The hearing on hate speech will take place on May 9.
New Delhi:
The Delhi police, after getting reprimanded by the Supreme Court, has now registered a hate speech case relating to the Delhi “Dharam Sansad”. The police have filed a fresh affidavit and informed the top court about it today.
A speech at a Hindu Yuva Vahini event in Delhi that called for a “Hindu Rashtra (Hindu nation)” at all costs was “not hate speech”, the Delhi Police had earlier told the Supreme Court.
At the event, Sudarshan News TV Chief Editor Suresh Chavhanke had urged people to take an oath and had said: “Hindu rashtra ke liye ladenge, marenge aur zarurat padi toh maaarenge (We all pledge to make this country a Hindu nation. We will fight for it, die for it and, if needed. also kill for it).”
The event was organised on December 19 last year by the right-wing group Hindu Yuva Vahini.
In the new affidavit, the police have said that an FIR has been filed after examining the material, and that action will be taken according to the law.
“All links in the complaint and other material available in the public domain were analysed, and a video was found on YouTube,” the police said.
After verification of the material, an FIR was filed on May 4 at Okhla Industrial Area Police Station for offences under sections 153A, 295A, 298 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code. All the charges relate to promoting religious enmity.
In the earlier affidavit, the Delhi Police had said it was not hate speech against any particular community. The police had said that there was no use of such words which could be interpreted as an open call for genocide of Muslims.
The Delhi Police had told the court that in its inquiry into the alleged hate speech video, it had found that “there is no use of such words which mean or could be interpreted as ‘open calls for genocide of Muslims in order to achieve ethnic cleansing or an open call for the murder of an entire community”.
On April 22, the Supreme Court reprimanded the Delhi Police and asked the police to file a “better affidavit”.
The Supreme Court is hearing a petition seeking an independent probe into alleged hate speeches targeting the Muslim community delivered at the “Dharm Sansads (religious gatherings) in Haridwar and Delhi. The plea was filed by former High Court judge and senior advocate Anjana Prakash and journalist Qurban Ali.
Between December 17 and 19, two events organised in Delhi (by the Hindu Yuva Vahini) and Haridwar (by Yati Narsinghanand), saw hate speeches including open calls for violence against Muslims.
The Delhi Police also told the Supreme Court in its controversial affidavit that the event and speeches in Delhi were about empowering one’s religion and facing evils that could endanger its existence.
The hearing on hate speech will take place on May 9.
