The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to Uttarakhand government in a petition seeking an independent inquiry into the anti-Muslim hate speech at the ‘Dharam Sansad’ in Haridwar and Delhi in December last year.
The bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana allowed the petitioners to approach local authorities with their plea to stop a similar event.
A Dharam Sansad is scheduled to take place in Aligarh on January 23, according to organisers.
Several Hindu priests were caught on record giving genocidal calls against Muslims during the day event attended by dozens of people. Open calls for the killing of Muslims to establish a Hindu Rashtra were made at the events.
One event was organised in Haridwar by Yati Narsinghanand and the other in Delhi by ‘Hindu Yuva Vahini’. Yati Narsinghanand, facing several FIRs in UP, called for a “war against Muslims” and urged “Hindus to take up weapons”.
Several lawmakers from BJP are also associated with the events. Speakers also targeted former prime minister Manmohan Singh and invoked Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin, Nathuram Godse.
The court posted the matter for hearing after 10 days.
Journalist Qurban Ali and former Patna High Court judge and senior advocate Anjana Prakash are the petitioners.
Haridwar police have filed an FIR against five of the speakers on charges of promoting enmity between groups and outraging religious sentiments, following widespread criticism outrage. But no arrests have been made so far.
A Special Investigation Team was also formed by the state Director General of Police. The organisers of “Dharam Sansad” have announced a protest against the probe.
