Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rajasthan leader and former BJP MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja was recorded on video urging a crowd to kill persons involved in cow slaughter. He is also heard saying that his supporters have so far “lynched five persons”.
A clip of Ahuja making the claim is now doing the rounds on social media with one such purported video being shared by Rajasthan Congress head Govind Singh Dotasra on Twitter. What more proof is needed of BJP’s religious terror and bigotry?” Dotasra wrote on Twitter. “The real face of BJP has come to the fore in the entire country.”
Ahuja was booked on Saturday under Indian Penal Code Section 153A for spreading communal disharmony.
Ahuja said his men had so far killed five people in retaliation for the murder of vegetable vendor Chiranjilal Saini, who was battered to death by a mob in Rajasthan’s Alwar district. In the footage, the Hindutva politician is seen sitting surrounded by some men that Dotasra said were ‘local RSS’ leaders deliberating about the killing of Saini.
“We have so far lynched five people, be it in Lalawandi or Behror. This has happened for the first time in this area that they have lynched someone. I have given free hand to workers to kill. We will get them acquitted and secure bail,” Ahuja said in the video.
The BJP leader was referring to the lynching of Rakbar Khan in 2018 at Lalawadni and that of Pehlu Khan in 2018 in Behror. Both were beaten to death by Hindu mobs.
Speaking to news agency PTI, Ahuja issued a warning to anyone involved in cattle smuggling or killing, adding they will face harsh punishment.
