Three Inflammatory Speeches, within two months prompt CJP to file complaint with Minority Commission and seek intervention CJP’s complaint flags economic boycott, social boycott and calls for violence all within two months in Maharashtra
21, May 2026 | CJP Team
A complaint has been filed by the Citizens for Justice and Peace to the National Commission for Minorities against three individuals from Maharashtra for giving inflammatory speeches. The three individuals against whom the complaint was made are Sharad Ponkshe, Sangram Bapu Bhandare Patil and Anil Maharaj Devalekar. On different occasions they have vilified the minorities, called for their exclusion and in some cases called for violence against them. In response to these speeches, CJP has called for Minority Commission’s intervention as it is their mandate to safeguard the interests of Minorities in the country.
The videos of their speeches were circulated online, and the three individuals have called for discrimination against the Minorities in a variety of unpalatable ways.
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In the instance of Sharad Ponkshe, he was seen to be calling for economic boycott of Muslims and Christians. He claimed that Muslims conspire to take over the entire world and make it into “Darul Islam” and are a threat to Hindus’ existence. He adds, “For any requirement of a technician in my house… [or] If I go to buy vegetables or fruits, under any circumstances, I will only approach a Hindu”. He encourages everyone in the audience to do same and economically boycott Muslims. The complaint while calling out these statements adds that according to a 2022 report by Oxfam India and NCDHR, boycott-affected individuals suffer an average economic loss of 30 to 70%. Due to “social pressure,” Muslim shopkeepers’ businesses have shut down, and in some places, police have advised closing shops.
Sangram Bapu Bhandare Patil in his speech fearmongered using the charged rhetoric of “love jihad” and “land jihad”. He consistently portrayed Muslims to be enemies of Hindus, especially Hindi women. He does not stop there; he goes onto urge everyone to fight Muslims by socially boycotting them. He claims that, “Those girls [ones exchanging words with Muslims] are forced into the flesh trade (prostitution). They are treated as ‘factories’ to give birth to children. The lives of our Hindu daughters and sisters are being destroyed.” By using such divisive and explicit phrases, the complaint pointed it out to be creating enmity in his audience against Muslims.
Lastly, CJP’s complaint dealt with the statements made by Anil Maharaj Devalekar who directly called for violence against Minority communities. He called for killing of Muslim babies by saying, “If any Afzal, Shaista, Aurangzeb, or Tipu is born from a Jihadi womb, that Jihadi should be finished right there!” He glorifies Godse for assassinating Gandhi, asking his audience to consider it an example of valor. He uses phrases such as “without weapons there is no freedom” as a way to encourage violence against Muslims. These phrases are coupled with asking women to carry weapons to use against Muslims when looked by them with “an evil eye.” As per the complaint, his statements are marred with calls for violence, stereotyping, disinformation and other divisive tools to create disharmony in the society.
The complaint also contextualises the event at which Anil Maharaj gave his speech and show how these events have consistently been platforms to propagate animosity. Virat Hindu Sammelan (the event that gave platform to Anil Maharaja), are events organised by far-right extremist groups. VHS has been a platform for far-right Hindutva speakers to utter contentious speech. As per the complaint, this event has had several instances in the past where the speeches made on their platform had FIRs filed against them. The complaint notes that “these events and speeches pierces through the values espoused by our Constitution.”
The complaint lists down all the relevant penal provisions that are applicable against these statements. These include; Section 196, 197, 352, 353 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. It also mentions how these speeches go against the society envisaged by the constitutional provisions, specifically by, Article 14, 14, 19, 21 of the Constitution.
Through the complaint, CJP sought several reliefs from the Minority Commission. First, it asked the commission to take immediate cognizance of this complaint under Section 9(1)(d) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, and initiate a full-fledged inquiry into the matter. While also asking it to direct the police to immediately register FIRs against the individuals and organisations responsible for the hate speeches, under relevant sections of the BNS as provided earlier. The complaint asked the commission for strict law enforcement and to direct state governments to prevent such events, especially in communally sensitive areas and strict law enforcement. Finally, CJP urged the social media platforms to immediately remove the documented hateful content and take action against the accounts that are systematically spreading communal disharmony.
The complaint may be read here:
Related:
CJP files complaints against the Hate Speeches delivered in Uttar Pradesh
