed against Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma: Court asks Delhi Police
