District authorities in Nuh, Haryana, have said no permission has yet been provided for a proposed Hindu mahapanchayat in Mewat on Sunday, 8 May, which has been promoted using communal slurs.
Speaking to The Quint, Deputy Commissioner of Nuh Ajay Kumar said, "As of now, permission has not been granted (for the event). We are in the process of taking a decision. I will be considering (the details) and will take a decision."
Kumar had confirmed that the organisers of the event have sought permission from the police, and that he had held a preliminary meeting with them from the point of view of maintaining law and order.
"Permission is always conditional," he said, adding that "Conditions are put for maintaining law and order."
When it was pointed out by The Quint that messages being sent to promote the event had communal overtones, such as being a show of strength to "those with jihadi mentality", Kumar replied-
"The situation is already being monitored by the police. The organisers have also been contacted and called, and it was clearly communicated to them that the event should, under no conditions, be like that. And that even the speeches should not be in hyperbole, in the sense of breaking the law."
The proposed mahapanchayat is being promoted in messages as an event in support of 'gau rakshak' ie cow protection activities, as a show of strength of Hindutva outfits in the region.
Promotional messages for the event, are calling on 'Hindu lovers' and 'gau rakshaks' to attend the mahapanchayat "to give a sense of our power to those with jihadi mentality." The event is slated to take place at 10 am at the Sangel gaushala in the region.
Bajrang Dal and Gau Raksha Dal, Haryana are among the organisers of the event slated for Sunday. The organisers have called upon all gau raksha outfits and other Hindutva organisations working in the region to attend the mahapanchayat.
The proposed mahapanchayat is the latest in a series of events by Hindutva outfits that seek to incite anti-Muslim sentiment, from Haridwar to Delhi, involving hate speeches by people like Yati Narsinghanand, Pinky Chaudhary and Sudarshan News editor Suresh Chavhanke.
FIRs have been registered against in Uttarakhand and Delhi regarding the hate speeches made at these events, but speakers were granted bail, in some cases going on to make further hate speeches at subsequent events.
Following the most recent controversial event at Burari in Delhi, DCP Rangnani of the Delhi Police said in a statement: "Some of the speakers, including Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, Priest of Dasna Devi Temple and Suresh Chavhanke, Chief Editor of Sudarshan News, uttered words promoting disharmony, feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between two communities."
Hate Speech at Mahapanchayats in Nuh
Nuh in Haryana has also seen several Hindutva mahapanchayats which have stoked communal tensions in the past. Several such meetings were organised in May 2021, including a massive one at Indri to support the lynchers of a Muslim man Asif, at which Haryana BJP spokesperson and Karni Sena chief Suraj Pal Amu had made a controversial speech that made headlines.
In a video that had gone viral on social media, Amu in a mahapanchayat in Haryana's Indri district was heard making a speech before a large assembly of people in Haryana, marking his endorsement of the lynching of a local Muslim man that had taken place earlier.
Amu's speech had stoked controversy in which he said: “Our boys are not guilty. They (Muslims) distort the pictures of our sisters and daughters. Should we not even murder them?”
"We will pound them. Whoever has the courage can try to stop us," he added.
Before beginning his speech, Amu could be seen asking “true and good Hindus” to raise their hands. After a show of hands from the crowd, he then enquired “if there was any child of Pakistan there, he should also raise his hand”. He further said, “Muslims are no one’s brothers. They’re all butchers.”
Amu, who posted the video on his Facebook page on 31 May, captioned it: “Thousands came for the Hindu Mahapanchayat at Indri (Nuh) today. One who submits to a crime is a greater criminal than the one who commits it. If anyone insults our Hindu religion, will you keep silent? Only true Indians comment. (sic)”
He was not arrested and instead went on to make further anti-Muslim speeches at another mahapanchayat in Pataudi.
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