NEW DELHI: Merely a stone’s throw away from Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Supreme Court and Parliament — the three custodians of secularism and democracy in India — anti-Muslim hate speeches reverberated in Talkatora Stadium in the capital.
At an Antarashtriya (global) Hindu Parishad (AHP) event, Hindutva leaders unabashedly issued explicit calls for violence against Muslims in complete disregard to the recent Supreme Court directive to the police to take cognisance of hate speeches even when there is no formal complaint is lodged.
The crowd roared as Hindu far-right leader Samiksha Singh spouted hate against Muslims, calling them ‘jihadi’ in a derogatory manner. “Every Jihadi will lose when a kattar (hardline) Hindu will kill. The biggest problem of Hindus is their humanity, and compassion and mercy,” media reports quoted her as saying.
#Delhi: Samiksha Singh a Hindu far right wing leader calls for violence against Muslims in a programme organised by Antarashtriya Hindu parishad. @DelhiPolice is this not call for violence and should you not take action against such hatefull speeches?
The Hindutva fanatic warned: “Should someone hit us on one cheek, then both his arms will be broken.”
This barely veiled call for violence against Muslims seems to be a deliberate attempt to incite people. She also alleged that ‘they’, generally understood from her speech as meaning Muslims, have sinister goals to reconfigure India’s secular democracy. “They just have one goal which is ‘Ghazwa-e Hind’. We should also have one goal which is to establish ‘Akhand Hindu Bharat’.”
Not to be outsmarted by Samiksha Singh’s rhetoric, former international president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Praveen Togadia, chose to be even more vitriolic. “We will not run, nor will we die; we will keep our foot on your chest and teach you a lesson,” he was quoted as saying.
A jubilant crowd roared in return to Togadia’s “We Hindus must not let the population of Muslims ever increase.”
Togadia also expressed confidence in the current government and stated that ‘Ram Mandir’ in Ayodhya, a long-cherished goal of Hindus, has become a reality. “So is the bill for the Uniform Civil Code in formation. And soon, prior to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Population Control Bill will be ready too.”
Please visit our website London Institute of Peace Research for latest peace news
