Video Producer: Shohini Bose
Video Editor: Mohd. Irshad Alam
Camera: Shiv Kumar Maurya
Yeh Jo India Hai Na… does it belong only to Kajal Hindustani or does Munawar Faruqui also have a voice here?
For Kajal Behn Shingala, who also calls herself Kajal Hindustani, hate speech is her calling card, hate speech at public gatherings, hate speech on social media. Hate speech has earned her close to 80,000 followers on Twitter, including… the Prime Minister.
Her most recent viral hate speech was a call to demolish two dargahs in the town of Morbi in Gujarat, which she insisted were illegal—
Out of this crowd, if only 500 can tell me that they are against this illegal encroachment that they have done in Darbar Gadh, then tell me. This campaign should start by tomorrow, and do not rest until these two illegal masjids are destroyed. I will make the strategy and lead it, all I need is your support.
DIRECT CALL TO DESTROY A DARGAH, BUT NO ACTION
Of course, Kajal Behn’s allegation is untrue. Morbi’s District Collector JB Patel has said on record that the Hazrat Ali Peer Shah Dargah, that Kajal calls an illegal encroachment, is in fact, a very old Dargah, and not at all illegal.
But as we know, hate mongers no longer allow things like the truth to bother them. And so, Kajal Hindustani announced in public that she would organise bulldozers to demolish the Dargah.
If it is illegal, then why do we need to adopt legal means to destroy it? I will get the bulldozer and I will pay for it. If people are standing with me, I will do it. Tell me when should we do this?
A direct threat to demolish a religious structure. On Video. In public. Spelling out a clear plan to disrupt law and order, and communal harmony. What more does the police need to take Kajal Shingala into custody, to file an FIR, prosecute her? It’s all there. But has anything been done? No. Will anything be done? Not likely.
Because Yeh Jo India Hai Na... here Kajal Hindustani gets away with hate speech day after day.
MUNAWAR FARUQUI SPENDS A MONTH IN JAIL, DESPITE NO EVIDENCE
And then there is Munawar Faruqui, the stand-up comedian who spent over a month in jail in January and February 2021. Why? Because someone accused him of planning to make jokes about Hindu gods at a performance in Indore. Members of a Hindu vigilante group, led by the son of a BJP MLA, assaulted Faruqui before his show, and took him to a police station, claiming they had heard him rehearse jokes about Indian gods, of which they had zero evidence, not audio, nor video.
And the police, the same police governed by the same Indian Penal Code that did nothing to Kajal Hindustani despite having her hate speech on video, threw Munawar Faruqui and five of his colleagues into jail without any evidence!
Not only this, Indore’s Superintendent of Police even justified Faruqui’s arrest saying that he was planning to insult Hindu gods, meaning they arrested him for a ‘future crime’.
IN INDIA, YOU COULD GET ARRESTED FOR A 'FUTURE CRIME'
Yeh Jo India Hai Na… here you could be arrested for a ‘future crime’, without evidence! If some gundas say that you were planning a crime and you were going to commit it in future, without any proof, you could still go to jail! The Indore SP even praised the mob who assaulted Faruqui, calling them “active and alert”.
Sadly, the courts also seem to be bowing to the mob. Despite no evidence against him, Faruqui was denied bail twice by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, with the court saying that “such people should not be spared” and absurdly adding that freeing him would cause a law and order problem.
Even today, Faruqui is being targeted. In September and October 2021, he was forced to cancel performances in Gujarat and Mumbai, after the Bajrang Dal threatened violence at the venues, labelling Faruqui as anti-Hindu, yet again without any evidence. Here is Faruqui’s dignified response to the hate he is facing.
Don't take away from people the right to watch what they want to. The youth want reasons to laugh, to enjoy. They want to watch shows. Don't stop them. Don't anger the youth. I request my followers to not abuse anyone, get into arguments. Just support me for my content. I didn't want to do this (issue a statement). I have never done this before. That is how emotional I am at this point to have to do this. I used to write songs, post videos, entertain people to distract myself. For every four abuses, when 4,000 followers say, "I love you", that used to make me happy. I wouldn't have recorded this video then. I don't appreciate this. I am perhaps doing this just once. Please don't do this (spread hate). My mental peace has gone for a toss.
PUBLIC HATE SPEECH IS IGNORED, IMAGINARY HATE SPEECH IS PUNISHED
Kajal Hindustani is a repeat offender. Take a look at this recent tweet she shared -
This above is a clear hate speech. But due to the double standards that apply now, such blatant hate is simply ignored by the police and our government, be it Kajal Behn or Yati Narsinghanand and Yatindranand Giri both heads of the Juna Akhara, or Telangana MLA Raja Singh, Pragya Thakur, Delhi’s Ragini Tiwari and Kapil Mishra, Karnataka’s Tejaswi Surya, Ananth Kumar Hegde, Pramod Muthalik, BJP leader from Jammu Vikram Randhawa. The list is a lot longer.
Instead only the imaginary hate speech of Munawar Faruqui is punished. And so, I ask again - Yeh Jo India Hai Na… does it belong only to Kajal Hindustani and her hate brigade, or does Munawar Faruqui also have a voice here?
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)