SC to hear PIL for probe into Haridwar Dharam Sansad hate speeches today

The Supreme Court will, on Wednesday, hear a PIL seeking probe against the hate speeches targeting Muslim community delivered between December 17-19, last year, at the Haridwar Dharam Sansad and Delhi

The Supreme Court will, on Wednesday, hear a PIL seeking probe against the hate speeches targeting Muslim community delivered between December 17-19, last year, at the Haridwar Dharam Sansad and in Delhi by an organisation called Hindu Yuva Vahini.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli will hear the plea filed by Qurban Ali and former Patna High Court judge Anjana Prakash, seeking directions for an independent, impartial and credible probe into the matter by an SIT.

On Monday, the top court had agreed to hear the petition.

The plea, filed through advocate Sumita Hazarika, said: "Hate speeches consisted of open calls for genocide of Muslims in order to achieve ethnic cleansing. It is pertinent to note that the said speeches are not mere hate speeches but amount to an open call for murder of an entire community. The said speeches thus, pose a grave threat not just to the unity and integrity of our country but also endanger the lives of millions of Muslim citizens."

According to the plea, the hate speeches were made between December 17-19, last year, in two events organized in Haridwar, by the controversial Yati Narsinghanand, and in Delhi, by an organisation self-styled as Hindu Yuva Vahini with the apparent objective of declaring war against a significant section of the Indian citizenry.

The plea submitted that despite the passage of almost 3 weeks, no effective steps have been taken by the police authorities including non-application of Sections 120B, 121A and 153B of the IPC, to the said hate speeches.

It further pointed out that the police authorities have registered two FIRs against 10 people who took part in the Haridwar Dharam Sansad but even in the said FIRs, only Sections 153A, 295A and 298 of the IPC have been invoked.

"The blatant inaction by the police also came into the forefront when a police officer's video went viral on the internet, wherein one of speakers of the aforementioned events openly acknowledged the officer's allegiance with the organisers and speakers of the Dharam Sansad," added the plea.

The plea contended that the inaction by police not only allows "delivery of hate speeches with impunity but also shows that the police authorities are in fact hand in glove with the perpetrators of communal hate".

--IANS

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