First arrest made in the hate speech case
This is the first arrest in the case registered on December 23 after public uproar as videos of the event were widely circulated on social media and comes a day after the Supreme Court sought a response from the state government on what it had done about the alleged hate speeches made at the Dharam Sansad (religious parliament).
The Uttarakhand Police on Thursday arrested Jitendra Narayan Tyagi, the former Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board chairman who until last month went by the name Waseem Rizvi, in connection with hate speeches made at a three-day-long Dharam Sansad held in Haridwar on December 17-19.
This is the first arrest in the case registered on December 23 after public uproar as videos of the event were widely circulated on social media and comes a day after the Supreme Court sought a response from the state government on what it had done about the alleged hate speeches made at the Dharam Sansad (religious parliament).
Station house officer of the Haridwar police station, Rakendra Kathait, said Tyagi was arrested from the Narsain area on the border of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. Both states go to the polls next month, and identity is expected to be a key issue in the two elections.
“Tyagi was booked under IPC Section 153 A at Haridwar police station last month on the complaint of a Jwalapur resident on charges of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion during the Dharam Sansad,” he said, adding that three cases have been filed against Tyagi.
“He has been making repeated offences so police arrested him. Other accused have been served notices. Requisite legal process is on in the ongoing probe,” said senior superintendent of Haridwar, Yogendra Singh Rawat.
IPC Section 153A deals with Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.
Yati Narsinghanand, the organiser of the event, who was with Tyagi at the time of his arrest, condemned the action by the police, and said it would made seers realise a larger “hidden agenda” to weaken the Sanatan Dharma (ancient Hindu faith).
Narsinghanand is the Mahamandaleshwar (sect chief) of the influential Juna Akhada, and one of the five accused named in the FIR. He also said that he will sit on a fast at Haridraw’s iconic Har Ki Pauri, from January 14 to protest against Tyagi’s arrest.
“Wasim Rizvi converted to Hinduism despite knowing well the consequences from Muslim clerics and fundamentalists. So, it is now our responsibility to save and protect him,” Narsinghanand said.
Soon after the event which ended on December 19, videos of objectionable speeches made had gone viral on social media. Participants called for violence against religious minorities whole one of the speakers said he wished to shoot former prime minister Manmohan Singh.
On Wednesday, a special investigation team (SIT) formed by the Uttarakhand Police to probe the Dharam Sansad hate speech case recorded the statements of two of the five named accused, including Tyagi, and at least 12 “witnesses”. This development came hours after the Supreme Court issued a notice to the state government seeking an answer on the action taken by it while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) that contended not enough was being done to bring the accused to book.
“The SIT in its ongoing investigation of the case has so far questioned two of the five named accused -- Jitendra Narayan Tyagi, formerly Waseem Rizvi and Annapurna Maa,” one of the officers in the SIT said on condition of anonymity. “Their statements were recorded on Wednesday. Apart from this, SIT also recorded the statements of 12 more people as witness in the case including the complainants of the case. Police will soon question the other three remaining accused.”
Superintendent of police, Dehradun (rural), Kamlesh Upadhyay, who is heading the SIT, said: “Police are taking all necessary actions in its probe as per law. Under that, it has recorded statements of two named accused and some witnesses.”
The first information report, filed by the police on December 23, initially listed only one accused, Tyagi.
On December 25, names of Pooja Shakun Pandey alias Annapurna Maa, and Dharamdas Maharaj, a general secretary of the Hindu Mahasabha, were added. On January 1, police added the names of event organiser Narsinghanand and Sagar Sindhu Maharaj. Another case was registered on the following day against Tyagi over the same incident.
A second case was also lodged against Narsinghanand at a Haridwar police station on charges of insulting religious beliefs, and making derogatory remarks about women. The complaint was filed by a third-year law student Ruchika (who goes by her first name), police said.
“The case against Swami Yati Narsinghanand has been registered under Section 295 (a) (insulting a religion with deliberate and malicious acts) and 509 (intending to insult the modesty of a woman). We are probing the matter and checking the video footage which the complainant has related to,” said the station house office of the city police station, Rakendra Kathait.
Narsinghanand, who is based at Dasna Temple in Ghaziabad, said that he did not say anything that offended or insulted women. “I have no clue to which statement the said complainant has referred to. I don’t say anything derogatory to women, I will check it as I return to Haridwar. I have always been vocal about Sanatan Dharma and making India a Vedic nation,” he said.