Supreme Court to probe Haridwar hate speech issue

The Supreme Court will "look into" the matter related to calls for genocide and communal violence that were taken up at the Haridwar "Dharma Sansad" meeting in December, Supreme Court Chief Justice N.V Ramana said. He was responding to a petition raised in court by senior lawyer and Congress leader Kapil Sibal.

"We have filed a Public Interest Litigation on the events that took place at the Dharma Sansad in Haridwar. Slogans of the country have changed from Satyameva Jayate to Sashastramev Jayate," said Mr Sibal, urging the Supreme Court to act against the controversial religious gathering last month.

Justice Ramana said the Supreme Court would take up the matter and asked whether any inquiry had taken place, to which Sibal responded that only FIR's had been filed, an NDTV report said.

The Dharma Sansad held on December 16-17, 2021, became the focal point of controversy after various Hindu leaders made provocative speeches calling for arms to be taken up against the Muslim community in India.

So far, Waseem Rizvi aka Jitendra Tyagi, Sagar Sidhu Maharaj, Yati Narasinghanand, Dharamdas and Pooja Shakun Pandey aka Sadhvi Annapurna are the leaders who have been arrested and whose controversial remarks were caught in videos of the event which went viral.

In viral clips, Prabodhanand Giri was heard saying: "Like Myanmar, our police, our politicians, our Army and every Hindu must pick up weapons and conduct a Safayi Abhiyan (ethnic cleansing). There is no other option left."

He later told NDTV that he had no regrets. "I am not ashamed of what I have said. I am not afraid of police. I stand by my statement," he said. The same defiance has been reflected in other accused, as videos of them laughing and joking with police have also come under fire.

76 Supreme Court lawyers had written a letter to Justice N.V Ramana on December 26, calling for the Supreme Court to take cognizance of the communalism displayed during the Haridwar conclave organised by Yati Narasinghanand as well as a seperate event held in Delhi by the Hindu Yuva Vahini.

Other letters on the subject have been addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Speaker of the Lok Sabha, urging them to speak up and condemn such actions.