The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has acted upon a complaint by Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), and directed the Mumbai Police to investigate the Islamophobic and misogynistic call for lynching of pregnant Muslim women given by self-styled spiritual leader Swami Jitendranand Saraswati.
CJP brought to the attention of the NCM, a video of his hateful diatribe that was uploaded to his YouTube Channel called ‘Swami Jitendranand Saraswati Ji Maharaj’. Acting on this complaint the NCM has now written to the Commissioner of Mumbai Police requesting an investigation into Swami Jitendranand Saraswati’s attempt “to disrupt communal harmony”. The NCM, in its letter dated July 29, has sought a report with the police’s response within 21 days.
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The complaint had highlighted how Swami Jitendranand Saraswati, in the hate speech video titled “देश धर्म पर आघात हम चुप क्यूँ है” (Why is the country silent on the attack on religion?) had said, “Aisa singhnad karo ki desh virodhi mahila ki kokhmein koi gauhatyara, koi rashtravirodhi pal raha ho to kokh phaadkar gir jaaye. (Translation: Roar like a lion, so that if there is a ‘cow killer’ or an anti-national, being nurtured in the womb of an anti-national woman, your slogans should result in the unborn baby falling out of the ripped open womb.)”
He had also clubbed together all Muslims with the Taliban and made a series of allegations against the community ranging from marrying children, to raping women.
CJP’s complaint had also mentioned his previous track record. In March 2022, he had brought a trishul (traditional Indian trident) to a screening of the controversial movie The Kashmir Files and attempted to incite hate in a hall full of people including women and children, saying, “You think that you are safe here but you are not. You have no preparation… They’re everywhere!” All this had been caught on tape.
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CJP moves NCM against Swami Jitendra Saraswati for calling for lynching of pregnant women