76 SC Lawyers Write to CJI to Take Suo Moto Cognisance of Genocide Call

The calls for ethnic cleansing were made at two separate events in Delhi and Haridwar last week.

The calls for ethnic cleansing were made at two separate religious events in Delhi (by the Hindu Yuva Vahini) and Haridwar (by Yati Narsinghanand).

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

Seventy-six advocates of the Supreme Court, on Sunday, 26 December, wrote to Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, asking the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the open calls for genocide of Muslims to achieve ethnic cleansing made at two separate religious events in Delhi (by the Hindu Yuva Vahini) and Haridwar (by Yati Narsinghanand). Naming nine people who had participated in the event, the letter said:

"The aforementioned events and the speeches delivered during the same 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."

"In view of the seriousness and gravity of the aforementioned events, it is most humbly prayed that Your Lordship may take suo-moto cognisance of the same and direct that action be taken against the guilty persons under Sections 120B, 121A,153A, 153B, 295A and 298 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860," the letter further said.

Nine people were named in the letter by the Supreme Court lawyers to the CJI, namely: Yati Narsinghanand Giri, Sagar Sindhu Maharaj, Dharamdas Maharaj, Premanand Maharaj, Sadhvi Annapoorna alias Pooja Shakun Pandey, Swami Anand Swaroop, Ashwani Upadhyay, Suresh Chavhanke and Swami Prabodhanand Giri.

"It is also pointed out that the recent speeches are a part of a series of similar speeches that we have come across in the past. It may be noted that no effective steps have been taken under the provisions of 153, 153A, 153B, 295A, 504, 506,120B, 34 of IPC in respect of the earlier hate speeches. Thus, urgent judicial intervention is required to prevent such events that seem to have become the order of the day," the letter said.

"We are writing to your Lordship hoping for prompt action in your capacity as the head of the judicial wing of the State and knowing your Lordship's commitment to both the independence of Judiciary as also the constitutional values that are fundamental to the functioning of a multicultural nation such as ours," the letter further said.

Background

The hate-spewing event in Delhi reportedly took place in Banarsidas Chandiwala Auditorium near Govindpuri metro station on 19 December.

A video of Hindutva groups and Sudarshan News Editor-in-Chief Suresh Chavhanke that emerged on social media on Wednesday, 22 December, showed them taking an oath to "fight, die and if required, kill" in order to turn India into a Hindu Rashtra (nation).

"We take an oath and make a resolution that till our last breath, we will fight, die for and if need be, kill, to make this country a Hindu rashtra and keep this country a Hindu rashtra," those present in the room had declared.

The event in Delhi came on the heels of a three-day hate speech conclave organised by the controversial Hindutva leader Yati Narsinghanand from 17 to 19 December in Uttarakhand's pilgrimage city of Haridwar. Videos of several speeches, provoking the attendees to kill minorities and attack their religious spaces, made during the event surface online subsequently.

Four days after the event, the Uttarakhand police registered a case against Wasim Rizvi alias Jitendra Narayan Tyagi and others under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) (promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, etc.).

Later, several politicians, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi, and others, spoke out against the genocidal speeches made against Muslims, which ironically, was organised as a 'Dharam Sansad.'