While questioning the governing Bharatiya Janata Party’s role in two anti-Muslim rallies in the capital city New Delhi carried out slogans calling for the genocide of Muslims, AIMIM supremo, and MP Asaduddin Owaisi said the man who chanted Goli Maaro Saalo Ko is made a minister in Narendra Modi’s cabinet.
The hate slogan ‘Desh Ke Gaddaro Ko, Goli Maro Saalo Ko‘ (shoot the traitors of the nation) — by BJP leader and then Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur in Delhi in January 2020 had triggered an anti-Muslim pogrom in the national capital and large scale violence against Muslims in Uttar Pradesh. Last month, Thakur was appointed as the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports and Minister of Information & Broadcasting in the Second Modi ministry as part of changes in the Union Council of Ministers.
“People incited violence in full public view in the heart of Delhi but the police that reports to Amit Shah says they are unknown person,” adds Owaisi MP, pointing at Delhi police who were under fire on Monday for registering ‘FIR against unknown persons’ whereas the identities of organisers and personnel involved in the anti-Muslim event were evident.
Owaisi was speaking at the release function of AIMIM Delhi chief Kaleemul Hafeez ‘s book ‘Nishan-e-Raah.’
Following the public outcry and criticisms from politicians and Muslim activists, five Hindu nationalist men including Supreme Court lawyer and former Delhi BJP spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay have been arrested by the Delhi Police under IPC sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) as well as under the DDMA Act pertaining to violation of Covid guidelines.
Islamophobic slogans calling for the killing of Muslims were shouted at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Sunday in a gathering of hundreds organised by Supreme Court lawyer and former spokesperson of the Delhi unit of Bharatiya Janata Party Ashwini Upadhyay. The videos of the event showed Hindutva extremists shouting slogans threatening harm to Muslims, India’s largest religious minority group.
BJP leader Gajendra Chauhan was among the participants. “Jab mulle kaate jayenge, Ram-Ram chillayenge [Muslims will chant Ram-Ram when they will be slaughtered],” slogans were shouted during the event.
Many civil groups including opposition parties have demanded the arrest of key organisers of ‘Bharat Jodo Movement’ which police claimed happened without permission. Hundreds of people gathered in Jantar Mantar, barely two kilometres away from Parliament, responding to a call given by Upadhyay.
“They know that the Modi government stands with them”
The incident was raised in Parliament Monday by Owaisi, who said in the Lok Sabha that “genocidal slogans” were raised against Muslims “20 minutes from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence”.
“After all, what is the secret of the growing courage of these hooligans? They know that the Modi government stands with them. On July 24, the Central government under National Security Act (NSA) had given the Delhi Police the right to detain any person. Yet the Delhi Police is quietly watching the spectacle,” Owaisi said.
The vocal opponent of Narendra Modi’s saffron party-led government also cited an anti-Muslim Mahapanchayat held on Sunday in Dwarka on Delhi’s outskirts to protest against the construction of a Haj house in the area. Videos from the event showed the protesters making Islamophobic comments and threatening anti-Muslim violence.
