April: CJP’s hate watch initiative continues to monitor surge in reported hate incidents nationwide Tracking and analysing hate incidents: From Sakshi Maharaj's provocative remarks to children's calls for Jai Shree Ram chants, explore the Latest in our Hate Watch campaign
02, May 2024 | CJP Team
In this piece, in our dedicated programme to monitor and fight rising hate incidents, we tracked several reported incidents of hate mongering from the second half of April 2024.
Children, youngsters, and senior politicians, everyone played a part, ranging across the country, and covering the states of Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Haryana. The reported events include cases of hate speech, vigilantism, and derogatory representation. The themes in the hate speeches revolve around the issues of love jihad, population jihad, Hindu Rashtra, and mandir-masjid babble, with the involvement of speakers, including Yogi Adityanath, Sakshi Maharaj, Navneet Rana, Bhagirathsinh Rathod, Mahant Balaknath Yogi, and Harsha Thakur. Several of these speeches and other incidents had taken place under the support of organisations like the Bajrang Dal, Sakal Hindu Samaj, and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
CJP is dedicated to finding and bringing to light instances of Hate Speech, so that the bigots propagating these venomous ideas can be unmasked and brought to justice. To learn more about our campaign against hate speech, please become a member. To support our initiatives, please donate now!
Details of the incidents
Gujarat
On April 15, Bhagirathsinh Rathod, founder of Ekta Aj Laksh Sangathan, delivered a communally charged speech in Kathlal, Kheda, indirectly accusing the Muslim community of engaging in stone pelting, and asking the young women audience to be wary of Muslim youngsters pursuing love jihad. The event was organised under the banner of “Samagra Hindu Sanatan Samaj”, purportedly celebrating “Ram Navami Mahotsav 2024”.
The excerpt from his speech reads, “If someone tries to meddle with our gods, faith, sisters, and cows, we will respond back a brick with a stone. I warn (you), if this time some Jihadi minded people throw stones at our Shobha Yatra, then we will go the place from where he is throwing the stone, and we will throw him from that place.…though we do not disrespect any religion, we Sanatanis will not tolerate disrespect to our religion.…I repeat again, when you go to Navratri, see how do you look? You look like goddess Amba…(now) if some Mahishasur (demon) in the form of love jihadi comes to you, do not get trapped there, but tear his chest apart. We (all) are envisioning the Hindu Rashtra, therefore, we Hindus should not be fighting among ourselves over petty issues…we should aim to hold our unity together…”
Unnao
BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj gave the speech on April 17 at Bhagwantpur, Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, during which he propagated false conspiracy theory of population jihad by hinting that Muslim men have 4 wives and 40 children, thus requiring population control law to prevent overpopulation in the country.
An excerpt from his speech reads, “When next time the Prime Minister Modi returns to the power he will do two things, first is the law to regulate population. ‘We two, and our two’ (hum do, hamare do), or whatever else it may be, but in any case, it will not allow 4 wives and 40 children. The availability of land is reducing and population is increasing, where will (you) stay? what will (you) eat? where will (you) reproduce? That is the reason why we need the law on population control. We cannot have two constitutions in the same country, we have shown that in Kashmir. We also need to have Uniform Civil Code, and we will do it. Once we get 400+ seats, then there will be no symbol of slavery in this country, and then you will feel that the country has got freedom.”
Shambhaji Nagar
On April 17, in an event organised at Shambhaji Nagar in Maharashtra, children and minors were found performing the song whose lyrics advocated expulsion of people who did not sing Vande Mataram. The involvement or deployment of minors in the propagation of hate has seen some rise in the recent years. Most recently in Uttar Pradesh, school teacher had used communal slurs and directed classmates to slap a fellow minor Muslim classmate for not performing well in the academics.
The children in this incident can be found performing the song with the following lyrics, “…(You) will have to sing Vande Mataram (audience repeats) or else you will have to leave from here (audience repeats again). If (you) refuse to leave, we will forcibly remove you, we will show (you) your place (aukaat). Jai Siya Ram, Jai Siya Ram, Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, Jai Siya Ram, Jai Siya Ram.”
Amravati
On April 19, BJP Lok Sabha Candidate for Amravati Constituency, Navneet Rana, incited the crowd by saying that those who want to stay in India must chant Jai Shree Ram.
Rana asks the crowd, “If you want to stay in India then…”, the audience responds back, (If you want to live in India then…) “you will have to say Jai Shree Ram”. Rana continues, “and you definitely have to say it (Jai Shree Ram)”. “Every kid has got aware about it, now Pakistan’s flag will not be tolerated in India, it will not be tolerated in Amravati.” “Those who love Pakistan…in my country only our flag will be hoisted, no other country’s flag will be tolerated by today’s youth”.
As Rana retreats, another woman takes over the stage, telling the audience that cow slaughterers will go to hell, before the music starts playing in the background. The woman also incites the audience by referring to Kashi and Mathura (temple-mosque controversy), suggesting that they will meet similar fate as Ayodhya. The video shows that the crowd continues to cheer and dance to the beats of the music system while the woman adds to their frenzy with her own singing, suggesting religious and communal connotations as she begins singing to the beats of the loud speakers.
Chhattisgarh
On April 21, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was caught delivering a communally charged speech during his event in Rajnandgaon, Uttar Pradesh, where he used the familiar trope of Jihad, accusing the Congress of appeasement politics.
The excerpt from his speech reads, “Sisters and brothers, I ponder sometimes that even (our) mother cows were handed over to cattle smugglers and butchers, when jihadi activities were given free hand. What kind of incident had taken place with Bhuneshwar Sahu? I congratulate the public of Chhattisgarh for electing his father Ishwar Sahu as an MLA, paying a real tribute to Bhuneshwar Sahu. Bhuneshwar Sahu made only one mistake, that he opposed love jihad and Congress’s appeasement politics.”
Nashik
In a speech given by Harsha Thakur during an event organised by Sakal Hindu Samaj on 22 April at Budhwar Peth, Nashik, Maharastra, the speaker gave an open call to Hindu women to take up arms in order to protect themselves, with an ambiguous reference made against the Muslim community.
The excerpt from the speech reads, “Learn to hold weapons in your hand, anybody can hide under Burqa. If you leave your religion, you will be found in 35 pieces, and then only fridge and suitcase will be discovered. Read Shaashtra (ancient literature) and take up the arms. Become staunch and loyal towards your religion.”
Rajasthan
BJP leader Mahant Balaknath Yogi gave a speech in Sirohi, Rajasthan, on April 23, accusing the government of favouring a “particular” religious community while unfairly discriminating against Hindus. Mahant accused previous Congress government in Rajasthan of appeasement politics, noting that Hindus did not get a single rupee in compensation even while a cow smuggler’s family from a “particular” community received 25 lakhs in compensation by the former Rajasthan CM.
The transcript of the speech reads, “…The kind of activities that have taken place in Rajasthan in recent times, how the politics of appeasement was given a push. You must not have forgotten the Jaipur and Udaipur incidents, how somebody slit the throat of a Ram Bhakt. In Jaipur, a member from a particular community was killed in an accident, what right did they have to give Rajasthan’s 50 lakh rupees as a compensation? So many sisters and daughters have been disrobed of their respect, and many were brutally killed, but nobody got any money; on the other hand, particular community is getting paid 50 lakhs. Somebody killed a smuggler in Alwar, he was (actually) killed in other state, that is what people are saying. Chief minister had gone to his house, 10 cases of cow smuggling is registered against this person, and the chief minister gave his household 25 Lakhs…your former chief minister (gave it).”
